Veterans, supporters to gather at GC Fairgrounds July 15
The Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee will hold a roundtable and resource fair in Moses Lake July 15.
FILE PHOTO
MOSES LAKE — The Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee will hold an event for veterans at the Grant County Fairgrounds July 15, according to an announcement from Washington Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We do four events a year, two on the west side and two on the east side,” said Sue LaVoie, executive assistant with WDVA. “We’re asking resource providers to come for a roundtable and let us know what they provide for our veterans. We’re going to talk about where the successes are, what are the gaps, how maybe one group can work with another. (We’re) trying to connect resource providers with each other so we can all assist each other in supporting veterans.”
The resource fair will give veterans a chance to interact with both government agencies and private organizations that serve veterans, LaVoie said.
The event will begin with a forum for women veterans entitled “She Served,” for women veterans. There the Washington Women Veterans Advisory Committee will listen and discuss the needs of women veterans in the region and how they can improve access to the benefits they’ve earned, according to the WDVA.
There are more than 59,000 female veterans in Washington state, according to the WWVAC’s website. In past years, VAAC has held town hall events, LaVoie said, but this is the first year the event has included the roundtable and resource fair. The committee held one in May in Pullman, LaVoie said.
“The veterans who attended the resource fair got a lot of good information,” she said. “One was trying to buy some farmland and didn’t know there was a program for veterans to help them get a loan to do that.”
Another needed help with employment, she said, and the resource fair connected him with someone who could help.
“Those are success stories,” she said. “Maybe we don’t have a lot of them yet, but we hope to get a lot more.”
More information is available from the calendar at dva.wa.gov.
Veterans Roundtable and Resource Fair
July 15
Grant County Fairgrounds
3953 Airway Drive NE, Moses Lake
8:30 a.m. Women Veterans Forum
10 a.m. Resource Provider Roundtable
12-3 p.m. Resource Fair