College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
Tomorrow's home for soldiers of today
Saturday May 2008
While the average resident of the Washington Soldier's Home is a veteran of past era wars, the number of injured soldiers returning home today has the over one-century old facility in Orting, WA making plans to renovate and update to better serve the needs of this younger population of veterans. Part of the plans include the renovation of the barracks building into housing units, as well as increasing transitional housing, and treatment programs for veterans with traumatic brain injuries. Special projects coordinator for the state's VA, Donald Lachman, says, "For every fatality in this war we have 16 injured veterans, and the head injury is the signature injury of this war. We know these soldiers are coming because of the kind of injuries that are happening, and we're not ready for that." In an effort to both involve and serve the community, the Department of Veterans Affairs is working with the City of Orting, the Orting School District, and the University of Washington's CAUP Landscape Architecture department, who designed a healing garden for the facility.
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