New organization to address needs of veterans in the works

Local and area military veterans may soon have a new organization to help address their needs.

The leaders of several organizations will be meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Texarkana Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic on Realtor Road to discuss organizing what is tentatively designated as the Texarkana Community Veterans Engagement Board.

The board’s formation, recently suggested by officials at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport, will focus on veterans needs such as health and medical care, college education, employment and shelter.

Some of the local agencies that may have a part in forming the new outreach program include the Texarkana Area Veterans Council, the local Red Cross, the Randy Sams’ Shelter for the Homeless, the Miller County Veterans Service Office, the Texas A&M University--exarkana veterans counseling office, the Texas Workforce Commission, the Northeast Texas Veterans Resource Office and U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe’s local Veterans Liaison Office.

“The meeting will basically focus on what we can do to help veterans who want to go college, find jobs, find a home and get any medical care they might need,” said Greg Beck, Texarkana Area Veterans Council chairman. “This meeting will give these different agencies the chance to network with each other and find out how to best approach veterans’ needs.”

Charles Jordan, a constituent services representative for Ratcliffe’s local office, said that he, as a veteran himself, will be able to offer some unique input from a veteran’s perspective—specifically in areas such as finding employment, health care and educational opportunities.

“I will also have some input from the perspective of a veteran coming back home after serving overseas in a war,” said Jordan, a veteran of the War on Terrorism. “Right now, there seems to be an information gap that exists between the veterans needing services and the services themselves. Many veterans may not know what services are available to them. This new board might be able to identify these information gaps and fix some of these problems.”

Robert Hernandez, a veterans counselor at A&M-Texarkana as well as an officer in the local Disabled American Veterans Chapter No. 222, agreed.

“I’ll be there to represent any educational needs veterans might have,” he said.