The New England Center and Home for Veterans is the recipient of a $500,000 grant courtesy of the Yawkey Foundation which will aid in the provider’s expansion and renovation efforts.

Grant funding will be used to reconfigure a part of the center’s housing spaces into 10 individual private rooms and add 11 new ones. The work will nearly double the number of accommodations for the center’s veterans..

Andy McCawley, the center’s president and CEO, said the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the veteran community was significant, even for those required to self-isolate within the facilities. While the center was fortunate enough to avoid any serious illness or death due to the virus, the pandemic underscored the need for renovations and growth to effectively aid hundreds of local veterans.

“As the Center observed the coronavirus pandemic unfold at other veteran and senior living and care locations in the winter of 2020, it was very concerned and expected significant mortality,” McCawley said. “The measures taken through the public health emergency led the Center to plan for this project, which increases the number of private rooms for veterans in transitional programs at the center.”

McCawley said the “vital” grant funds from the Yawkey Foundation will fund work as part of the center’s $4.5M Transitional Housing Reconfiguration Project. The initiative is made up of private philanthropic efforts and government resources, but the $500,000 grant money will be used for work that are not funded under the government portion.

“The center is continuously monitoring and evaluating the landscape of veteran need, and innovating and evaluating the most impactful and effective models of service,” McCawley said. “To do so, it is always seeking partners to collaborate with, such as the Yawkey Foundation.”

Maureen H. Bleday, CEO of the Yawkey Foundation, said the grant is reflective of the organization’s namesakes Jean and Tom Yawkey.

“During their seven decades of Red Sox ownership, many of the team’s players served our country before, during, and after their Major League baseball careers,” Bleday said.

While the center is located adjacent to City Hall in downtown Boston, it serves as a nationwide resource for veterans to utilize. Last year, McCawley said, the center served more than 1,000 veterans and family members, with more than 30% of those located outside of the Bay State.

More work is needed to aid the veteran population on a national level, McCawley said, but grants from organizations such as the Yawkey Foundation are and will continue to be a large part of the solution.

“Veterans in this country are an aging population, with well over half being in their senior years,” McCawley said. “The challenge is providing support and resources to enable Veterans to live and age in their homes, with independence and dignity.”