American Brawn Solace Center opens its doors in Grinnell

A grand opening is slated for Friday, March 29 from 6 - 8 p.m.

​       Kent Reed, founder of American Brawn Charity and the newly opened Solace Center on the third floor of the Grinnell Masonic Lodge at 928 Main St. in Grinnell is shown in the art therapy area of the center. Reed founded American Brawn in 2018 following a motorcycle accident. to help first responders and veterans. The Solace Center is a place where veterans and first responders can gather to do art projects, listen to music, read and relax. A grand opening is slated for Friday, March 29 from 6 – 8 p.m. The event will feature live music, snacks and a tour of the space.

By J.O. Parker
 
      A place of solace for veterans and first responders to gather, visit, listen to music, read or work on art projects has opened its doors in Grinnell.
       The American Brawn Solace Center is located on the third floor of the Grinnell Masonic Lodge at 928 Main St.
       The public is invited to a grand opening on Friday, March 29 from 6 – 8 p.m. The event will feature live music, snacks and a tour of the space.
     The Solace Center is the brainchild of Kent Reed, the president and founder of the Grinnell-based American Brawn Charity outreach, an organization he founded in the summer of 2018.
    Reed, a sales representative with Latitude Signage + Design in Grinnell, founded the fundraising organization following a serious motorcycle accident in the Altoona area on June 2, 2016, that left him with three skull fractures and a brain bleed.
      “My life was saved by first responders who got to the scene and stopped the bleeding and got me to the Mercy Hospital Emergency Room (ER) where they saved my life,” he said in an earlier interview.
        Reed spent eight days in the ICU at Mercy where he dealt with ongoing complications of the accident. He spent six months off work and was unable to drive while recovering from the accident.
       “I came back better than before,” he said in an earlier interview. “Since then, I have been doing everything I can (to make a difference) with the rest of my life that God has given me to live.”
      While recovering, Reed decided to pay back and pay forward for what first responders did for him and what the veterans have always done to keep us free and safe.
     Each year in late July, Reed and American Brawn host a fundraising gala to benefit veterans and first responders.
       “So far, we have raised almost $80,000,” noted Reed of the 501c3 non-profit organization.
      The mission of the organization is saving lives through efforts to stop suicide among U.S. Military, Veterans and First Responders, and to provide grants to Fire and EMS departments for the purchase of life-saving equipment.
       It was through the gala that Reed met Scott Droessler, a 28-year Army Veteran and Cedar Rapids artist.
Reed said Droessler entered the Army as a young man and it was his mom who made him promise that he would earn a college degree after the military.
      “He did go back to college 28 years later where he earned a fine arts degree,” said Reed.
Droessler is founder of CAV (Community of Artists and Veterans) located on the fifth floor of the Cedar Rapids City Hall. 
     “His program provides art therapy to veterans and their families,” said Reed. “He has donated some of his artwork to American Brawn Charity fundraisers the last two years.”
      Reed visited the art therapy center during one of their sessions in November 2023.
      “It gave me the fever to create a similar program in Grinnell,” said Reed. “His place had large windows and lots of natural light for the art studio.”
      “I started thinking of where I could do that in Grinnell and the Masonic Lodge came to mind,” added Reed.     “I asked (the Masons) and they welcomed the idea with open arms.”
    Over the course of the next three months, Reed and a host of volunteers spent Saturdays and some evenings cleaning and organizing the space. Reed said he visited second hand stores and searched Facebook for Sale sites looking for furniture, bookcases, desks, antiques, art supplies and other items for the Solace Center.
      It’s quite a hike to the third floor and Reed said he used the three handicap motorized electric chairs to move furniture and supplies up three flights of stairs to the Solace Center. He hired C&K Transfer of Grinnell to move some of the heavier items.
      The space is divided into two sections by 17 wooden panel doors. On one side is an art therapy area lined with three large wooden folding tables. The other side is the music and reading space filled with large comfy chairs, coffee tables, antiques and a music venue space for mini concerts. There is also an old piano that was inherited with the third floor space when Reed moved in.
       “I had the piano tuned and it is working like new,” said Reed.
       The area also includes a project corner filled with wood shelves, old signs, wooden chairs and other items for guests to paint and create artwork.
       Reed said the items will be sold periodically to raise money for the Solace Center.
      And when guests arrive at the Solace Center, they are greeted by a large wall filled with positive, upbeat sayings, poems and loving quotes.
       Reed said American Brawn is allowed to use the space, which still has access to a rarely used kitchen, on a very generous lease.
      The Masons had a new heating and air conditioning unit added to the space, replacing outdated boiler heat with radiator heating units.
      The Solace Center will be open every Thursday from 6 – 8 p.m. for scheduled solace sessions, inviting veterans, first responders, their families and close friends to partake.
      For those unable to attend a Solace Center session, Reed said he or a volunteer would be happy to provide them with artistic direction and materials for a project to do at their home.
        Other open hours and events will be communicated through the American Brawn Charity Facebook page. These include periodic volunteer workshops and guest artists and musician presentations.
     “Please join us just to check it out with absolutely no obligations whatsoever to stay or come back (although we’re sure you’ll want to!),” noted Reed. “Bring a couple friends with you to share in the time.”
        For more information on American Brawn Charity, visit www.americanbrawn.us.