Tuesday, March 26th 2024, 6:18 pm
At a center called Home Away From Home, at 9213 Northeast 10th Street in Midwest City, there is a real passion for taking care of veterans.
“Home Away From Home is a lovely spot for the veterans to hang out and socialize,” said Marketing Director, Anna Grisby.
The space opened in 2017 specifically to give veterans a place to go every day, where to play games and be with friends. “They can socialize with each other and go over war stories and play cards and dominos and just have a good time,” said Grisby.
But in between socializing and the fun, some business matters need to be addressed. “This is a huge problem, it’s a huge problem, there’s a lot of vets that just don’t know about the benefits that are afforded to them,” said Retired Lieutenant Colonel Ben Walker.
Sadly, some veterans don’t even know where to start, to get the benefits they have earned. “I needed to first get them to understand that they deserve this benefit,” said Walker.
And after understanding, comes the process. “The process is long, but you have to get in the game,” said Walker.
But because many veterans and their families have been frustrated by the process, This Thursday Home Away From Home is helping with a veterans benefit fair. “We’ll have somebody doing their disability claims, we’ll have someone enrolling them for VA health care,” said Andre West with OKC Vets Center.
The event is free and open to all veterans regardless of what branch or the amount of time served. “Just come, just come, so we can get you enrolled, get you educated get your claims filed,” said West.
The event is from 10 am to 2 pm and family is welcome to come with or in place of the veteran. “Make sure you bring the DD214 and Identification, If you’re married, if it is your spouse bring the marriage license, if you have the death certificate bring it as well.
No matter if you have started the process or not, this event is open to everyone. “If you served, you deserve,” said Walker.
Multiple agencies will be present to help veterans no matter where they are in the process. There is no registration. For more information call Home Away From Home at 405.455.3342
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