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Veterans Benefit Fair draws more than 100

Cheboygan Daily Tribune - 10/1/2019

Sep. 28--CHEBOYGAN -- The Veterans Benefit Fair at the Cheboygan Eagles Club Thursday afternoon drew more than 100 veterans from around Cheboygan County and the surrounding area.

"We've had a great turn out," said Cheboygan County Veterans Service Officer Rick Wiles. "There have been well over 100 people who came through here in the first two hours."

The event was held at the Eagles Club from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., in cooperation with the Michigan Veterans Coalition and the Cheboygan County Department of Veteran Services. More than 35 vendors, with services that could benefit the veterans, were in attendance.

"It's been an outstanding turnout and outstanding vendor support for our veterans," said Wiles.

There were many vendors who were specifically geared toward helping the veterans and their families, including Brave Hearts Estate, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Elk's Lodge of Gaylord, Citizen Soldiers, the Buddy to Buddy program and many more.

There were also vendors from around the Cheboygan community that offer services from which the veterans can benefit, including the Food Bank of East Michigan, the Cheboygan Salvation Army, Encore Financial Group, Michigan State University Extension, Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A booth was also set up by CapTel to help veterans who are hard of hearing to receive a captioned telephone, so they would be able to communicate better with their family members.

A table was also set up, giving the veterans and their families information about special education mediation services, helping to make sure children receive the best education they can.

The Special Education Mediation Services is a federally funded program that assists families in schools to find the best educational outcome for the children.

"We are not advocates on either side," said Special Education Mediation Services Outreach Coordinator Patti Peiffer. "The name of the program has mediation in it, but mediation is not arbitration. Arbitration is Judge Judy. Mediation is when you have a difference, but you find a common goal and you work toward a common goal for a win-win solution. That's what we do."

The company works with the families and the students together, along with the schools, to help provide the best educational outcome for the child. The program works with the children from the time they are born until they are 26 years old. They do not have to be in special educational programs to benefit from this program.

"Any child in the State of Michigan is covered by this program," said Peiffer. "And I am available to come to speak to groups, to explain how this works. If there is someone in the entire state that wants to know more, we can get you a speaker."

Anyone who would like more information on the program is encouraged to go online and look up MiKids1st.org.

The VA also had several representatives on hand, including someone from the Saginaw VA Hospital, a dietician, a suicide prevention specialist and a representative from the VA Vet Center, to connect the veterans with services they would be eligible for though the VA.

Those who attended the event were given information on employment resources, as well as resources for housing, healthcare, education, community non-profit organizations and quality of life resources.

"Our goal is to get the veterans connected to veteran benefits," said Ryan Sanderson, Northeast Regional Coordinator of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency. "That's always our number one goal, because all these resources exist online, but to be able to see the veterans and speak to them, and then word of mouth, that's key."

Sanderson was very pleased with the event and said it turned out to be a very nice event for the community and there were many different community departments who came together to provide the resources to local veterans.

"It looks like we had well over 100 veterans attend the event, from Cheboygan and the surrounding counties," he said. "We had 60 people who registered online to come, but then you add in those who saw the event on Facebook, and there's also a lot of people who don't use the internet, so I usually double those numbers. So, there will be close to 150 veterans who were served today, which is very good for this area."

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