Veterans/Military

• Veterans Crisis Line Website:
  The Veterans Crisis Line connects Veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text. Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard of hearing individuals is available.
  
  

Veterans' Mental Health Bill

NAMI Homefront

NAMI Homefront is offered online.  NAMI understands that attending an in-person class can be difficult for busy individuals and families. They now offer NAMI Homefront Online. Online classes meet weekly in a virtual classroom, so participants experience the same level of interaction and learning as traditional in-person classes.

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NAMI Homefront is a free, 6-session program for family, friends and significant others of military Service Members and Veterans. The class helps families understand what the Service Member/ Veteran is experiencing related to trauma, combat stress,civilian life transition, PTSD and other mental health conditions.

The program is designed to help family members understand and support their Service Member/Veteran while maintaining their own well-being. NAMI Homefront leaders have personal experience with mental health conditions impacting their Service Member/Veteran. The class is free but you are expected to attend all six sessions. You must have access to a laptop, PC or tablet with a stable internet connection to participate. To hear audio, you will need to call in via telephone. It is recommend you use a headset or headphones.

An application process is required to ensure this program is a good fit. Space is limited.

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•  vet2vet program is a  Peer Networking group led by veterans, for veterans and members of the Armed Services offered through Orange County's Mental Health Association. 
  Vet2Vet participation is free, anonymous and confidential. The networking meetings provide an opportunity to discuss challenges facing today's Veterans including post- traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, military sexual trauma, addiction, employment or academic issues.

       Vet2Vet - While the way of doing business has changed, MHA is still open and
assisting veterans. Vet2Vet provides members with the opportunity to network with
one another to discuss challenges and solutions with subjects such as: Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Military Sexual
Trauma (MST), addiction, Life, Employment and Academic challenges among other
topics.

Virtual (Zoom) online meetings and activities:

• Warrior Writers Workshops

• Music Workshops

• Support group meetings

For questions or to connect with these services call 845-342-2400 ext. 1237
or email Larry Neumann at    lneumann@mhaorangeny.com

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Vet Centers are community-based counseling centers that provide a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional readjustment counseling to eligible Veterans, active duty service members, including National Guard and Reserve components, and their families. Readjustment counseling is offered to make a successful transition from military to civilian life or after a traumatic event experienced in the military. Individual, group, marriage and family counseling is offered in addition to referral and connection to other VA or community benefits and services. Vet Center counselors and outreach staff, many of whom are Veterans themselves, are experienced and prepared to discuss the tragedies of war, loss, grief and transition after trauma.

All Veterans are encouraged to seek Vet Center services. See local listiongs below.  Any Veterans and active duty Service members, to include members of the National Guard and Reserve components, are eligible if any of the following applies:

• Have served on active military duty in any combat theater or area of hostility∗ (see footnote)
• Experienced a military sexual trauma
• Provided direct emergent medical care or mortuary services, while serving on active military duty, to the casualties of war, or
• Served as a member of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew that provided direct support to operations in a combat zone or area of hostility.
• Vietnam Era Veterans who have accessed care at a Vet Center prior to January 1, 2004.
• Vet Center services are also provided to family members of Veterans and Service members for military-related issues when they aid in the readjustment of those who have served. This includes bereavement counseling for families who experience an active duty death.

   ∗ Service in combat theater or area of hostility to include but not limited to:
      World War II (including American Merchant Marines)
      Korean War
      Vietnam War
      Lebanon
      Grenada
      Desert Storm/ Desert Shield
      Bosnia
      Kosovo
      Operations in the former Yugoslavia area
      Global War on Terrorism
      Operation Enduring Freedom
      Operation Freedom's Sentinel
      Operation Iraqi Freedom
      Operation New Dawn

MIDDLETOWN VET CENTER
Click links for 2 page brochure:   
(page1   page 2, then Right Click to Rotate Clockwise)
726 East Main Street, Suite 203
Suite 203
Middletown, NY 10940
845-342-9917

Goshen VA Clinic
Facility type: VA Health
30 Hatfield Lane
Suite 204
Goshen, NY 10924-6768
Main: 845-294-6927
Mental Health: 914-737-4400 x2330

Port Jervis VA CliniC
150 Pike Street
Port Jervis, NY 12771-1867
Main: 845-856-5396
Mental Health: 914-737-4400 x2330

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• Orange County Veterans Service Agency
  Informs and assists veterans and their families, and members of the military, in matters pertaining to the numerous VA benefits, rights, and privileges available to them. 111 Craigville, Road, Goshen, NY 10924
  (845) 291-2470
  
  

• Legal Services of the Hudson Valley:
  Veterans and Military Families Advocacy Project
  Providing free civil legal services to those who have served:
  Home page is lshv.org;    LSHV Veterans and Military Brochure
  
  
  • VA Benefits
  • Housing
  • Consumer Affairs
  • Social Security and SSI Disability Claims
  • Elder Law
  • Domestic Violence
  • Public Benefits
    
    
• VA Hudson Valley Health Care
  
  
  
• Make the Connection:
  Watch Veterans and their family members share real stories of strength and recovery, find useful information and local mental health resources, and explore ways to show your support.
  
  
• Help for Homeless Veterans
  National Call Number: 877-424-3838
  
  
• Support Services for Veteran Families in Orange, Duchess, Ulster and Sullivan) 845-565-2892 

• NAMI Find Support for Veterans and Active Duty
  
  On this page we focus on questions that military personnel often ask, concerning treatment resources, disclosure and staying healthy during the transition to civilian life. - See more at: http://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Veterans-and-Active-Duty#sthash.s1Ch5Wym.dpuf
  On this website, NAMI focuses on questions that military personnel often ask, concerning treatment resources, disclosure and staying healthy during the transition to civilian life.
  On this page we focus on questions that military personnel often ask, concerning treatment resources, disclosure and staying healthy during the transition to civilian life. - See more at: http://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Veterans-and-Active-Duty#sthash.s1Ch5Wym.dpuf
  On this page we focus on questions that military personnel often ask, concerning treatment resources, disclosure and staying healthy during the transition to civilian life. - See more at: http://www.nami.org/Find-Support/Veterans-and-Active-Duty#sthash.s1Ch5Wym.dpuf

• NYS Office of Mental Health: Military Personnel and their Families
  

  In recognition of the contribitions made by the Armed Forces of the United States: The Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Reserves – the New York State Office of Mental Health thanks military personnel and their families for their dedicated service.

  We are proud to offer outreach, information and referral services, and counseling to support service members, their families, and veterans during deployment, reintegration, and post–deployment periods.

• Connecting with VA: Resources for Veterans, their Families and their Providers

• VA Caregiver Support Program Resources

• NYS Department of Health: Veterans Health Information Clearinghouse
  Includes numerous links pertaining to general health as well as mental health
  
  • Health Benefits
  • Information for Afghanistan Veterans
  • Information for Gulf War Veterans
  • Information for Vietnam Veterans
  • Information for Women Veterans
  • Information on AIDS/Hepatitis C
  • Information on Brain Injury
  • Information on Diabetes
  • Information for Veterans Exposed to Radiation
  • Mental Health Services  (a huge number of resource links)
  • Miscellaneous Information
  • Mobile or SmartPhone Applications

   

• 1-800-273-8255, ext. 1 - National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - specifically for Veterans
  
  
• US Department of Veterans Affairs
  
  
• National Center for PTSD
  
  
• PTSD Monthly News Update: January issue describes the newest release of PTSD Coach, VA’s first mobile app for mobile devices. The app has even more features to help you learn about and manage symptoms that can occur after trauma. First launched in April of 2011, the app has been downloaded about 500,000 times in over 115 countries.

  The app is now available in Spanish, thanks to the efforts of the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services Hurricane Maria Recovery Team in Puerto Rico. App users can change the language from English to Spanish once they download the content.

• Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
  TAPS provides immediate and long-term emotional help, hope, and healing to all who are grieving the death of a loved one in military service to America
  
  
• Military OneSource: Provides information on a wide variety of subjects including parenting issues, children’s education, help with child care, and other topics such as personal finances and legal matters. Counseling as well as resources are provided.
  
  
• Scholarships for Military Wives & Children
  bestcolleges.com link to finding financial aid and scholarships
  
  
• Center for Women Veterans (CWV)
  Call Center is open M-F: 8 a.m.-10 p.m., Sat: 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
  1-855-829-6636
  1-855-VA-WOMEN

VA Mission Act passes the U.S. Senate: On May 23 the VA Mission Act passed the U.S. Senate following recent passage by the U.S. House of Representatives. The VA Mission Act will help Veterans with mental health conditions by:

* Making it easier to access private sector health care
* Connecting caregivers of Veterans with service-connected conditions from all
service-eras to the VA Family Caregiver Program
* Creating safe opioid prescribing practices for non-VA health providers
* Allowing VA health providers to treat Veterans via telemedicine across state
lines

The bill was signed into law by President Trump on June 6, 2018