Veterans' Healthy Living, Summer 2015
HELP is Closer Than You Think!
Veterans in rural areas—or those returning home and dealing with difficult readjustment issues—sometimes can feel isolated and alone. The same goes for families of Veterans, who may need someone to talk to about their loved one's readjustment. Thanks to the 80 Mobile Vet Centers (MVCs) nationwide, help is closer than you think!
Mobile Vet Centers look remarkably like recreational vehicles. Inside, however, most MVCs have private counseling rooms, couches for individual or small group counseling sessions, state-of-the-art satellite communications capability, and audiovisual equipment. For emergencies, the vehicle also comes with a medical exam table, defibrillator, first aid kit, shower, refrigerator, microwave, beds and other amenities.
Just like at the 300 Vet Centers around the country and in U.S. territories—where Veterans can get help transitioning from military to civilian life— Veterans do not need to be enrolled with the Department of Veteran Affairs, and there is never a charge for service. No information is released to any person or agency without the written consent from the Veteran, except in circumstances to avert a crisis.
MVC staff not only let Veterans know what benefits and services are available to them through VA, but they also provide Veterans and family members help with issues such as posttraumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma; bereavement, marriage, and family counseling; or suicide prevention referrals. Counseling sessions are one of the most important resources Mobile Vet Centers provide, saving Veterans in rural areas valuable time and travel expenses.
MVCs participate in thousands of federal, state and locally sponsored Veteran-related events nationwide each year. If a Mobile Vet Center is not available nearby and you need help, please contact the 24-hour toll-free Vet Center hotline at 877-WAR-VETS (927-8387). This confidential call center allows combat Veterans andtheir families to call and speak to someone about their military experience or any other readjustment issue.
MVCs at the Boston Marathon Bombing
Some MVCs also respond to natural disasters and catastrophic events. After the Boston Marathon bombing, VISN 1 Communications Officer Maureen Heard accompanied five Mobile Vet Centers dispatched to assist Boston area Veterans and first responders. The MVC staff provided counseling and referrals to anyone who needed it. Maureen learned from a pedicab driver that he and some co-workers who transported doctors in and patients out after the bombing were having a hard time. "When I told him that they were indeed first responders and that they should come over and talk to our counselors, he just started weeping," she said. "Quite accidentally, I had been the first one to validate what he had done was indeed to act as a first responder. I love my job as VISN 1 Communications Officer, but I couldn't help but feel that what I did that day was the most important work I had done in a long time."
More information about Vet Centers is available at www.vetcenter.va.gov
