Making connections for Montana veterans

An event called Mil/Vet Connect gave Lincoln-area veterans the chance to connect with resources that are available to them through the Veterans Administration and other organizations around the state.

"We're trying to go to smaller communities," said Jennifer Thomas with Veterans Inc., the organization that worked with Montana Joining Community Forces to bring the event to the Lincoln Community Hall May 26. "In October we did one in Townsend. Next October we'll do Boulder. "We're just trying tobring all these resources that are in Helena, like the VA, or in Missoula or wherever, to them."

Thomas said the response in Lincoln was pretty good. In the first 40 minutes they had already seen more veterans than they had at the entire event in Townsend. More people trickled in during the three-hour event, and traffic picked up noticeably around 1 p.m.

The get together included representatives from several different Veteran Affairs departments, The Montana VA Health Care system, the State of Montana Mental Health Ombudsman, Lincoln American Legion Post 9, PureView Health Center, the Montana Telecommunications Access Program, Humana Health Insurance, Lewis and Clark Public Health, the Mobile Vet Center, Veterans Upward Bound and the Montana Highway Patrol.

Michael Wolff, the Project & Technology Manager for Veterans Upward Bound, said a lot of vets don't know what they're entitled to, and Mil/Vet Connect is a chance to let them know what service are available.

"It's just an opportunity for them to come talk to other service providers who are in the area and get various news," he said, nothing he had a conversation with one area veteran who mainly stopped in for the meal provided by the Montanan, but also found useful information from the organizations there.

Veterans Upward Bound is primarily focused on veterans looking to go to school and Wolff said most of the veterans he talked to here were older and weren't looking to go back to school, but he said they have other tools veterans can use, such as computer classes that can them advance in their careers.

Jeff Haley with the Montana Telecommunications Access Program said the event was a way to make sure everyone's aware of their program, particularly veterans. "We want to make sure we offer our services to veterans who are hard of hearing, and the public at large," he said. "We provide caption telephones or those who need it and amplified telephones for people who are hard of hearing

Likewise, it gave Lincoln American Legion Post 9, another way to connect with local veterans.

"I think it's awareness," Post Adjutant Doug Vulcan said. "We have a large veteran population here in this town and I'd say our Legion membership is not even a third of what's here."

Vulcan said the Lincoln post has an information officer available - Rich Paul - who can connect veterans in need of help to a state-qualified service officer in one of the surrounding communities.

One vendor who - like several others - wasn't authorized to talk to "the press" noted that the day was all about making connections that veterans need.