OlyCAP gets grant for veterans outreach

Published 5:10 pm Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Olympic Community Action Programs leaders announced last week their Retired and Senior Volunteer Program has received a $6,000 grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service to build a program to reach out to veterans in Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Bob Logue, OlyCAP’s volunteer program manager, said “there are over 14,000 veterans here on the peninsula and many are not getting access to all the services available to them.”

The program will work to connect veterans living in the area with services, programs and benefits they earned while serving in the U.S. military, offer a focus on employment and generally try to help rural veterans connect with other services they might need.

The program will complement RSVP and OlyCAP activities in general. OlyCAP partners with COAST and American Legion Post 26 to support an emergency winter shelter that serves homeless veterans and frequently participates in local veterans stand-downs.

OlyCAP hopes to recruit at least 20 additional volunteers for its volunteer program to support the initiative. Veterans or family members of veterans would be especially welcome. Volunteers will be trained to understand available programs and to be able to work effectively with veterans.

With the large veteran population here and heightened needs, Logue said he estimates the outreach could contact as many as 1,000 area veterans and hopes to help improve the quality of life for many of them.

For more information about the program or to volunteer, contact Logue at 385-2571 Ext. 6324.