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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (June 2, 2016)
6 june2 community 2016 Community Action Team: Veterans Services Action (CCA) in Astoria. Over the years services were added to CAT’s offerings to address homelessness, affordable housing, weatherization, housing rehabilitation, veteran’s benefits, disaster recovery, early childhood development, utility as- sistance and more. Ultimately the agen- cy became a community development corporation in order to be better able to partner with other community entities to serve all three upper northwest counties. CAT plans to celebrate its 50 years on September 30 and the commu- nity is invited. As we lead up to the cel- ebration, return here to read true stories of how the agency’s work has had a posi- tive impact on the lives of our neighbors and what the next 50 years might look like. *** The first program to explore deeper is Veterans Services. Columbia County contracts with CAT to house a Veterans Service Officer. For three years now Russ Clark has been in this posi- tion and in that time he has increased the number of veterans served by the program by sixty percent. There are over 6,000 veterans in Columbia Coun- ty, many of them with whom he served stateside and on foreign soil during his almost 22 years in the Army. There are still more than 4,000 not taking advan- tage of the service and support he pro- vides. Outreach is an important part of the Veterans Service Officer’s respon- sibilities, so in addition to being acces- sible at his St. Helens office, Clark is available in Vernonia every first Tuesday at the Senior Thrift Store. Most of Clark’s life has been spent either serving in the military or serving others who have served in the military. After retiring from the Army, he served veterans while working at the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs and later at the Veterans Benefits Admin- continued from front page istration. and was able to receive Today he focuses health care through a Vet- his efforts on serving the erans Administration pro- veterans and their fami- gram. In addition, their lies in Columbia County. son now qualifies for Additionally, he repre- funds to help pay for his sents his clients at the college education. Before Federal Board of Veter- meeting with Clark, this ans Appeals, serves as a distraught widow didn’t member of the Veterans know she was eligible for Treatment Court team, any of these benefits and and as a board member, was grateful for his assis- advisor and trainer at the Russ Clark , CAT’s Veterans tance in filing the claim Elks Veterans Bunker. He and seeing it through to Services Officer. is fully informed of the completion. wide gamut of the benefits veterans may A veteran who had served in the be entitled to receive. Navy in the 70s was facing eviction due Surprisingly, there are a num- to an inability to pay his rent when he ber of people who were honorably dis- came to see Clark. There were several charged from the military yet don’t con- things he could do to help this gentle- sider themselves to be veterans. Clark man through a program called Sup- wants to meet with those people and all portive Services for Veteran Families, a other veterans to make sure they receive Veterans Administration (VA) program all the benefits to which they are entitled. designed to prevent homelessness and to If you know a veteran, ask them if they help those at risk of becoming homeless. have met with their Veteran Services Of- They started by having his physical dis- ficer; they’ll thank you for it. abilities connected to his tour of duty so To illustrate the impact Clark’s that he could establish a stable income advocacy has had, he shared some true through his veterans benefits. As a result life examples. Due to the sensitive na- the veteran was able to receive compen- ture of these accounts, names and other sation for his disabilities and was able personal identifiers have been withheld. to establish a more stable income. Ulti- A Vietnam veteran’s wife was mately, the veteran was able save enough referred to Clark by a friend after her money to buy his own home. husband died suddenly of a heart attack. When Clark met with a Vietnam He did not have life insurance, they were veteran from St. Helens, he had been too young to receive social security ben- terminally diagnosed with lung cancer efits, and she was still raising their teen- and doctors anticipated the man would age son. She had no source of income live for only another six months. Be- and was at risk for losing everything cause lung cancer may be the result of she and her husband had worked so hard exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent to build for themselves. Clark was able Orange, Clark pushed through the vet- to help determine that the heart condi- eran’s claim in just one day. The claim tion that took this veteran’s life too soon was, in fact, related to his exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange dur- ing his military service. As a result, his surviving spouse was due death indem- nity compensation of $1,300 per month 2016 Volunteer Job Fair was made retroactive to the first diag- nosis recorded at the VA hospital. The veteran was paid roughly $30,000 in one lump sum and then about $3,000 per month for the rest of his life. With the additional income and while his health allowed it, he was able to visit his chil- dren and grandchildren out of state. He fought the good fight and lived another full year with a much improved quality of life. If he hadn’t come to see his Vet- eran Service Officer, that claim may not have gone through until after it was too late. Columbia County’s Veterans Service Officer is available to help ALL veterans, not just those who are facing a crisis. There is such a wide range of benefits that a veteran may qualify for that it can be difficult to know all there is to utilize. Russ Clark is in place to help navigate the system and to advocate on behalf of Columbia County veterans. He can help identify compensation that might be due to you, clarify your health benefits, point you toward vocational re- habilitation programs, connect you with someone who provides veteran home financing or untangle a complicated claim. To find out more about how Commu- nity Action Team might be able to help, please call (503) 397-3511 or visit www. cat-team.org. Office hours at 125 N. 17 th Street in St. Helens are 8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Vet- eran Service Officer Russ Clark can be reached directly at (503) 366-6580. Leanne Murray works for Community Action Team as Program Operations Coordinator in the Human Investment Department. Thursday June 9 5:00 - 9:00 pm in the large gymna- sium at the Verno- nia Schools A recent community survey revealed that while a large segment of the Vernonia area population would like to volunteer, they don't because of being unaware of oppor- tunities and not being asked. The Volunteer Job Fair will bring together organizations from around the community with potential volunteers. Potential volunteers will have a chance to meet with current volunteers and hear about groups, histories, missions, and descriptions of jobs that need volun- teers. For more infor- mation contact Bill Langmaid at bill@rangelights. com.
