ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Veterans Outreach Center will be open on Friday and will welcome veterans who want to come in to talk and connect after seeing and hearing all that's happening in Afghanistan.

Laura Stradley, a veteran and the executive director of the VOC, spoke with Spectrum News 1 about how the center is helping local veterans through this.

"It's very difficult for any American to watch," said Stradley. "But particularly our service members who have been there who have lost battle buddies, that have lost brothers and sisters in arms, that have sacrificed so much and come home wounded and injured, that have lost precious years with their own family in the comfort of our own home in defense of our nation."

The Veterans Outreach Center opens at 10 a.m. and will have behavioral health staff on-site for veterans struggling with the news in Afghanistan.

Stradley says this is an opportunity for veterans, no matter where or how long they served, to connect with each other and process their feelings.

Stradley says there have been more than 800,000 service members who served in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, many of them coming from the Rochester area.

The center serves about 2,000 veterans every year, providing peer support groups, mental health services, housing, job training and wellness programs.

Stradley says the VOC's doors will be open in particular for veterans struggling with the current tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan.