The veterans here use the computer lab to search for jobs, read in the library or speak with service officers. And two $10,000 donations in the past month, from Broken Arrow Masonic Lodge and Faith Church of south Tulsa, have helped the Coffee Bunker to offer even more.

The Coffee Bunker serves dozens of veterans each day, and its Operations Manager Scott Blackburn said the organization strives to help veterans reintegrate into civilian life through help from veterans who’ve been there before.

“There’s such a high demand it became to where they would go to different agencies and be treated as more of a number,” Blackburn said. “The challenge is to keep the care, keep the love of the veteran in it, not just get them to a service and get them through it.”

Designed to cater to post-9/11 veterans, the Coffee Bunker serves about 1,800 veterans a year, Blackburn said.

Veterans aren’t the only ones at the Coffee Bunker — active duty service members take advantage of the program, too.

Senior Airman Sam Sorte returned from deployment in Iraq with the Air National Guard six months ago and said the services and resources offered at the bunker are revolutionary for veterans readjusting to civilian life.

“What they’re doing is something someone should have thought of 30 years ago,” Sorte said. “It’s something that’s long overdue. We need to give back and take care of these vets, especially these Vietnam-era vets because they didn’t get that respect.”

Although the facility’s services are meant to help veterans, its roots are in the tragic aftermath of war.

Mary Ligon founded the bunker as a way to remember her son, Daniel, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps and saw combat in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004.

She said when her son came home, he returned as a drastically different man. He committed suicide in 2007, and Ligon said she knew there had to be a way to not only honor her son, but also keep others from facing the same fate.

“God, if you don’t do something redemptive with this, this will be the most tragic waste that ever happened,” Ligon said. “Somehow, something good would come out of Daniel’s very sad death.”

Through various programs combating veteran homelessness, drug addiction and unemployment, Blackburn said he wants to see the Coffee Bunker expand its programming further.

It’s why Jim Parham and the rest of the Broken Arrow Masonic Lodge saw a need. Parham, the master of the lodge, said the lodge made the donation after several members found the bunker as a way to readjust after coming home.

“When they came back, they missed the camaraderie,” Parham said. “They were looking for other guys like themselves. They found it in masonry but heard about it through the grapevine and then started going over to the Coffee Bunker.”

Parham said several lodge members volunteer at the Coffee Bunker. With only two full-time employees, the bunker depends on volunteers to help with programs and services, Blackburn said.

Most of those volunteers are also veterans, and Blackburn said it’s part of a unique approach.

“When people talk about PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), TBIs (traumatic brain injuries) and things like that, ... they’re treating people with kid gloves instead of treating them with respect and giving them credit for who they are,” Blackburn said. “We don’t make it sound like they’re the only one going through this. We put them with someone who’s been through it.

“Our peer support is our greatest asset; it’s having veterans who have been through the system here and can explain it to them without treating them like children.”

Faith Church said its board agreed unanimously to make the large donation.

“We kept hearing from local veterans in our community and other organizations about the great work that Coffee Bunker was doing to provide a place of healing for local veterans and their families,” said Kelly Goins, pastor at Faith Church. “I was impressed by their vision and passion to help these men and women who have sacrificed so much for our country.”