Easterseals Breaks Ground on New Equine, Empowerment Centers at Franklin Veterans Campus

Edward Wilusz understands veterans’ struggles. He is one himself.

Wilusz enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school and served in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969. He wears his service proudly: His weathered green hat and his vest, adorned with medals on the front and a large green dragon on the back, both display “Vietnam Veteran.”

Wilusz joined hundreds of other guests on Tuesday to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony for two new service centers at the Easterseals Military and Veterans Campus in Franklin.

Through his advocacy with Vietnam Veterans of America, Wilusz raised thousands of dollars for the facility and helped an unhoused veteran gain stable ground through Easterseals’s affordable housing. Support for service members, he said, is self-evident.

“It’s a promise that was made by Abraham Lincoln, that we would always support the veterans and take care of them. And I think somehow that’s been lost over the years,” said Wilusz, who lives in Moultonborough. “Now it’s nice and refreshing to see that that’s coming back and people are really starting to care.”

The Phase II Groundbreaking ceremony marked the start of construction on the Solinksy Equine & Recreation Center and the Solinsky Empowerment Center. The former will offer therapeutic services with the help of horses and dogs, and the latter will tackle personal growth through counseling. An outdoor ropes course and a climbing wall will also be added.

Edward Wilusz speaks to another guest at the Easterseals groundbreaking event in Franklin on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI/Monitor)

These new amenities will join the 29-unit affordable housing building, a conference and event center and hubs for veteran service organizations that are already at the campus.

Ana McKenna, the chief military and veterans services officer for Easterseals, said during the ceremony that healing doesn’t happen overnight but rather through community and opportunities to grow.

“This campus is a place where military members, veterans, first responders and their families can all find all of those things here in one location, and we’ve built incredible momentum,” she said. “Today isn’t just the start of construction. It’s beginning new possibilities for thousands of people who will walk these grounds in the years ahead.”

Easterseals NH opened its first veterans campus in Franklin on Sept. 18, sprawling 15 acres right outside the city’s downtown. Military members and veterans can receive professional and communal support at Easterseals while connecting with nature, according to their website.

Eric Anthony served in the Marines as an infantry language specialist in Vietnam and is an active commandant of the Granite State Marine Corps League. The Auburn resident said he’s never seen anything like the Easterseals campus.

“When I came home, there was really nobody to welcome me. In fact, you know, I got some adverse treatment, too,” Anthony said. “But nothing says welcome home like not just saying, ‘Welcome home,’ but having a place for treatment and a community that welcomes you.”

Both U.S. Representatives Maggie Goodlander and Chris Pappas attended Tuesday’s ceremony. Goodlander, who served as an intelligence officer for the Navy Reserve for over a decade, said the campus will ensure that no veteran or service member “will ever be left behind.”

Checkers, the miniature horse from UpReach Therapeutic Equestrain Center, joins the ceremonial groundbreaking at Easterseals Military & Veterans Campus in Franklin. (Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI/Monitor)

“What’s happening on this campus is going to keep us forever young, and that is because the promise of this country is really, at the end, pretty simple,” she said. “It’s people of good faith who believe in one another, who believe in self-government, who believe in solving problems together and coming together in community and in support for one another.”

Easterseals NH’s Veterans Count is a program that has provided critical case management and financial resources to meet service members’ needs since 2007. One of its key figures was Hope Makris, who raised money through Veterans Count since the passing of her husband Peter, a World War II veteran, also in 2007.

Makris lived to 100 years old and passed away in May 2025. In a tribute to her work, Easterseals named a soon-to-be-built road after her: Hope’s Way.

Guests at the Easterseals Military & Veterans Campus enjoyed lunch after the groundbreaking program on Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2026. (Credit: EMILIA WISNIEWSKI/Monitor)

Cynthia Makris, Hope’s daughter and chairman of the Lakes Region Veterans County chapter, received a green street sign with her mother’s name.

“Hope’s Way on the Military and Veterans Campus in Franklin is a beautiful honor, and my mother did have her way for 100 years,” Cynthia said. “Today is about continuing the work that is being done to help our veterans and their families in New Hampshire.”