Veterans seek hall of their own

Ernesto Alvizo says he gets the occasional “thanks for your service” when the Iraq veteran walks around town in his Marine uniform, but says a lot of the community’s support stops there.

Despite spending 14 months and two tours abroad training Iraqi forces, the Costa Mesa resident said he came home to nearly a year of unemployment, a number of trying job interviews, and a frequently frustrating assimilation back into the United States.

“Sometimes you find yourself in hard options,” he said. “[Veterans] either become cops or go back into the military, because it’s so hard to find employment. Seems like everything is college-bound these days, but when you’re out of the military at 24 or 25 years old and you have bills to pay, you don’t have time to go to college.”

Alvizo has tried to make ends meet with some temporary and odd-jobs, but he may be forced to rejoin the military if he can’t find steady civilian sector work soon.

“You can’t really make it out here just coasting from temp job to temp job,” he said. “What am I going to do with $300 a week?”

While the military did offer some classes on handling post-war civilian life, Alvizo said, what he really needs is camaraderie. Everyone took care of each other in Iraq, he said, and he would love to meet and be supported by other vets experiencing similar hardships.

“Then you can share your experiences with each other, and sometimes that helps a person used to being around military personnel because we all share a mind-set that most people don’t have,” he said.

While there are veterans’ halls in Newport Beach and Santa Ana, Costa Mesa’s veterans face their third year lacking a veteran’s hall to call their own, after the Costa Mesa Police Department started using the city-owned building for extra space during its headquarters’ renovations.

While the city took some measures to help the groups using the hall — it has stored their equipment and allowed them to use the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Center at no cost — city officials have been looking into ways to expedite giving the groups a bona fide veteran’s hall.

“They would move back into the existing location when the police station is finished,” Assistant City Manager Tom Hatch said. “There is also the possibility of finding them their own facility down the road as well, so some of that has been occurring.”

Hatch declined to name the other locations city staff had considered, saying he didn’t want to preempt the City Council’s oversight of such acquisitions or decisions.

He added that staff had also considered a temporary building replacement, but decided to focus on finding a long-term solution to the displacement instead.

Mayor Eric Bever said he thought the city had an obligation to honor the city’s veterans and provide them with a veteran’s hall.

“I believe that the agreement at the time was that ... the hall would be replaced — that’s my understanding,” he said.

“I think if the city did agree to do that, then we need to get a veteran’s hall of some sort and get them a place to gather.”

For those veterans seeking help or support from their fellow vets, there are a few options available in neighboring cities.

There are two American Legion halls — one at 1300 S. Grand Ave., Room B, Santa Ana, and 215 15th St. on Balboa — as well as a U.S. Veterans’ Affairs Branch on 2740 S. Bristol St., No. 110, Santa Ana.

Interested veterans can contact that office at (714) 567-7450.

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.