The big day finally arrived! Six months after the VA administration made the announcement that they would be closing our VA and leaving a clinic, resulting in longer drive time for many veterans, outsourcing of their care and the construction of a Domiciliary in an urban setting which would be less conducive to the healing of veterans with PTSD or other emotional issues, the final proposal that committees worked on, was presented to the entire community before it was shown to the VA in Washington and to the rest of the country. It is a remarkable proposal, growing services to the veterans, while at the same time, lowering the cost to the taxpayers from the plan proposed by the VA.
When have you known a group of citizens from diverse backgrounds join together, at their own expense, to create a new vision for a rural VA facility that will help a community, veterans, and their families? Veterans will receive more help emotionally, physically, educationally and financially. More veterans will be able to return to civilian life, finding work and success at personal relationships. In the long run our country should see less homeless veterans, greater employment and more intact families from this segment of our population. These are the men and women who have served our country and whose families have faced adversity along with the spouse/parent. Their world changed forever in one way or the other and our country needs to help them adjust to the world they left when they joined the service.
The proposal from the Save Our VA committees has addressed many of the issues facing not only our returning veterans, but also the veterans from past conflicts who still carry scars from their time in the military.
You can read the proposal, "Building an Integrated Veterans Support Community" on the website of our local paper, The Hot Springs Star, or on theveteranstown.com. If it isn't on at this time, give it a few days to check it out.
Be prepared to be impressed, hopeful and grateful to the community of Hot Springs, South Dakota.
Can Eric Shinseki ignore a proposal for a demonstration project that will be a guide for VA facilities nationwide, be cost effective for the taxpayers, while helping those who served to find healing, work and a sense of belonging during their lives as civilians?
It just makes sense. Helpful and less expensive. Who wouldn't want to go down this path?
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