The news was a bright spot in an all-too-often bleak outlook. The Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home officially opened its doors Monday for Hawai'i's elderly veterans in need of long-term care.

The first state-run veterans home is a 95-bed long-term adult care facility in Hilo. It was named after the World War II hero and member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team who died in Hilo in 2003 at 83.

About two-thirds of the $33 million cost of the facility was covered by the federal government. And officials say the veterans home should break even, due in part to payments provided by the Veterans Administration, Medicare and Medicaid.

The center represents a small part of the overall fabric of care our veterans deserve, from adequate healthcare to proper retirement benefits to the very basics of having a place to sleep at night. Too many of our veterans are forced to fight for benefits they've rightly earned. That was made clear through a congressional inquiry into shoddy outpatient care and run-down facilities at veterans hospitals. Then last week, a study by the nonprofit Alliance to End Homelessness showed a disproportionate number of our veterans end up homeless. They represent 25 percent of the homeless population yet they account for only 11 percent of the general adult population, the study showed.

Thankfully, there are efforts underway in Congress to turn the tide.

Here at home, this new facility is a small yet significant sign that says we believe our aging veterans deserve to be taken care of, when they can no longer take care of themselves.