Legion to help Texas veterans in need

The American Legion will conduct a town hall meeting in La Feria, Texas, for veterans to discuss the quality of health care they are receiving from the Department of Veterans Affairs health care center in Harlingen, Texas, and surrounding VA medical facilities.

The town hall meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 15 at American Legion Post 439 on 219 E. Commercial Ave. in La Feria. The meeting is open to the public and veterans are encouraged to attend, especially those affected by VA delays in medical care or benefit claims processing.

The American Legion will also set up a Veterans Crisis Command Center (VCCC) at Post 439. Operating hours for the VCCC are noon to 8 p.m. on Sept. 16 and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sept. 17.

Members of the Legion’s national staff, along with local Legionnaires, staff from VA facilities and volunteers from other organizations, will be on hand at the VCCC to assist veterans and their families. Services provided will include assistance with scheduling VA medical appointments, filing benefits claims, grief counseling, and help with enrollment into VA health care.

Verna Jones, director of the Legion’s Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division, said the decision was made to hold the meeting and crisis center in La Feria “because many veterans and their families have been affected by serious delays in getting access to their health care, and in getting decisions made by VA on their disability and other benefits claims.”

The American Legion, with help from the VA and other organizations, has previously operated crisis centers for veterans and family members in several locations, including Phoenix, Fayetteville and Charlotte, N.C., El Paso, Texas, St. Louis, Fort Collins, Colo., and Baltimore.

The Legion plans to operate VCCCs through next month in other areas seriously affected by delays in VA health care and claims processing.