WILLIAMS — The Veterans in the Williams area received a treat on Halloween morning when the American Legion hosted their first Veteran Stand Down Outreach at the Cordova Post on Grant street.

The Veteran Stand Down is a program to reach homeless and at-risk Veterans. They hand out warm clothing for the winter, supplies and offer or provide services to help veterans get off of the streets. Every veteran, however, can take advantage of some of the programs and services offered. This was a smaller version of the event held in Flagstaff, but was still packed with useful information. Many of the services are available at offices throughout northern Arizona

Roger Ely, who organized the event, hopes to have some of the other services for the event in the future. Such as veterinary services. At this event, clothing was issued and there was a lunch provided. The Disabled Veterans National Foundation provided a bag with toiletries.

For housing assistance, representatives of the Veterans Resource Center and Catholic Charities were available. The Veterans Resource has a 40-year history of assisting homeless and extremely low income veterans and has offices in California and Nevada as well as Arizona. In Arizona they have offices in Flagstaff, Prescott and Bullhead City. You can check their web site at http://www.vetsresource.org. Catholic Charities also has services for homeless veterans and rent assistance. Representing this service agency was Rocky Coronado who works out of the Prescott office. He can be reached at 928-778-2531 extension 54012. The office is at 434 W. Gurley Street in Prescott.

Information on training was provided by the WAR2IN (Warrior to Inspector) vocational school. This is a relatively new program, also available to civilians, to certify you as industry level welding, steel welding and high strength bolt inspector using the latest technology. Some training occurs in the field. Semesters start on January and July 15th. They are currently waiting for approval to accept payments through the GI Bill. There may be other assistance, however, to help you pay the tuition which could land you a good-paying job in industry. You can check out their web site at http://www.war2in.org.

Employment information was provided by the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services. If you are seeking a job, or a better job, they are located at 1701 N. 4th Street in Flagstaff. Go in and see Workforce Specialist Amanda Harris or call 928-213-3536. You can see their web site for locations throughout Arizona at http://www.azdvs.gov.

Mike Rioux, Service Officer for the local Matthew Broehm VFW Post in the mall, was on hand to provide service for veterans, such as obtaining DD-214s. He provides this and other services to veterans all year. He can be contacted through the Hope For the World ministry also located in the mall.

There were services for the things we do not like to think about. It is estimated that 22 veterans take their own lives each day. If you are contemplating suicide or are experiencing a drug problem, you can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1. You can also text 838255 for help.

Representatives were also available from the Camp Navajo Memorial Cemetery. The cemetery inters veterans at no cost and eligible spouses and dependents for a current one-time cost of $734. You can contact Andrew Griffen Administrator at 928-214-3474 or Judy Dillman Cemetery Representative at 928-214-3475 for more information. Information for the Camp Navajo Cemetery can be found at https://dvs.az.gov/arizona-veterans-memorial-cemetery-camp-navajo. General benefit information is available at http://www.cem.va.gov/cem/burial_benefits/eligible.asp.

The American Legion Cordova Post #13 is, of course, another year-around resource for help. There is, also, an office for the Grand Canyon John Ivens American Legion Post #42 in the mall downtown as well as the office for the Veterans of Foreign Wars post. You can check the DAV web site for a location near you. The Hope For the World ministry is another resource for homeless veterans as well as civilians in Williams and the surrounding area.