COMMUNITY SERVICES

By

Tim Nelson, Co-Chairman

 

            First of all, let me start by thanking all of the men and women of the armed forces, past and present.  Without your service we would not be where we are

today, and secondly, thanks to all of the families for supporting your servicemen and women while they serve.  I share your feelings, as my brother-in-law was just recently deployed to Afghanistan.

 

            The purpose of this article is to give servicemen and women and their families a little help with where to find some assistance.  I have done some looking around and have found some web sites that offer help for single parents while their loved one is deployed, finances for military families, children with

deployed parents, and so on.

 

            One of the better ones that I have found is www.army.com.  If you click on the resources tab at the top it will give a list of resources.  I think the “Military Life” and “Family” categories at the bottom could be a lot of help.  They have

Some tips for helping children deal with a parent being deployed, when a family

Member is being deployed (son, daughter, sister or brother), and how to help support your deployed family member.  Some of the others I found were:

www.myarmytoo.com, www.militaryfinances.com, and

www.singlemotherresources.com.

 

            There is also help available for veterans.  The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a lot of services including education assistance and some health care benefits.  Your Community Services Committee is currently looking into the possibility of having a seminar with a member of Peoria Vet Center in the near future to help answer questions about and explain the benefits offered by the VA.

You can see some of the services they offer at www.va.gov or by contacting the

Peoria Vet Center at 309-688-2170.