Our hope is to provide the opportunity to homeless and struggling veterans to regain the support, encouragement and resources to help them integrate back into the civilian world. The one-day event will provide food, clothing, haircuts, medical, mental-health attention, social services, legal assistance, job and housing referrals, workshops on résumé writing and interviews, and much more.

Our event in Durango will not only focus on the homeless veterans in our town, community and surrounding areas, we will be assisting at risk/low income veterans as well. All the resources provided are to help them regain their confidence and self-esteem and to rebuild their lives in a positive, supportive way.

A Veterans Stand Down is a hand up, not a hand out. Readjustment and reintegration into civilian life is much more difficult than we can ever imagine. We encourage younger veterans who have recently been discharged to stop by and see what our community has to offer them during this time of transition.

We are seeking volunteers to provide resource tables to the veterans this day. If you would like to share your skills and time for this rewarding experience, please contact one of our coordinators at (970) 238-1291 or (970) 551-0084 or email them at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.standdowndurango.com.

We need people to assist with these resources and services: education, mental health/social services, legal, housing assistance, job referrals, medical, dental, vision, hearing, counseling, Alcoholics Anonymous/Narcotics Anonymous, clothing, hot meals/food, taxes and chaplains.

Richard Schleeter is the veterans service officer for the La Plata County Veterans Service Office. He can be reached at 759-0117 or [email protected].

For more information

The La Plata County Veterans Service Office provides information and assistance to veterans and their families. There is a wide range of benefits available for our nation’s veterans. Every veteran is encouraged to contact the office to find out more about benefits. Your office can assist you in any matter pertaining to the Department of Veterans Affairs. These services are free. For more information, visit the La Plata County website at www.co.laplata.co.us. Type “veteran’s services” in the search window.
Help for vets
The La Plata County Veterans Service Office is co-located with the Durango VA Clinic at 1970 East Third Ave. The office phone number is 759-0117. Office hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays. Appointments are encouraged. Call 382-6150 to schedule an appointment with the Veterans Service Office.
For clinic appointments, call 247-2214.