Darren Abate / the associated press

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RANCHO RESORT
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SAN ANTONIO — Judith Markelz has relied on volunteers for years to help the war wounded and their families. They've delivered meals, DVDs, event tickets and an endless supply of cookies to help comfort those whose lives suddenly were upended by a bomb or a bullet.

So when a new volunteer, Les Huffman, arrived in January 2007 at the chaotic 1,000-square-foot room used for the Warrior and Family Support Center and asked what Markelz needed, the program manager said a new video-game system.

But Huffman, the president of a small commercial development firm, wanted to do more. When Markelz conceded she could use a little more room, that's what she got: a $5 million building funded by private donations and designed like a house, with a garden, video-game room, classroom and kitchen.

"I asked for an Xbox 360, and I got a 12,500 square-foot building," she said with a laugh.

She gets the keys to the place at Fort Sam Houston on Monday. It will be the first center of its kind built on an Army post.

The original support center opened five years ago and was expected to offer a couple of activities a month and provide a place for the wounded so they wouldn't stay in their cramped barracks all the time.

But as the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan dragged on, the number of severely wounded service members grew. Brooke Army Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston has the Army's only burn unit and a large amputee rehabilitation program.

The service members' family members — usually wives or mothers — often drop everything when they get the call that their spouse or child is wounded and arrive in San Antonio overwhelmed. They forget diapers for their infants, don't have more than a couple of changes of clothes and don't have a way of getting around the city.

"When you get that phone call, rational is not what you are," Markelz said.

After the immediate panic, the families have other needs. Sometimes, spouses need education or job skills, and they often need the diversion of crafts and outings, said Markelz, 59.

The retired teacher and her three-member staff work with volunteers to provide all that in the conference room of a Fort Sam Houston-area hotel. They've logged 264,000 visits from service members and their relatives in the last five years.

The new building will let the staff and families do things the cramped room didn't allow.

Families will be able to cook in the large kitchen. A barbecue pavilion sits near a garden built for relaxation and therapy. A high-end game room designed by some of the wounded service members will host video-game tournaments and movie nights.