Greene County Veterans Affairs to hold second-annual Veterans Expo
Next week, the Greene County Fairgrounds will be packed with vendors eager to serve military veterans at the second annual Greene County Veterans Affairs Veterans Expo.
“There are a lot of folks that will come in and say, ‘I didn’t know that that was out there for me,'” said Kathy Cipcic, director of Greene County Veterans Affairs. “There is important information out there for our veterans.”
All the important information will be accessible to veterans at the expo, which runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 10. More than 40 vendors, including reps from the Veterans Leadership Program, the Fayette County VA Clinic, PA Career Link and several behavior health organizatons will be on-site to answer veterans’ questions and connect them with health, career and financial resources.
Along with vendors, local and state representatives will be present, and attendees can grab some grub from local food trucks like What’s Smokin’ BBQ.
During the expo, Greene County Veterans Affairs will launch its Together With Veterans Rural Suicide Prevention Program. Greene is one of three counties in the state to pilot the Colorado-based program.
“We’re trying to … build the strength and size of that group,” Cipcic said. “Get more of our veterans involved, more of our community involved.”
Founded in 2015, Together With Veterans is a veteran-led, community-specific program that aims to reduce suicide among military vets. According to Together With Veterans, suicide among veterans has increased steadily since 2005. Rural veterans are 20% more likely to die by suicide than urban-dwelling veterans.
In partnership with WICHE and through a grant from the Community Foundation, the Greene County Veterans Affairs was able to bring the program to Southwestern Pennsylvania.
“We’re looking for volunteers who may have gone through the suicide issues with family, with friends, that would be able to help the group out,” Cipcic said. “We just want .. to try to get more people involved. It’s trying to get everyone’s eyes open to things that may be happening in the community, because we don’t always have the facilities here in this county.”
Cipcic hopes the Veterans Expo will spark interest in Together With Veterans, and is looking forward to connecting local vets with the resources they need at the event.
Admission to the Greene County Veterans Affiairs Veterans Expo is free.
For more information, visit https://www.co.greene.pa.us/department-veterans-affairs.