Daily Progress, Jacksonville, TX

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June 27, 2007

HOPE wants to help veterans

By Jim Goodson

editor@jacksonvilleprogress.com

In a never-ending quest to serve the people of Cherokee County, HOPE Director Fran Daniel wants to hear from veterans of the War on Terror and their families.

“We have the potential to offer whatever programs they need,” Daniel said Tuesday after meeting with Dallas Foundation and Tyler-based Center for Non-Profit Development officials in Tyler.

“There appears to be about $5 million available for East Texas agencies to spend to help serve veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts,” Daniel said. “Right now, I only know of one family here in Cherokee County who has someone who served or is currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

“Yet, I am sure there are many more. We’d like to hear from them and understand more about what they need.”

Dallas Foundation grants have ranged from $195,000 to $639,000 and come from the Texas Resources for Iraq/Afghanistan Deployment Fund offered to Texas foundations from the California Community Foundation.

“National Guard and Army reservists especially suffer,” Daniel said. “The military and Veteran’s Administration is doing the best they can to provide services but they are not set up to handle the National Guard. They are overwhelmed. They can’t keep up with the backlog of cases or deal with the long-term impact of war on soldiers or their families.

“This is too big on any one agency to handle. The Dallas Foundation realizes this and is looking for community-based agencies to help.”

Daniel said HOPE wants to become involved because East Texas has a lot of returning veterans and the closest VA hospital is 129 miles away in Dallas.

“Fort Hood is the largest deployment center in the country and Texas has more War on Terror veterans than any state except California.”

Help could come in the form of counseling for mental health conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder, free or low-cost medicine, groceries, help finding living arrangements or simply helping wives whose husbands are away with chores such as car repair and child care.

“When dad is yanked out of a family and put in a daily life-or-death situation, his family goes through a lot of stress,” Daniel said. “There is a lot we can do to help.

“These are people defending our country and making our way of life possible. They deserve better than what they are getting.”

If you are a family member of someone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan and wish to provide information to HOPE to be used to obtain funds and other resources to help veterans contact her at 903-586-7781.

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