American Legion opening vet crisis center
Jun 4, 2014, 5:00 AM | Updated: 5:00 am
PHOENIX — After the alleged mismanagement of care at the Phoenix VA, the American Legion opening up a veterans crisis center.
The crisis center will open its doors on Monday at 7 p.m. in a town hall style meeting, where vets can come and talk about their problems and experiences at the Phoenix VA, said Director Verna Jones of the Legion’s Veteran Affairs.
“We’re going to have a town hall meeting on Monday night and have veterans come out and talk to us about any of (the) correspondence they receive back from the VA — where they are, how they feel about it…just making sure they understand we’re still here to support them,” she said.
On Tuesday at noon, Jones said vets can come in and begin getting help from the services they’ll be providing.
“The person will walk in (and) we’ll be able to triage that veteran: Find out why they’re there, what they need,” Jones said. “We’ll also guide them to (the) on-site avenues and resources that we have.”
Jones said some of those resources will include grief counseling, help enrolling in veteran benefit programs and help with filing benefit claims if they’ve experienced a lack of care at the VA.
The crisis center will open at Post 1 of the American Legion, located at 364 N. 7th Avenue in Phoenix.
