Local veterans from Mississippi and Alabama attended the 2018 Veteran’s Summit Tuesday at the Starkville Sportsplex. The summit provided information about the resources and benefits available to American military veterans.
Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board Veterans Service Officer Sharon Dollarhide led the organization of the summit.
“A lot of times, veterans don’t realize what all is available to them, so they don’t know the right questions to ask to get the answers they’re needing,” Dollarhide said. “We feel like this way, (the summit) at least touches on each area of their lives so that they will know the right questions to ask to the right people who will be here.”
The summit included a health fair with free flu shots, eye exams and health screenings, a resource fair detailing the resources available to the veterans and a job fair.
“What we’re trying to do is cover every area we can think of that the veterans might have a need in and put them all into one house at one time so we can get as many veterans taken care of as possible,” Dollarhide said.
The summit also included a number of Veterans Affairs branches.
“We have the Veterans Affairs here from Jackson, Mississippi, Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Columbus, Mississippi,” Dollarhide said. “We wanted to cover the whole area because different veterans use different Veterans Affairs facilities.”
Some people were also present at the summit to further advocate for veterans. Employer Support of the Guard and the Reserve Volunteer and National Guard Veteran James Vaughan was at the summit to get employers to sign a statement of support for veterans.
“This is a great venue for us,” Vaughan said. “We can make contact with employers to support veterans of the National Guard and Reserves.”
One motivation Dollarhide had for organizing the summit came from her personal experience after separating from the U.S. Air Force in 1979.
“It wasn’t until 2010 before I even realized there were benefits available to me,” Dollarhide said. “I didn’t know the questions to ask since I didn’t know there were people out there to ask.”
Dollarhide said it was only when she got a job working for the Veterans Affair Board that she realized the benefits and resources available for veterans. Rather than allowing more veterans to go through a similar experience, Dollarhide wanted to bring important resources to the veterans.
“I thought it would be good— rather than everybody having to find these things out individually— let’s do the work for them and bring it to them, and this (summit) was the product,” Dollarhide said. “The different resources and the employers who are here, they can help (the veterans) find the questions that they don’t know to ask.”
Mississippi State University’s Center for America’s Veterans was a partner and a sponsor of the summit.
“It’s our first ever veterans summit for the city of Starkville and we wanted to put together an event that brought all of the organizations together for veterans,” MSU Center for America’s Veterans Director Brian Locke said. “It was a partnership with us to get together and provide something that would hopefully be meaningful and useful for our local veterans.”
Locke said he believed the summit was an easy way for veterans to get important questions answered.
“I think it’s difficult for veterans to get answers to their questions sometimes when dealing with different organizations, and sometimes bureaucracy gets in the way,” Locke said. “Really cutting all of that out and having one place they can come to and have representatives they can talk to face to face— not over the phone, not over email— hopefully will help them out a lot.”
Locke said he also plans on having more summits in Starkville’s future.
“I hope this will be an annual event that we will be able to do,” Locke said. “Based on the turnout today, I think it’s something that will probably grow every year.”
Vietnam Veteran Guy Villeneuve said he was at the summit Tuesday morning to learn more about the veterans benefits available and to find a potential job opportunity.
“As soon as I found out about this, I came over,” Villeneuve said. “I’m looking for help finding a job or something to do part-time. You come to one of these things and you learn about stuff you didn’t know about that can help you out.”
As an officer of Disabled American Veterans in Columbus, Villeneuve said he was also on a “fact-finding mission” for the veterans he serves.
“I’m on a fact-finding mission to bring back information to the rest of the guys to see who they can talk to about helping them out,” Villeneuve said. “I’ve met a lot of people who have given me flyers and directions to go look for other stuff.”
Dollarhide said veterans who couldn’t make it to the summit can still contact their county veterans service officer for help finding the right resources.
“They should contact their county veterans service officer, who will at least have the right direction they can go and who will know a little bit more about the benefits that might be available to them,” Dollarhide said.
“If they would reach out to their county veterans service officer— or me as a state veterans service officer— and let us know what their needs are, then when we plan these events, we can make sure to include those needs in the events as well,” Dollarhide added.
Oktibbeha County Veterans Service Officer Pat Hopson was present at the summit and is available in Starkville throughout the week.
“I’m here to introduce myself to the veterans and show them the benefits they need, explain to them the bene ts they need, help them with their claims, help them with any appeals— that’s what I do,” Hopson said Tuesday. “I help all veterans and families with any services they need and direct them in the right way they need to go.”
For veterans in Oktibbeha County, Hopson is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in her office on the second floor of the Oktibbeha County Courthouse on 101 East Main St. Hopson's phone number is 662-323-6155 and her email is phopson@gtpdd.com.
Hopson encouraged local veterans to visit her and to leave a message if she can’t answer her phone the first time.
“It’s important for veterans to be aware of what’s out there for them and their families,” Hopson said. “Veterans have given their all for our country, and we need to help them now and let them know what’s available to them and their families.”