Mr. Jim Bob Mickler, marketing director for Texas Veterans Land Board (Texas VLB) helps Veterans sign in during a Veterans Benefits Fair, which took place Feb. 3, 2018, at the VA’s outpatient clinic in Laredo, Texas. VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS) partnered with the Texas VLB and the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) in order to put on three-hour long, free event for U.S. military Veterans. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo/Reynaldo Leal)

 

Laredo VA clinic hosts Veteran Benefits Fair

LAREDO, Texas -- VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS) in partnership with the Texas Veterans Commission (TVC) and the Veterans Land Board (VLB) host a Veterans Benefits Fair February 3, 2018, at the VA’s outpatient clinic in Laredo, Texas.

Hundreds of people attended the three-hour long, free event, more than 180 of which were U.S. military Veterans.

The event’s attendance was described as a big success thanks to the large turnout.

In fact, more than 150 Veterans were signed in within the first hour-and-a-half of the event according to Mr. Jim Bob Mickler, marketing director for Texas Veterans Land Board (Texas VLD), who works out of Austin, but is usually found traveling across the Lone Star State in order to meet and share information with thousands of the nearly 1.5 million Veterans living in Texas.  

Elliott Moore, the MyHealtheVet coordinator for VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS), explains how the platform works to a Veteran and his spouse during a Veterans Benefits Fair, which took place Feb. 3, 2018, at the VA’s outpatient clinic in Laredo, Texas. Mr. Moore was one of several representatives from VATVCBHCS that provided information to Veterans and their families at the fair. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo/Reynaldo Leal)

Mr. Mickler emphasized the importance of the event for Veterans, especially those recently out of or about to leave military service.

“Lot of times Veterans get out and they don’t know where to start. This [Veterans Benefit Fair] is where you start,” said Mickler, who along with another Texas VLB representative provided guests with information and answer to questions regarding home loans, land loans, home improvement loans, state veterans homes and state veterans cemeteries.

Mr. Mickler explained that event’s such as the Veterans Benefit Fair help save Veterans and their families a lot of hassle and time.

“If Veterans went to their hometown and tried to find all the benefits that we are looking at in this one room here today—they would have to make eleven different appointments just to get what we got here today in one place,” said Mr. Mickler. “This year we’re expecting to have 54,000 Veteran families move to Texas. Our job is to make sure they have an easy transition to make that happen. We want to make sure they got all the benefits and services they got coming to them.”

Texas Veterans Land Board (Texas VLB) representative Jimmy Smaragdis explains some of the benefits provided by the State of Texas to Veterans like the ones who attended the Veterans Benefits Fair which took place Feb. 3, 2018, at the VA’s outpatient clinic in Laredo, Texas. The Texas VLB was the lead organization coordinating the event. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs photo/Reynaldo Leal)

Helping the Texas VLB in their mission to help Veterans were the Texas Veterans Commission which had counselors to assist with disability and pension claims, employment services and educational benefits, while representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs assisted Veterans with federal earned benefits and services such suicide prevention and MyhealtheVet, an online platform Veterans can use to schedule appointments, refill prescriptions, view their health records, and send secure messages to their team health care teams.

The Texas VLB was the lead coordinating agency for the fair and although the event was attended by hundreds of local Veterans Mr. Mickler showed excitement about the potential for the VLB and its partners reaching more Veterans in the future.

“Can you imagine we probably could have gotten ten times more had those that heard about it, but they just couldn’t get here today,” added Mr. Mickler. “We need to keep working this upper valley and make sure that we got them all taken care of.”

The Texas VLB hosts a benefits fair every year. The VLB plans to host next year’s benefits fair in McAllen, Texas, and then move onto another one of the four primary markets serviced by VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System, which also includes the Harlingen and Corpus Christi.