'Sacred responsibility': After 20 years, Bemidji Veterans Home opens with a long wait list

BEMIDJI, Minn. — Veterans in northern Minnesota now have a new place to call home.

At a dedication ceremony Monday attended by Gov. Tim Walz, Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Pete Stauber, the crowd gave unending applause to officials and advocates who made the longtime dream of a veterans home here a reality. But gratitude extended mostly to the residents who served in the military and the staff who are dedicated to serving the region's aging veterans.

"Thank you for taking on this sacred responsibility," Walz said to hundreds of people gathered under a large white tent Monday. "As long as this nation will stand, this home will be here. As long we have veterans, we're here to care for them. And as you look around, and you see staff in those red shirts, these are high-demand jobs, they could work anywhere. They chose to work here because it's more than a job — it's a mission. They know they're caring for this nation's heroes."

The Bemidji Veterans Home, one of three to open in Minnesota this year, is an 80,000-square-foot, 72-bed facility that welcomed its first 22 residents in February. The home will admit additional residents after hiring staff required for a full facility. Maryhelen Chadwick, the veteran's home volunteer and public affairs coordinator, said the wait-list spans about 300 veterans.

"We're really excited to fill up this place," Chadwick said.

Amenities of the veterans home include a gated courtyard and screened porch for fresh air without bugs in a northwoods setting. There's a theater, dining room, meditation room and chapel. With nearly 300,000 veterans in Minnesota, the new facilities in Bemidji, Preston and Montevideo have the capacity to serve 200 veterans needing skilled nursing.

For some veterans, leaving home to go into assisted living is not easy. But Richard Morine, 81, of Blackduck, said he was so excited to move into Bemidji's veterans home. He was the second vet to move in. The first, Jim Larson, 90 of Nevis, lives right next door.

The two vets are experienced musicians who have karaoke machines in their rooms and spend most nights serenading staff and fellow vets. Morine also has a collection of harmonicas. He said the mouth organ is easier to play than the saxophone with his Parkinson's disease that he was diagnosed with 30 years ago.

Despite the disorder, Morine got out of his wheelchair with the help of staffer Sara Daniels and his wife, Barbara Morine. He stood for the Pledge of Allegiance and Star Spangled Banner, sung by Joe Vene, veteran and former Beltrami County commissioner whose relentless pressure on officials for nearly two decades to build the veterans home is credited for making the project come to fruition.

"When we heard about the home, we just thought, 'Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful to have that care,'" Barbara Morine said. "We have to travel to Fargo to get care for his Parkinson's and everything. So, it was really a prayer come true, a dream and a prayer."

Community outpouring and financial support for the veterans home helped it cross the finish line. Residents donated $2.5 million in kind, Beltrami County contributed $1 million, Bemidji chipped in another $250,000. Sanford Health of Northern Minnesota donated the 15 acres where construction crews broke ground in 2021 to address a growing need for thousand of vets in north central Minnesota.

The closest veterans home is 130 miles away in Fergus Falls. To have one in Bemidji means less driving for loved ones. Spouses say they can visit multiple times a day given the proximity.

It's about a 25-minute drive for Barbara Morine, who is now looking to buy a place in Bemidji to be even closer. She jokes about how her husband is eating steak in Bemidji while she's eating bologna in Blackduck.

Richard Morine said while the meals are delicious and he loves his spacious room, the staff are what make Bemidji feel like home.

"I feel like I'm outside, there's so much room," he said. "And they treat you good. They're right there if you need something."

At the ceremony, Morine's white New Balance shoes tapped along to the drumbeat of the Aazhoomon Singers as the Indigenous group performed. He swayed back and forth while bookended by his wife and staff.

Stauber, in his remarks to the crowd, called out the Morines seated in the first row.

"I've been watching these two, this veteran here in front and this gal holding his hand," Stauber said. "This is who we are as a nation."

But some officials also commented that many veterans didn't receive a warm welcome when they returned to Minnesota from service, notably Vietnam veterans like Red Lake Nation Chair Darrell Seki.

"When you come home to this country, you deserve the best in health care, in a place to stay, in getting a job and making sure you get the respect that you deserve," Klobuchar said. "We stand united regardless of our politics to fight for those who have fought for us, because there is no expiration to the benefits you've earned, no limit to the honor you're due, and no time when we won't be in your debt."

Department of Veteran Affairs officials said that Minnesota is the only state in the nation to ever build and open three veterans homes at one time. The Legislature in 2018 allocated about $32 million for three new facilities — the first to open in more than two decades.

It's because there was a need, Klobuchar said, but more importantly there was support from the community.