Another veteran organization?

I get this question a lot, so I thought I’d take a minute and explain how Mountain Valor started.

For about two years after retirement, I was involved with the local VFW post.  The organization, which has done a lot of good for veterans on a grand scale, is not designed to meet the needs of small, rural areas. I realized pretty quickly there was limited knowledge of the resources available for veterans in our area. Health care and disability pay were the only two topics folks seemed to have heard of, and most were unfamiliar with the drastic changes to both in the past 25 years. As turnover happened in the leadership and membership of our Post, we started to focus on education for the veteran community. Taking the lead on that, I realized there were so many more resources available than I’d ever be able to distill into a 20 minute talk. I made connections within Virginia Department of Veteran Services and around our local VA hospital, and started helping veterans one on one to figure out what resource is the right fit for them. This was also when I realized doing this right will require focus, time and support outside of the standard channels. I was very, very lucky that others recognized this need and immediately jumped onboard to make my loose idea a reality.

At Mountain Valor, we listen to veterans or their families, and learn about their circumstances. What are immediate needs, and what potential needs are on the horizon? A lot of what we do is ask questions, and then we help them create a roadmap of who to contact with what paperwork, in what order. The veteran does the hard part, but we prepare them and get them to the right person. Then we follow up, repeatedly. We maintain the relationship until the veteran has met their goals or built their confidence to the point they can navigate the resources they need on their own.

We don’t offer a quick answer very often. Most of the folks we are working with have been with us for 4+ months, slowly moving through the processes of numerous services. We can’t fix that, or complicated forms, or the guilt that often comes along with needing help. What we can provide is someone who walks that path with the veteran, translates jargon and lets them feel heard.

Interested in helping? We’re looking for volunteers around SW Virginia to increase our reach.