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Veterans Services receives increase in transportation needs

Veterans Service Officer Patricia Largent stands beside one of the two newly purchased vans for the Harrison County Veterans Service Office. Photo Provided

CADIZ — The Harrison County Veterans Service Office has two new vans to help transport veterans to appointments.

On Tuesday, the agency received the new vans that will be used to take county veterans to out-of-county Veterans Administration hospitals and clinics. Transportation is one of the greatest services the veterans office provides for its members, Veterans Service Officer Jim Thompson said. The service is completely free to the veteran.

The arrival of the new vehicles provides a much-needed asset to the agency, he noted.

“We transport veterans here in Harrison County to the Cleveland VA and to the Pittsburgh VA,” Thompson said.

He explained that having a second vehicle allows the agency to serve additional veteran residents.

“We’re now able to take more veterans to more VA appointments and VA facilities,” he said.

The vehicles are utilized almost every day, according to Thompson. Nearly 15 veterans are driven to the Pittsburgh VA per week, and another six to the Cleveland VA every week. The Harrison County office also occasionally works in conjunction with other nearby community veteran service agencies. If a veteran is in need of a ride, the Harrison County VA will work with them, assisting them with rides to the Cleveland and Pittsburgh clinics, Thompson said.

The office partnered with the Disabled American Veterans organization to purchase the new vehicles.

“We provided half of the purchase price and the DAV provided the rest,” Thompson said.

The VA hospitals that the veterans office supports will cover the maintenance costs, fuel and insurance for the new vehicles, he added.

The agency now has four vehicles that will help meet transportation needs of local veteran residents. Typically each vehicle gets around four years of use, Thompson said. The long trips put a great deal of wear and tear on the vans along with adding high mileage, he said.

Some of the services the veterans office provides include free transportation, assisting veterans in dealing with the VA, disability claims, health care, identification cards and copies of discharge forms, he said. Immediate family members of veterans are also offered assistance.

“It (the services) makes it a lot easier on the veterans,” Thompson said.

Some eligible members are also allotted financial assistance.

“We have widows on fixed incomes. Part of our mission is to provide financial help to veterans’ widows,” Thompson said.

The veterans office utilizes property tax dollars to fund its services. Thompson said that since the arrival of the natural gas and oil industry in the region, the veterans office funding has tripled in the last five years. This has allowed the office to provide increased services to local veterans.

With the addition of the new vehicles, the agency is looking to hire two more drivers.

“We would like to establish a pool of drivers,” Thompson said.

The new drivers would become part-time county employees and would receive part-time employee benefits. Those interested in the positions are asked to contact the Harrison County Veterans Office at 740-942-8441.

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