PORT TOWNSEND — Like those who served, Voices for Veterans seeks to provide a trusted service year after year — one that’s deserving of its recipients, President John Brasch said.
For the 13th year, the nonprofit organized three “Stand Down” events featuring a range of services available to veterans across the North Olympic Peninsula in May, July and October.
On Monday, Port Townsend’s Stand Down will gather more than 30 organizations to the Elks Lodge, 555 Otto St., between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Jefferson Transit will provide free transportation to those who request it to and from the lodge.
Forks’ Stand Down took place May 3, and Port Angeles’ Stand Down will occur Oct. 5. In 2016, the three Stand Down events served a collective 767 veterans.
Services at Port Townsend’s Stand Down will include a hot breakfast and lunch, housing assistance, medical and dental screening, employment services, free clothing and bedding, outdoor equipment, veterinary care, benefits counseling and legal aid, among others.
“We wouldn’t put on an event that’s not deserving of the people coming,” Brasch said. “At some point, they answered the bell. When the country called, they served. They didn’t run. They didn’t hide.”
Brasch said none of the services will be second-rate. For example, all clothing will be new.
“I believe veterans deserve new clothing, not secondhand or hand-me-downs,” he said.
The event will be open to all veterans, especially homeless veterans and those in need, and their immediate dependent family members. Veterans do not require formal proof of service for admission. However, they will need proper documents to sign up for certain benefits and services, Brasch said.
Last year, Port Townsend served 217 veterans, according to the stand-down’s action report.
“We think every veteran is a long-lost cousin,” he said. “We invite them to a family reunion.”
Of those 217 veterans, 36 reported being homeless.
Every stand-down yields a better housing situation for some veterans, he said. It typically changes in degrees. The first step may be going to an overnight shelter, then it’s temporary housing, then it’s a leased apartment, he said.
You would be hard-pressed to find a service that’s not represented at the stand-downs.
Last year in Port Townsend, the American Red Cross distributed approximately 100 first-aid kits and 150 emergency whistles and flashlights, Victoria Clippers gave 36 haircuts, Cindy Brown served 400 meals, 18 veterans received dental care, Jefferson County Medical Health Screening saw 25 patients and 105 veterans received new clothing.
And that’s not including the 30 other services offered, such as acupuncture, assured hospice, several shelters, veteran service programs, Dove House Advocacy Services, Jefferson Transit, Marvelous Massage, veterinary care and legal aid.
In the 2016 action report, some organizations revealed the most extreme or urgent services they provided at the Port Townsend Stand Down.
Cunnington Dental booked a same-day emergency appointment for a patient experiencing urgent pain and coordinated a ride to the dentist office.
Dove House Advocacy Services, which provides crisis intervention, shelter and advocacy for victims of domestic violence, connected a man concerned about his granddaughters’ safety to an agency close to their residence.
The Northwest Veterans Resource Center signed up a Vietnam veteran with benefits for the first time.
Olympic Community Action Programs put a homeless family into a motel and a homeless male veteran into a shelter.
Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers accepted two medical debt cases, determining local hospitals did not offer proper debt assistance to the veterans. They advised a client his medical debt will likely be 100 percent forgiven. “This is a very prevalent problem,” they wrote.
VA Homeless Veteran Outreach enrolled a “chronically homeless” veteran who has been camping for years in VA Healthcare and set up a screening appointment for VA housing programs.
WorkSource connected a veteran with “the whole thing”: housing, benefits, medical care, dental care and employment.
Medical Health Screening encountered a 79-year-old man who mentioned back pain in a casual conversation. He said he was tapering off opioids and had experienced severe weight loss in the past eight months. When he lay down for acupuncture, he could not get off the table. The man was sent to the hospital by ambulance with a “very likely spontaneous vertebral compression fracture (very painful).”
“Keep doing these events!!” wrote Peninsula Community Behavioral Health. “These are so badly needed in our area.”
Voices for Veterans started in 2004 after hosting its first stand-down in October. It’s a nonprofit corporation composed solely of volunteers.
“Nobody gets a nickel — nobody gets mileage,” Brasch said. “We’re a nonprofit in the truest sense of the word.”
For more information about Monday’s stand-down or transportation, contact Paul at 360-640-0296, Gary at 360-731-6398 or Jeff at 360-797-1791.
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Reporter Sarah Sharp can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56650, or at ssharp@peninsuladailynews.com.
