Local and statewide officials met with veterans recently to see how they could offer assistance. U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who could not attend but sent her staff to facilitate, called the meeting. (L-R) General Tim Cossalter, Greg Swanholm, Jacqui Wicklund, Ben Vanderscheun, Anna Lewicki Long, Mike McElhiney, Pat Stand, Clarence Everson, Jerry Fallos.
Veterans in need of help have plenty of resources, said retired General Tim Cossalter, Outreach Director for U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar. General Cossalter was in Grand Marais at the Cook County commissioners’ room on Tuesday, September 30, 2014 with a message for men and women who have served in the Armed Forces.
However, Mike McElhiney, legislative director of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs said, many of the 360,000 veterans in Minnesota don’t know where to go for help.
“We’re here to listen, to put our ears to the ground for Senator Klobuchar and report back to her,” said Greg Swanholm, a constituent advocate from Klobuchar’s office.
A short message from Klobuchar was played. After highlighting several legislative accomplishments aimed at helping veterans, Klobuchar said in part, “These people served with valor and honor and we need to give them the support they need when they come home.”
The fact that some veterans slip through the cracks, Klobuchar said was “inexcusable and must be fixed immediately.” She added, “I have always believed that when we ask our young men and women to fight in defense of our nation, we make a promise that we will give them the resources they need to do their jobs. We also promise to take care of them when they return home.”
It is for that very reason, said Jacqui Wicklund, case manager for Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV), that her organization “provides assistance throughout Minnesota to positively motivate veterans and their families who are homeless or experiencing other life crisis.”
Wicklund said it is estimated that as many as 4,000 veterans a year will experience homelessness in Minnesota, often finding shelter in basements, cars, shelters, or living on the streets.
“Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans’ offers transitional and permanent supportive housing programs for veterans who are experiencing homelessness with safe, clean, affordable housing. We don’t duplicate service already available through the federal, state or county veteran benefits, but we fill in the gaps in those services and provide housing, employment and legal support. We partner with other community organizations to coordinate and provide those services.”
Ben Vanderscheuren, Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), said his department works to help veterans get jobs or provides temporary benefits for qualified people out of work.
Not long ago veterans were unemployed at a higher rate than non-veterans in Minnesota, but that has changed since programs like “Beyond the Yellow Ribbon” has taken up the cause to assist veterans in their search for work. Veterans are now employed at a greater rate and have less unemployment than non-veterans in Minnesota, said Vanderscheuren.
The Global War on Terror has been particularly hard on Minnesota families, with more than 19,000 Minnesota National Guard members having been deployed since 2001 in more than 33 countries. Klobuchar said one man returning home from Iraq had lost a leg in battle, and had twice been turned down for benefits. She went to the top of the Army’s command to get the matter straightened out and the young man received the help he needed. That’s one reason she was sending her team around the region to collect information about how the system was working for Minnesota’s active service men and women and for its veterans long returned home from conflicts.
McElhiney said the state has five veteran homes and five V.A. health care centers. “We also have 14-20 state programs that serve as a bridge to federal benefits for veterans. And we can act faster than the feds can. We can help close the gap on a problem a veteran might be having while they are waiting for the federal government to help out. We are a safety net and can fill in the gap.”
Anna Lewicki Long, who is also a veteran, is the communication director for Minnesota Department of Veteran’s Affairs, announced that her department had recently partnered with Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota to create the C.O.R.E. (case management, outreach, referral, and education) program, which is designed to bring counseling and community based services to veterans, military members and their families across the state. Counseling includes individual/ family/marriage counseling, addiction counseling, financial counseling, stress management counseling, respite care, caregiver support and more. Also offered is deployment and reintegration assistance.
“We have office locations throughout Minnesota and trained counselors offering 24/7 support. But if you can’t get to our facilities, we’ll bring our programs to you,” she said, adding, “This is the first program of its kind in the United States and other states are asking us about it. We are hearing a lot of positive things nationally about this program.”
Klobuchar’s regional outreach director Jerry Fallos, whose office is in Virginia, Minnesota, said he was there as part of the coalition to help find assistance for veterans, and would pass concerns to Senator Klobuchar.
Grand Portage Veterans Service Officer Clarence Everson asked if there was any way that money could be made available to help veterans with transportation costs to the V.A., which is often a long ride to the Twin Cities. “The county commissioners and Grand Portage help pay for that now, but there used to be an enhancement grant the state gave us that helped a lot. Then it was taken away two years ago. Is there anyway that could be brought back?”
Long said there might be funds in the form of a grant in one of the V.A. departments that could be used to pay for transportation, but the county would have to apply for it.
Cook County Veterans Service Officer Pat Strand said a van for veterans leaves from Duluth to take veterans to the cities between 5:30 – 5:45 a.m. and she wondered out loud what time someone from Grand Portage or from up the Gunflint Trail would have to get up to drive to Duluth to catch that bus. She asked if a bus or van would be coming to Cook County on a regular basis to pick up veterans and take them to their V.A. appointments. Wicklund told her that it could be looked at to see if it was feasible. Enough ridership would be needed and appointment schedules would have to be worked out to make it successful, she said.
For more information on the veteran programs introduced by the speakers, visit: www.MinnesotaVeteran.org
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