March 19, 2024

Veteran’s Outreach Dinner set for next Thursday

Managing Veterans Affairs is a tough job, but from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at Lakeside Hotel Casino, Director Joella Perry will get to spend a few hours doing what she loves best — teaching veterans, active servicemembers and their spouses how to take advantage of the opportunities at federal, state and county levels.

“We’ve come a long ways,” says Perry. “There’s a lot available.”

The Veterans Outreach Dinner is a free program put on once a year. Vendors in healthcare, education, employment and other areas set up booths to share information with visitors.

“They can talk to them one-on-one. It’s a way to teach a person how to use the services available to them,” says Perry.

At 6 p.m., dinner is served, and vendors will have the chance to make short presentations to share what their product is all about.

A lack of information, or worse, misinformation, can deny essential support systems from reaching current and former members of the military, and their families.

“So many people don’t know what’s available to them,” says Perry, whose job ranges from coordinating healthcare for an older veteran to helping a young couple facing eviction.

It doesn’t help that policies at the VA change almost as quickly as Perry can learn about them.

“We’re trained on how to find the information,” she said.

Despite the paperwork hassles, Perry is proud of the active rate in the district. Around 60 percent take part in VA healthcare services.

“That’s really good numbers when you look at a small, rural town thats a pretty good distance away and the majority of our clients are in their 80s and 90s,” Perry said.

One of the services she’s most looking forward to learning more about Thursday, April 6, is the telehealth system, which allows doctors to examine patients and deliver treatments by mobile device.

“They’re supposed to be there to demonstrate and explain. It’ll be fun to get that information out there,” she said. “I’m very excited about that.”

When it comes to new opportunities like the telehealth, or even a new grant applicant, Perry prefers to walk clients through the process.

“I try to go from the beginning to the end with them,” said Perry, so they can enjoy the full benefits.

Unfortunately, not all of the people who visit her office are willing to gives services a second chance.

“’I’ve got some that refuse to go and think of the VA the way it was 40 years ago,” she said. “If they’d go, they would see a huge difference.”

Veterans use the servities they receive through the VA to improve their health and their quality of life. How Perry can help them do that could be anyone’s guess when they first walk through her door.

“Every veteran that I’ve had come in here has had a different need,” she said.

By spreading the word during the outreach dinner, she hopes to make that process easier.