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SEMO Workshop aims to assist veterans
SIKESTON — In an effort to fill a community need and help veterans, a Scott County family created SEMO Workshop LLC, which is now operating in Sikeston.
The organization, which is managed by Tina Johnson and her husband, Mike Johnson, a retired U.S. Navy veteran, serves as a resource for veterans, providing them with a pantry full of food, clothing and hygiene products as well as woodworking and other craft opportunities free of charge.
In September, 84 veterans utilized the workshop, according to Tina Johnson.
“It’s so awesome to see,” Tina Johnson said.
Located at 2022 East Malone Ave. in Sikeston, the 10,000-square-foot building located near Lambert’s Cafe includes a pantry for veterans, classroom for public and veteran use, wood shop and booth space for vendors to showcase their goods.
SEMO Workshop LLC also doubles as a craft mall that provides home décor, custom woodworking, custom laser engraving, custom carving, embroidery and custom furniture.
The workshop’s classroom is used for birthday parties, regular classes, craft classes, painting classes and all of those are free for veterans.
“They’re open to the public, but its free for the veterans to come in and use,” Johnson said. “It’s just one more thing we that try to help give them a purpose — something to look forward to, something to get them up the next day to go do.”
Johnson has a children’s boutique, and other booths are rented out to individuals, she said.
“A lot of booth rentals are to veterans, veteran’s families and veteran family members,” Johnson said. “Veterans make things in our wood shop, and they can put it in the store and they can keep the money for whatever they sell.”
Sales from the store go back into the workshop, and the Sikeston VFW Post and Auxiliary helps with the pantry for veterans.
“We’re getting ready for winter. We’ve got coats, hats, gloves, and we’re stocking up on canned soups and those types of things,” Tina Johnson said.
Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri is also a big support, she said.
The free services provided for veterans can be therapeutic for them as well, she said.
“Veterans can start a project, and they can back the next day and come finish. Sometimes, medically, they’re not always able to stay for the full class and then they can come back and finish it,” she said.
Johnson noted its often the transition from military services to civilian life that is difficult for veterans.
“They have such a hard time from the transition,” she said.
The workshop also helps veterans with finding a job by helping with their resumes and even a suit or dress clothes from the pantry, Johnson said.
The workshop began early this year when Johnson’s son, Dustin Johnson, started the organization under the name, Workshop 22, referencing the 22 veterans who lose their lives to suicide each day. By February, they moved into the former Diebold Orchards building located off Interstate 55 in Benton, Mo.
“When we were located in Benton, we were right between Cape Girardeau and Sikeston. That let us know the services that were needed so there was more of a need south so that’s why we came to Sikeston,” Johnson said.
On Nov. 2, they opened at their new location in Sikeston and under the new name, SEMO Workshop LLC.
As they made their move to SEMO Workshop to Sikeston, Dustin stepped away from the workshop to train for another attempt to run around the world which begins in April 2022.
“He wants to be the first American to ever run around the world so he’ll be the first American and the youngest in the world, and all of that, he is dedicating to veteran suicide awareness,” Johnson said.
A Navy veteran, Dustin experienced a period of poor mental health and a suicide attempt, his mother said. He served three tours overseas and a couple weeks before coming home, his best friend died by suicide.
“He had a really hard time,” Johnson said of her son. “He lived in four different places in seven or eight months. He couldn’t keep a job or concentrate. He built a tiny home and a couple weeks after he moved in, it burnt, and he lost everything. A couple weeks later, he attempted to take his own life.”
It was Dustin’s love of woodworking and desire to raise awareness about mental health struggles among veterans that led him to the idea for Workshop 22, his mother said. Even though he’s stepped away, Dustin will continue with his projects under the name of Workshop 22, Johnson said.
“We will carry on his mission for the veterans in our community,” Johnson said. “That is our most important part of all this.”
Johnson said she wants to keep her son’s vision and mission going.
“He’s still alive, but it’s still in honor of him starting all of this for the veterans,” Johnson said of her son. “He’s helped so many people, and we want to keep it all going while he starts his training for his run.”
Johnson will be gone a little over year, and his mother said they want to keep the workshop going for his return home.
“That’s what it’s for — to help give veterans a purpose and something to do,” Johnson said. “They touch our lives. They think we’re touching theirs, but they’re touching ours. … It’s the least we can do for them.”
Hours of operation are 9 a.m. to 5 pm. Tuesday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and closed Sunday and Monday. The phone number is (573) 475-8112.