By HANNAH GUNNELL
Veterans Day marked the fifth anniversary of Greenwood-based Veteran Support Ministry.
Co-founder and President Seneca Harbin, a Greenwood native, started the ministry with Jamie Pollard in 2019 after deciding he wanted to give back to the community.
“God’s blessed me with everything I need so I just want to help other people,” Harbin said. “I think a lot of people have a negative outlook because they’ve been beaten down, and I want to be a positive influence.”
His efforts serving veterans began shortly after he was baptized.
“I got saved late in life,” Harbin said. “ I was 32 when I got baptized. After that, I was looking for a way I could give back. I connected with some of my pastor friends and picked their brain about how they got into it and what I would need to do. They said, ‘You don’t have the education, you don’t have the resources, you don’t have the finances. Is there any area in your life you do have authority in?’”
As a tour infantry man — Harbin completed four tours in Iraq, one in Kuwait, and one in Germany — he felt he had authority with the veteran community, so that’s where he started.
Veteran Support Ministry opened its nonprofit on Veterans Day 2019. For a while, it was just Harbin, Pollard, and Loren Minnix, Harbin’s mentor. Now the organization sees about 8-12 members during its weekly meetings.
The ministry meets for an hour at 7 p.m. every Monday at 3209 West Smith Valley Road. Harbin said they started at a church, then moved to his home during the pandemic, and since had the law office at this location donate their conference room for the meetings. Harbin said not being located in a church actually helps some of its members.
“Maybe they’re not into their faith and they’re just looking for companionship or somewhere to vent, or the group think-tank veterans have — we all have a very similar outlook, so not being in a church helps us, I think,” he said.
The meetings consist of a bible verse, followed by open discussion. Group membership includes veterans who served in Korea to current service members.
Veteran Service Ministry’s fifth anniversary celebration was from 6-8 p.m. Nov. 11 at Chicago’s Pizza on Worthsville Road. Every year, Harbin rents out the parlor to serve free pizza and soda to any veteran and their families who attend.
“It’s free pizzas, free sodas, and it’s for any veteran in the community,” Harbin said. “You don’t have to be a member of the ministry to attend.”
This ministry is one of several organizations Harbin is a part of. Harbin is also the Director of Johnson County Veterans Affairs, Chaplain for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department, Preacher at Greenwood Village South, President and Founder of Christian Centered Counseling, and the founder of Jesus Only Ministries.