Two local organizations—The Living Legacy Center and the southeast Texas chapter of Lone Star Military Maintenance—have announced a partnership to better serve veterans in the Houston community.

The Living Legacy Center was founded in 2015 to provide guidance to veterans, seniors and individuals with special needs when it comes to navigating online resources and applying for assistance. The group has a goal to one day offer free legal, educational and financial counseling and assistance free of charge to its clients.

Meanwhile, Lone Star Military Maintenance was launched in 2016 and seeks to reduce veteran unemployment by hiring them for commercial maintenance and janitorial service work.

The partnership kicked off when Lone Star named the Living Legacy Center as its official charity partner, donating proceeds from an April 29 veteran job fair. An initial donation of $200 was made May 30, which officials said will be used to help veterans in a variety of ways.

"Our mission is to get more veterans and their family employed, but they often have other areas in their lives where they can use assistance," Lone Star CEO John McDermott Jr. said. "We saw that [the Living Legacy Foundation] was addressing some of the social issues that veterans face, which was along the lines of what we were looking for [in a charity partner]."

The partnership is intended to help both organizations connect with veterans in need. Lone Star will refer veterans to Living Legacy Center for help with certain needs, and Living Legacy Center will do the same for veterans looking for employment opportunities.

"[Living Legacy Center] was never meant to be a one-man show," founder Elizabeth Hilbun said. "The more team members we can get on board, the more we can serve our community."

Hilbun has worked as a lawyer in Cy-Fair since 1991 with the Hilbun Law Firm, representing clients with veterans' benefits, among others.

Living Legacy Center was selected from 20 other charities that were under consideration, Lone Star sales director Raymond Amador Jr. said.

"At the end of the day, we want to be in the [Houston] area, to see the impact locally," he said. "If we don't give upfront, we're not going to get our blessings later in the day."

Living Legacy Center is in the process of opening an office at 12527 Cypress North Houston Road, Cypress, where the organization's Life Care coaches will be able to provide support to clients in face-to-face meetings. Hilbun said she hopes to host an open house at the new office Aug. 19 and keep it funded through annual fundraiser events. A gala is being organized for May 12, 2018, at Hotel ZaZa, where Hilbun hopes to raise enough money to cover operating costs for the next three years.

Lone Star is also planning its next veteran hiring event, which is set to take place Sept. 16 at the Lone Star College-Montgomery campus, McDermott said. Details are still being worked out, but plans include having open forum seminars where attendees can receive advice on a variety of employment topics.