Veterans connect at Stand Down
Veteran Dan Cooley waits while his wife, Kimberly, packs his backpack with the brochures, pamphlets and tokens they gathered from the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down on Saturday at North Idaho College. Veteran Bruce Mariani walks around them with his own bags of helpful information and his new tomato plant.
JOSA SNOW/Press
Volunteer Brienna Barron with Sport Clips gives Dan Cooley a haircut at the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down. Around 60 vendors came to North Idaho College to provide resources to roughly 400 veterans Saturday.
Retired Army veteran Floyd Dugger hands out hand-crocheted soap sacks to prevent falls in the shower with Real Life Ministries at the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down on Saturday. Dugger also provides information for soup kitchens and job fairs through the church to nearly 400 veterans.
U.S. Navy veteran Bruce Mariani drove from Lewiston to the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down to connect with local resources and access housing vouchers.
Bruce Mariani left Lewiston at 5:30 a.m. Saturday to drive to North Idaho College for the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down.
“I thought, ‘Let me get there, it’s only a couple hours away and it’s worth the drive,’” Mariani said. “Now I’m here, and I’m trying to find information that can help me. I’m trying to find a job. Hopefully, my truck makes it back.”
The annual event, attended by hundreds, assists veterans, service members and their families with clothing, haircuts, bike repairs, medical and veterinary care, dental and legal services, counseling, breakfast, lunch, food assistance and more.
Mariani came to the Stand Down looking for housing-voucher information, and he got about six contacts he can follow up with. He also picked up a backpack, a tomato plant and a bagful of food.
Mariani needed help carrying it all, so two volunteer Civil Air Patrol cadets brought everything he had to his truck.
“These kids have been heaven-sent today,” said veteran Ron Phillips.
The Civil Air Patrol had 10 cadets and five staff members volunteer to help anyone who needed it, mostly with carrying supplies, some handing out water and ready to be of assistance if anything else came up.
“The vets really enjoy the heck out of them,” said Mike Venning, Coeur d’Alene Civil Air Patrol squadron commander. “What we try to instill in our cadets is service to the community.”
Veteran-owned companies in attendance were ready to hire veterans for demolition and cleanup jobs, a dentist made appointments for screenings, veterinarians provided pet care or information about service dogs and lawyers wrote up wills. Sport Clips provided between 80 and 90 haircuts before the event ended at 1 p.m.
Dan Cooley was a Marine before he was medically retired from the military when he lost his leg. Cooley and wife Kimberly were married March 7 and they wanted to come to the Stand Down to see if there were any new benefits they were unaware of, especially as newlyweds. They grabbed some branded jar openers, helpful now that they’re both over 50, and some pamphlets on benefits for spouses and widows of servicemembers.
“Many veteran spouses don’t know about the benefits available to them,” said Todd Halvorson, a retired Master Sergeant from the Air Force and a bus driver.
Halvorson was part of the color guard in the opening ceremonies and got a haircut while the lines were shorter in the morning. He browsed other services available but didn’t want to take advantage of too many. There are veterans who really need the help who should get it first, he said.
In North Idaho College's Christianson Gymnasium, veterans could learn about available Medicare benefits for things like insulin prescriptions, and who they can call to understand them.
Jerry Sparling, with Bathfitter Inland Northwest, could offer up to $6,800 in rebates to replace a bathtub with an ADA-accessible acrylic insert. Sparling's whole family served in the military, but he wasn't medically eligible.
Veterans from Real Life Ministries provided crocheted soap covers to prevent falls in the shower, with fliers for Real Life community assistance opportunities for those seeking jobs or food help.
Idaho BackCountry Veterans invited veterans on hunting, fishing and gold panning trips to offer a community for people with North Idaho-centric interests.
Booths were mostly manned by veterans, their families or supporters, so the entire crowd was geared to connect veterans to resources from people who care in the community. The Idaho Department of Veterans Affairs brought a bus to support the event and social workers were on-site to meet people who might need help.
“For me, it’s wanting to be with other vets,” said Val Buell, who was in the Army. He came to the Stand Down with two friends to see what was available.
“Where we’re at, we have to save our money," Buell said, while waiting in line for his haircut. “Anywhere else, a good haircut is $20.”
Buell is in VA transitional housing and saving on a haircut makes his money go further for other needs, like food.
“I can tell you from my heart, it is so nice to see a crowd this big, all veterans,” Buell said. “It is a common mind all the way through, no matter which part of the country you came from. Here, it’s all leveled out and there’s help. And you’d be stupid not to go all the way through.”
