SFIA partners with Warrior Canine Connection to build new welcome center

Falls Church, Va. — The Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) and its partner companies have teamed up to assist in the design and construction of a welcome center for the new Warrior Canine Connection (WCC) Healing Quarters in Boyds, Md.

The Healing Quarters, sited on 80 acres of Maryland State Park land 20 miles from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, when completed will provide WCC with a comprehensive facility where it can fulfill its mission to leverage the human-canine bond to help alleviate symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in wounded Warriors.

“SFIA is honored to have a role in helping the Warrior Canine Connection further its goal of creating this important new facility,” said SFIA Executive Director Larry Williams. “As we build this new Welcome Center together, we also take major step toward rebuilding the lives of more Veterans and their families.”

SFIA convened at the site on June 16, 2016 with a team of construction experts culled from its membership — along with a group of Veterans trained to assist in the effort — to start building a 20-foot by 20-foot steel frame structure that will become a part of the WCC Welcome Center. The center will serve as the first stop for visitors to the Healing Quarters, and function as a central facility for meetings, media presentations and similar events.

Other corporate partners assisting in the construction and design of the facility include Aegis Metal Framing, Allied Distributors, All-Span Inc., ClarkDietrich Building Systems, and Simpson Strong-Tie Co., among others.

“Our critical mission to bring healing to those who have given so much to our country would not be possible without our partnership with organizations like SFIA and its member companies,” said WCC Executive Director Rick Yount. “We are grateful to SFIA and our other supporters for their work in helping us to create a new facility to accommodate the important breeding and training necessary to expand the program to more of the 446,000 Veterans affected by PTSD and TBI.”

When the multi-year renovation and construction project is completed, WCC estimates the new Healing Quarters and additional program locations will allow the organization to serve more than 48,000 Veterans and active duty Service Members by 2025. In addition to breeding and training, the new facility will provide Mission Based Trauma Recovery services, career training, and expansion of other Animal Assisted Therapies and forms of integrative medicine, such as Equine Assisted Therapy, creative arts therapy, and therapeutic farming and gardening.

“The steel used in this building is more than a building material,” said Yount. “It is a fitting symbol of the enduring strength and resolve of the Warriors who have risked everything to come to the aid of their country — and of those who now come to the aid of those Veterans and Service Members.”