Mayor Walsh Announces Expansion Of Syracuse Hometown Heroes Banners
Published on February 21, 2025
2025 orders are open until March 22; banners to be posted for Memorial Day
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh announced the Syracuse Hometown Heroes veteran banner program will expand to new locations in all quadrants of the City of Syracuse. Hometown Heroes, popular in communities around the nation, allows families and friends to sponsor banners featuring their veteran or active duty loved ones to be posted on city streets. 2025 orders opened on Friday and can be placed at SyracuseHometownHeroes.com until March 22, 2025.
Hometown Heroes began in the City of Syracuse in 2024 with more than 150 banners posted in Kirk Park on the City’s southside and on James Street from near downtown extending to Eastwood. In 2025 banner locations are being added in the NBT Bank Stadium/Regional Market area; North Salina Street; Upper Onondaga Park; Comstock Avenue near Syracuse University; Waverly and Crouse Avenues near the National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC) at The Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building and Burnet Park. Banners will be hung before Memorial Day and stay up until Veterans Day.
“The response to Syracuse Hometown Heroes in our inaugural year was outstanding,” said Mayor Walsh. “Cherished photos of veterans and pictures of proud active-duty soldiers will now be appearing on city streets in six new areas. I’m deeply grateful to all those who have placed banners and encourage more to celebrate their loved ones with a record of service to our nation.”
The cost is $160 per banner and includes three years of posting. The fee covers banner printing and posting and the ongoing administration of the program. Orders can be submitted online or by mail to: Syracuse Hometown Heroes, c/o Syracuse Parks Conservancy, P.O. Box 11384. Syracuse, NY 13218.
The City created Syracuse Hometown Heroes in partnership with the Syracuse Parks Conservancy, which is administering the program, and the Dunbar American Legion Post 1642 in Syracuse. The program is sponsored by the Syracuse University Institute of Veterans and Military Families (IVMF).
With IVMF support, Syracuse Hometown Heroes also provides financial assistance to individuals and families meeting eligibility criteria. Information about financial assistance is available on the submission form on SyracuseHometownHeroes.com.
IVMF is also the creator and operator of SyracuseServes, a coordinated care network that ensures Syracuse’s military-connected community can easily and successfully navigate to the care, resources, and services they need. The program is located at the NVRC as a program of the D’Aniello Institute for Veteran and Military Families (IVMF). Launched by IVMF in 2022 in partnership with the City, SyracuseServes has already helped more than 500 people get access to care and services to help veterans and their families sustain healthy, productive, and economically stable lives following separation from the armed forces.
The Oneida County Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, which operates the Hometown Heroes program in the Mohawk Valley, assisted Syracuse in creating Syracuse Hometown Heroes.