Special services available to Rochester veterans during outbreak
Written by Site Hub on April 9, 2020
On April 1, a wide range of special services were made available by local agencies for Rochester veterans in need because of the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. The Monroe County Veterans Service Agency and the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center Inc. are offering emergency funds, food pickup and supply delivery.
Per RochesterFirst.com, Nicholas Stefanovic, Monroe County Veterans Services Director, stated: “We don’t normally do this… We usually are an agency that handles benefits for veterans. So, we’re mostly focusing on those veterans who are less fortunate [and] living in areas of higher poverty that would need this stuff anyway.”
As Executive Director Laura Stradley at the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center explained: “For our veteran population, isolation is one of the worse things you can do — particularly for a vet who struggles with PTSD or other mental health issues.”
The staff at the Rochester Veterans Outreach Center are worried about the suicide rates of veterans in the area: “The very sad fact,” Stradley continued, “is we know that veterans have a suicide rate that is twice that of non-veterans in this country and here in New York state that number has doubled in the last five years.”
The Center’s Quartermaster program has been designed to provide much-needed essential items and programs, such as online cooking and fitness classes, to help veterans stay connected and keep their minds distracted from despair.
A veteran or their caregiver must schedule an appointment for aid:
The Monroe County Veteran’s Service Agency is available at (585) 753-6040 and mcveterans@monroecounty.gov.
The Veterans Outreach Center Inc. is available at (585) 546-1081.
