AMVETS West Oahu Veterans Center

In 2020, AMVETS established the West O‘ahu Veterans Center near Iroquois Point to enhance services for veterans and their families. The center provides assistance with VA disability benefits claims and employment opportunities, conducts mental health conferences and suicide awareness training, and offers adaptive fitness programs, including basketball, softball, and martial arts training. Additionally, the center organizes food drives, environmental cleanups, visits for hospitalized veterans, and numerous charitable events.

The West O‘ahu Veterans Center also participates in community parades, wreath-laying memorial services, and VA Homeless Veterans Stand Down events, which provide health screenings, food, and clothing to homeless and at-risk veterans. For students in the University of Hawai‘i Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and high school Junior ROTC programs, AMVETS Hawai‘i awards medals, certificates of achievement, and scholarships to cadets.

More than just a veterans’ clubhouse, the West O‘ahu Veterans Center serves as a bridge between military and civilian communities. “Our goal is for everyone in the West O‘ahu community to benefit from this facility,” says AMVETS Hawai‘i State Commander Donovan A. Lazarus.

For over 12 years, Lazarus has overseen operations at the veterans’ center. He also serves as President and CEO of the AMVETS Hawai‘i Service Foundation Corp, the organization’s nonprofit wing that raises funds for annual events, including the Battle of Midway Commemoration and the Pearl Harbor Ewa Battlefield Commemoration.

The Service Foundation supports the preservation of significant historical sites such as the ‘Ewa Plain Battlefield from WWII, the Naval Air Station Barbers Point Memorial, and the USS Arizona Memorial Marble Shrine Wall. It also funds critical initiatives, including AMVETS’ HEAL program, which aims to reduce veteran suicide, unemployment, and homelessness related to mental and physical wellness. The West O‘ahu Veterans Center serves as the hub for these and other AMVETS programs and services.

“This is the approved site for the VA’s annual Veterans Games, the Koa Challenge. It’s a gathering place for all,” Lazarus notes. “We’ve hosted birthdays, graduation parties, swearing-in ceremonies for Air Force recruits, and monthly meetings for O‘ahu’s biker group leaders. We’re grateful to the Navy for this facility, which enables us to support our community in so many meaningful ways. It’s truly incredible.”