Kiosk helps veterans find information
United States military veterans in Bella Vista and surrounding communities now have an easier way to obtain information on a number of topics related to both their time in the service and their time as a retired military member.
The tool to help veterans is a kiosk that was installed Friday, Jan. 28, at Harps Grocery Store in Bella Vista.
It is the 34th unit to be installed in the state of Arkansas and should quickly increase the system’s user participation numbers, which currently total over 10,000.
“The feedback we’re getting from our veterans when they do come over and it catches their attention is, ‘Man, I wish we would have had this 10 years ago or 20 years ago,’” said Camp Alliance, Inc., Chief Executive Officer Jody Bergstrom. “So for us it’s just so awesome that we get to put this in place. The need has been there for such a long time.”
Bergstrom reached out to NWA Veterans Coalition President Pete Rathmell about putting a kiosk in Bella Vista. The two applied for a CARES Act grant through the Department of Human Services to
cover the $200,000 cost of the machine and its operating platform, got approved for the grant and soon the idea of placing a kiosk in Bella Vista became a reality.
“We started from scratch,” said Rathmell. “Most of the work has been done by Camp Alliance contracting out with various vendors and suppliers. But I’m extremely supportive of this.”
The kiosk, with its antivirus touchscreen and large monitor, is free to use, very user friendly and doesn’t collect the user’s personal information. It is programmed to provide veterans resource information on such items as mental and physical health, job opportunities, food and nutrition assistance, shelter assistance and seminars/support groups.
“I know this because I’m a veteran, but in the state of Arkansas we’re resource rich, but communication poor,” said Rathmell. “Now we’re communication rich as well.”
Bergstrom said the idea for this service came from attempts to connect military, veteran and family resources back to places like Bella Vista, which has a large population of veterans.
“This platform started about seven years ago,” she said. “We were very engaged with our military during drill weekends, health assessment periods and annual training and we brought in tons of resources and employers and they would come in off the range in waves and with their families to look into these resources. The feedback was that they wanted to get information they could take with them. This platform was a result of that need.”
Veterans can search for information on a variety of topics such as job opportunities; child care facilities; deployment transition; emergency services; financial and legal resources; and discharge information.
New information is on the way that will also show veterans locations of businesses that offer military discounts.
“We have gotten over 300 feedback responses asking if we were ever going to list the discounts available to military members and veterans,” said Bergstrom. “And they really want to be able to build a profile, to be able to interact with their transition in military service as opposed to veterans service, for example. And we’re going to try to provide everything that’s needed.”
The kiosk’s operating platform will constantly be updated with new information for veterans. And, Bergstrom assured, it will always be easy to navigate.
“What we heard out in the field was, ‘Could you just make it easy, please,’” she said. “It’s very easy to use now and it will always be that way.”
If an individual doesn’t have a lot of time to stand at the kiosk and search for their desired topic, they can text the information from the kiosk to their phone, or use their phone to scan the program’s QR code, and continue their search at a later time in the comfort of their own home.
Bella Vista Mayor Pro Tem Doug Fowler called the service “terrific,” adding that he liked the fact it simplifies access to the services offered to all branches of our military.
“It’s menu driven, a step-by-step process, and I like that,” he said. “And it’s not as though you have to come in to Harps to use this all the time. You can access the platform in a couple of different ways. You can text it to your phone or scan the QR code and put it on your computer. It just simplifies the process for a veteran in having to find a phone number to call or an office to go to to find out information. I think it really simplifies the process a lot.”
Fowler also said it “just makes sense” to have this new service in Bella Vista because of the city’s large military retiree presence. He added, “I would hope that our veterans will come in and check this out and give it a try.”
He was also glad to know that both the project and the group behind it (Camp Alliance) has the full backing of Arkansas’ John Boozeman.
“I think it’s really neat, too, that we have United States Senator John Boozeman, who is a local resident of northwest Arkansas, involved in setting up this platform and that he fully supports it because he is very supportive of the United States military,” Fowler said.
Bergstrom said her organization is “very grateful” to be able to place this service in Bella Vista.
“It’s an honor for us to be able to put this kiosk here in this community and have the community support for it that we do have,” she said. “It’s awesome to see there wasn’t even the slightest hesitancy (from the community) when we talked about putting this in. When they found out it was for our military and veterans they were like, ‘Um, YES!’ It’s just a no-brainer to have one here.”