WDVA, VA Puget Sound partner to help Veterans in rural communities

The program will run through September 2020 and is aimed at improving veteran’s behavioral and mental health care needs through agriculture training in rural communities.

“Our thanks goes to the Veterans Health Administration and VA Puget Sound Health Care System for partnering with us to enhance mental health access and suicide prevention for rural veterans and their families,” said Lourdes “Alfie” Alvarado-Ramos, WDVA director. “Helping rural veterans make connections to their earned benefits will make them more resilient and ultimately able to sustain employment leading to healthier lives for themselves and their families.”

Washington State is home to over 112,000 rural veterans.  In rural areas, veterans face high unemployment rates, with fewer employment, training and transportation options as compared to those offered in urban areas.

Through the $621,000 Veterans in Agriculture grant from VA Puget Sound, WDVA will bring together regional partners to support the state’s veteran population with training services in agriculture vocations as well as behavioral and mental health services. Under the program, WDVA and its community partners will provide equipment, tools, materials, supplies and for hands-on projects and will also provide the training personnel, curriculum, classroom materials, IT equipment and supplies for the classroom training. Ongoing agricultural engagement activities including an Agricultural Job Fair, pop-up Farmer’s Markets, and agricultural partnerships throughout the year.

“Ensuring the mental health care needs of our veterans requires our whole community to combine forces and make focused investments. Every step we take to advance that goal, is a step in the right direction,” said Michael Tadych, VA Puget Sound director. “Partnering with Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs on this pilot underscores our commitment to grassroot partnerships at all levels to ensure we keep the needs of our veterans—our nation’s heroes—front and center.

In Washington State, only 25 percent of veterans receive their health care from the VA due to various reasons – from ineligibility to residential remoteness.  With the implementation of the MISSION Act, rural veterans have expanded access to community care and a new urgent care benefit.  The VA is also providing telehealth to make it easier for veterans to connect with their care team from home, an outpatient clinic or the hospital.

About WDVA:

The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs helps connect veterans and their family members to the benefits and services they earned through their military service. WDVA offers long-term or rehabilitative care in our four State Veteran Homes for honorably discharged veterans, and in some cases, their spouses. The Veterans Services and Counseling and Wellness Divisions provide claims assistance as well as counseling services for veterans and their family members. And our State Veterans Cemetery honors veterans in their final resting place. For more information visit www.dva.wa.gov.

About VA Puget Sound Health Care System:

VA Puget Sound provides comprehensive care to more than 110,000 Veterans across its nine facilities in the Pacific Northwest. It has the 5th largest research program within the national VA system and seven Centers of Excellence (in areas from limb-loss prevention and prosthetic engineering to primary care education and substance abuse treatment). More than 2,000 trainees participate in its undergraduate and graduate programs each year. For more information visit www.pugetsound.va.gov.

Media Contacts:

WDVA: Heidi Audette, heidia@dva.wa.gov, (360) 725-2154
VA Puget Sound Health Care System: Tami Begasse, publicaffairspugetsound@va.gov, (206) 277-1711

Tami Begasse, Public Affairs Officer

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