March 23, Wiscasset’s planning board is set to hear from Ed Harmon about a school and much more to help veterans thrive. The Boothbay man, founder of Boothbay V.E.T.S., said this would also help fill area workforce needs, by teaching the veterans a trade. And Harmon's goal has big help from the man who for years brought shoppers to “Route One, Wiscasset,” and continues to spend much of his time serving local causes, Allen “Big Al” Cohen, retired from his famous Big Al's store.

When Harmon got off a plane at Oakland International in California after his service in the Vietnam War, he got spat on and called a baby killer and a woman killer. “I never killed a kid. I never killed a woman.” The unwelcome reception was not his only problem.

Harmon, of Boothbay, formerly of Massachusetts, said he and others who served right out of high school did not know how to make a living, they only knew their military work. "When we get out, they don't prepare us for society. We're geared up to fight. So veterans are out there and they don't know what to do with themselves. We're used to taking orders and doing what you're told. And on the outside, what do I do?

"We're expected to just pick up and go on with our lives. And in a lot of cases, a veteran doesn't have any clue what they want to do when they get out. I didn't."

Harmon had turned to alcohol. "But I was fortunate. I had a good family and so I prevailed. The last night I partied, I looked at myself, and I promised myself. I swore I'd never drink again, because I said if I don't stop what I'm doing, and if I get married and have children, they will have nothing. But not everybody can do that" like he did, he said. 

That shot at a good, productive life is what he wants for all veterans. With the nonprofit he founded on the peninsula and a large project he is working to make happen in Wiscasset, he is doing something about it. 

Harmon founded Boothbay V.E.T.S. (veterans emergency temporary shelter) Inc., a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit that builds trailers for veterans experiencing homelessness. He started the prototype in 2019 and unveiled it New Year's Day 2020. Boothbay V.E.T.S. is now over 40 volunteers strong, including members of the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks, the Veterans Administration, quilt makers and women inmates from Maine Correctional Center in Windham. One recently told him he and the work for Boothbay V.E.T.S. made a difference in her life, instilling in her that she was worth something.

Hearing that "makes you feel like a million dollars. And we've had a lot of vets say to us they wouldn't have made it if (the organization) hadn't given them a home to live in," Harmon said. "So, let's bring it to the next step. A lot of vets want to work, and veterans are good workers. They know how to show up on time, and they do the job. So let's train 'em. Give them a vocation. And have them be members of the community. That's what it comes down to."

Harmon and the all-volunteer organization envision, on the acreage Cohen would donate on Route 27, Wiscasset, a training facility that would equip veterans with more than a trade. Harmon told Wiscasset Newspaper, the veterans will get to live there in tiny houses, and get all needs met, from job-finding to, if needed, rehabilitation for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and/or substance use; there would even be a place where service dogs will be trained for veterans, Harmon said. 

Harmon believes this one stop for all a veteran’s needs to get that leg up will be the first of its kind in the nation. It removes the "veterans shuffle," meaning having to get services at different places that can be many miles apart.

As for the housing that will be built on the same property as the school will be, he said, "This is going to be tiny houses,” starting with about a dozen for the first veterans who arrive, and then more, which the veterans learning there will help build. 

“They're not going to own them, but they can they stay in them. They just pay a maintenance fee (now figured at $600 a month) and they can live there as long as they want. And it’s going to bring workforce into the community, in the trades, because it’s hard to find an electrician or a plumber, a roofer, or a carpenter, or whatever. So we’ll teach the veteran a skill and also help them get the job, and get them in the community, which will enhance the community on a financial level, because they'll spend money in the community.”

How optimistic is he the project will come to fruition? "This is going to happen," he said.

It will take fundraising, but not for the land. That’s where Cohen comes in. 

He’d funded a Boothbay V.E.T.S. trailer and visited the shop. Noting he drives around a lot, Cohen said, "When I see one of their trailers, I get a fuzzy feeling. They’re doing amazing things. This (Wiscasset project) is the next step in that … And it’ll get attention from other people, “ to do other projects, Cohen said.

“It’s going to help a tremendous amount of people who are homeless, and who are veterans. This, over the years, as it develops, could save 100 lives … This is a way to jump start vets," Cohen added. The land he wants to donate is an L-shaped parcel around his smaller parcel he’ll keep. The smaller one has the big red building Knickerbocker Group leases from him on Route 27.

Wiscasset Code Enforcement Officer George Chase said a place like Harmon is talking about is a fantastic idea and could work in the zone Harmon is looking to put it. He said Harmon will be on the planning board’s March 23 agenda for a pre-application discussion. 

While the application and millions of dollars in fundraising and donated services would still be to come, Harmon hopes the board will give a positive sign for the project March 23.

Cohen has served over two decades on the board. (He’ll recuse himself from the agenda item.) With all his experience on the board and knowledge of what it takes for proposals to get approved, how optimistic is he the board will nod the eventual application? "I believe it’s going to go through, because, under the new state (development and density) rules, there’s nothing that prevents this. As an individual, I believe it’s legal.”

Learn about Boothbay V.E.T.S. at boothbay-vets.com. The planning board's March 23 agenda will be posted at wiscasset.gov with a Zoom link. The board meets at the town office at 7 p.m.