Program established in Cambria County to help struggling vets, troops
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – A program has been instituted in the Greater Johnstown region to assist veterans, active military personnel, and citizens serving in the Guard and Reserve components who are struggling with personal issues such as mental health concerns, financial difficulties and relationship strife.
A Vet Center counselor is now on site every Monday at Hiram G. Andrews Center, 727 Goucher St., Upper Yoder Township. The free program is connected to the DuBois Vet Center, an organization directed by Scott Winters.
Cambria County-based Veteran Community Initiatives helped get the local center set up.
"It will benefit veterans, absolutely," VCI President and CEO Tom Caulfield said. "It opens up a whole new arena of counseling services that are available.
"These are the things that are being treated in everyday situations. To have them available in such a comfortable locale and availability to be there when needed, on call, that's what we've tried to establish working in conjunction with Scott and his whole team.
"We will also give kudos to the director of the (James E.) Van Zandt VA (Medical Center) that brought us together and helped facilitate this."
Vet Center programs are under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. But Winters and Caulfield emphasized that counseling received through the center remains private and not shared with the military.
"All of our records are sealed," Winters said. "There's no access. They do not get shared with any type of internal databases with the VA, with DoD (U.S. Department of Defense).
"It's completely sealed to the Vet Center. These are not shared in any way, so they do not have to have that fear of, one, the stigma of a diagnosis; two, their command or employer finding out; three, it is central Pennsylvania. People like their guns and they like to hunt.
"We're not there, but it doesn't mean that we won't be there in the future where a mental health diagnosis can affect that gun ownership."
'We look at the entire person'
Winters said the center uses an informal counseling approach to provide assistance, compared to the VA's more medical-driven model.
"We look at the entire person as well as the community things, the personal things that may be going on, impacting their mental health," Winters said.
"There are a million things on the outside that could be going on that need attention. One of the things I always say: it's really hard to focus on, if you're depressed and you're really struggling with that, how are we going to work on depression and make you feel better if you don't know if you're going to have a place to live at the end of the month?"
The center does not have any geographic boundary, so any veteran or current military personnel can reach out for assistance by calling 814-372-2095.
Counseling can be provided in person or remotely.
