Veterans, service members and military families have a new resource in McKean County and the surrounding area.
Your Veteran Community Outreach & Action Team has been formed and has been tasked with advocating, empowering, referring, connecting and coordinating resources for veterans, service members and military families.
“Our goal is to open the line of communication between veterans, VA and community stakeholders,” said Zach Pearson, board co-chairman and McKean County Veterans Affairs director. “Now that our board is fully established, we want to meet with veterans, service members, and their families to get a better sense of what their needs are so we can align our efforts to address those needs. We will be hosting public forums throughout the county to reach that goal. As always, we will ensure everyone is notified of upcoming forums.”
The objectives of the MyVA Community are threefold: To bring together local resources and advocates to improve outcomes for veterans, transitioning service members, and their families; to enable veterans to easily identify and reach resources available to them, voice their
opinions, and provide valuable input; and to resolve concerns at the local level and improve service delivery methods.
Locally, McKean County MyVA Community Board has been in the works since January and officially kicked off in April with the first board meeting.
Your Veteran Engagement Board members include Pearson, co-chairman Byron Sutton (veterans employment representative PA CareerLink), John Gennaro (director of Erie VA Medical Center), Sarah Gudgeon (Erie VA Medical Center public affairs officer), Scott Winters (DuBois Vet Center counselor), Amy Hendryx (veterans coordinator Federal Correctional Institution-McKean), Lee Sizemore (director of McKean County Human Services), state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, Rhonda Race (executive assistant to Causer), McKean County Commissioners Carol Duffy, Al Pingie and Cliff Lane, Ron Hestdalen (director of National Cemetery Administration), Jennifer Vandermolen (director of VA regional office), Benjamin Barnes (Soldier On representative), Emily Goodwin (Soldier On field manager), Anita Sluga (veteran service officer), Barry McElroy (veteran homelessness prevention caseworker), Bob Dilks Jr. (military veteran liaison at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford), Susan Panah (McKean VA Outpatient Clinic physician) and Carol Coppela (McKean VA outpatient clinic manager).
For more information about the MyVA Community Model, see www.va.govlnace/mwa or search for McKean County Veterans Affairs on Facebook or call Pearson at (814) 887-3241.
