The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
VETERANS CAN GET RIDES FOR FREE
Focus on Veterans provides car to VFW Post 296
WINSTED — Focus on Veterans, a nonprofit organization that provides veterans free transportation to medical appointments, recently expanded its reach from the eastern portion of Connecticut into the northwest corner, delivering a car to VFW Post 296 in Winsted.
Focus on Veterans, based in Plainfield, relies solely on public donations for its ride program, and accepts donahe tions of household and kitchen items for veterans who need them. The cars are purchased used and driven by volunteers from local veterans organizations, according to ride coordinator Richard Conti, a member of Focus on Veterans.
Conti drove to Winsted on Thursday afternoon with his wife, Elaine, to deliver the car, a used four-door Chevrolet, and met members of the post.
Conti joined Focus on Veterans about nine years ago, he said, because wanted to help others.
“I’m not a veteran, but I wanted to do something to help people, and I picked veterans, because they deserve our help,” he said. “We started the rides to medical appointments program about seven years ago in eastern Connecticut, and we started with one veteran. It grew and grew, and now we transport about 750 veterans a year. We have four cars and a handicap van on the road every day.”
“I’m not a veteran, but I wanted to do something to help people, and I picked veterans, because they deserve our help.”
Richard Conti, a member of Focus on Veterans
Drivers are volunteer veterans, who take their passengers to the VA Hospital in West Haven and locations in Willimantic and Providence, RI.
Winsted came into the program, Conti said, when he and other volunteers were collecting donations outside Stop & Shop on Route 44.
“A guy from the post called and wanted to know why we weren’t helping anyone local,” Conti said. “I said, ‘If you find me two drivers and a (local) place where the car can be serviced, we’ll come to Winsted.’ So now, we have five cars on the road.”
The person who called Conti was Arthur Melycher, a retired U.S. Navy sailor and a member of Post 296. Melycher was joined on Thursday by Post 296 Commander Neil Hunt, who served in the Army and the Navy; David Carter, U.S. Army, retired; and Robert Baxter, U.S. Navy, retired, who belongs to American Legion Post 43 in Winsted and VFW Post 159 in Riverton.
What’s unique about Focus on Veterans ride program, Conti said, is that most of the people who call for a ride don’t belong to a VFW or American Legion post.
“The only way these guys find out about us is if they see one of our cars, or by word of mouth,” Conti said. “We want more people to know about this.
“It’s not a bad thing to belong to a VFW or American Legion, it’s just that a lot of them won’t go,” Conti said. “They’re fine driving on their own, but they don’t want to drive an hour or more on the highway. If they’re married, their wives drive them.”
Disabled American Veterans, a national organization, provides transportation to its members, but wives can’t go with them in the DAV’s vehicles because they’re not veterans, Conti said.
“When the veteran got home, who took care of him? His wife did,” Conti said. “So why shouldn’t she should be allowed to go to the doctor with her husband? With us, she can.”
Focus on Veterans also doesn’t use an income threshold to determine who is eligible for a ride. Anyone who calls is eligible, as long as they have the right paperwork proving that they are a veteran.
“This is for any veteran, anyone,” Conti said. “We had a guy who was in his 80s, and he was pretty well off, so he didn’t qualify for the regular ride programs for veterans, but he was disabled. We helped him for about four years. He was a great guy.”
The ride program also gets men and women out of the house and in the company of others, Conti said. “They enjoy the company of other veterans this way,” he said.
The organization purchased a new handicap van in 2016; it holds two wheelchairs and has Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant features such as a ramp and railings. Drivers using this vehicle are trained to use it.
Post 296 members were pleased to see the car and hear about the program.
“This will help a lot up here,” said David Carter. “It gives us the ability to make the disabled veteran mobile so they can get the services they need from the VA. There are things they’re waiting for, services, and setting up a ride is a big part of that.”
To learn about Focus on Veterans, visit https://focusonvet.org. To arrange for a ride, call 860-317-1025.