For the first time, three of District 9’s American Legion posts came together with other local organizations to offer a VA Claims Clinic at the Haralson Memorial Civic Center in Blairsville on May 29.
American Legion Post 121 of Blairsville, Post 248 of Blue Ridge and Post 23 of Hiawassee banded up and reached out to other veterans’ organizations to make the event happen.
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Some credit also goes to the Blairsville Disabled American Veterans. The Sons of the American Legion and the American Legion Riders were present to lend a hand, in all leading to the involvement of 25 to 30 volunteers, including military spouses.
The next step was gauging interest and getting the word out, and although the veterans weren’t required to sign up, a rough head count was necessary to involve governmental organizations.
Approximately 60 veterans took advantage of the clinic between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. The multi-step process started outside with greeters. From there, interested parties headed inside to what Merritt referred to as “intake,” where they stated their name and what they were looking to get out of the clinic.
And that could mean any number of things; from compensation benefits, sorting out delays with claims or seeking health care, many problems were tackled that day with the help of the organizations that sent volunteers out to help mountain-area veterans.
Comfort Keepers, Always Care Georgia and Appalachian Hospice were some of the first faces the vets saw, and they were happy to hand out information. Many of those serviced were elderly, and with certain health care concerns come a need for around-the-clock care.
The American Legion Auxiliary took over the waiting room, serving snacks and coffee.
“(We) didn’t want a gazillion people milling around in there because they’re actually doing business in there, so this is kind of our holding area,” Merritt explained, referring to the Civic Center’s convention room. It was there that most of the participants found what they were seeking, led to their table by a volunteer according to their intake form.
The Veterans Benefits Administration, Georgia Department of Veterans Service, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion, and the Blairsville VA Clinic all had representatives set up to answer any questions posed to them.
Even Radio Station 103.9 out of Blue Ridge held a live broadcast from the Civic Center until noon, hoping to bring more awareness of the event to local veterans and get more traffic. But even as the tables began to get folded up, people walked through the doors, and Merritt regarded the first-of-its-kind venture as a success.
“We were in here setting up, and there (were) like 20 veterans already here waiting,” she recalled from that morning, noting that there was certainly a need for benefits services. “We’re really pleased that we had as many people as we did show up because this is all about helping them.”
With that in mind, there’s talks of holding the Claims Clinic annually, continuing as a joint effort between Post 121, Post 248 and Post 23. Blairsville seems the most likely location, considering Union is the most central place for an event representing all three counties.
“Someone was suggesting that we could center it around military days, like Armed Forces Day, or Flag Day, or Pearl Harbor Day,” Merritt hinted, adding that actual holidays were a no-go so that VA representatives could be present. “More than likely, we’re going to do it again, (we) just don’t know the timing.”
