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Date: 8/29/2023
GRANBY – A proposal for a Veterans District that would benefit Granby vets came before the Selectboard during its Aug. 21 meeting and was met warmly by the board and conversations will continue in the coming months.
South Hadley Veterans Service Director Mike Slater was joined by Holyoke Veterans Services Director Jesus Pereira with a proposal for a district the two are looking to build in Western Massachusetts for veterans services. The came to the board for a discussion on the benefits this new district would entail compared to the current veteran services of Granby.
Slater started the discussions by saying one of the issues they currently see with Granby and veteran services is that the current state mandated work through chapter 115 is very limited. Currently there are only two clients on chapter 115 in Granby according to Slater.
Chapter 115 for veterans in Massachusetts is given to veterans with little income and helps pay for daily living expenses, medical costs, housing and other necessities. Local veteran service officers can play a big role in being the bridge to veterans and these resources. A more cohesive unit for the region would benefit this aspect of veteran’s services and more according to Slater and Pereira’s pitch.
Slater added the real benefit now that many are being income driven out of chapter 115 is VA work, but in order to do Veterans Affairs work accreditation is needed.
“You have to have so many hours of work per year to stay accredited and under Granby’s current model that’s not possible. Dave Mendoza, the current VSO could never get VA accredited just working here because he doesn’t work enough hours for accreditation,” Slater explained.
According to Slater, Granby currently is receiving $201,000 a month from the VA in the federal government.
Slater said he and Pereira’s proposal is for a district with five communities to start, which are targeted to be South Hadley, Holyoke, Granby, Hadley and Amherst. He added this model was different than any of the current ones offered in the region because its focus is on VA accreditation.
“Every employee of the district would all be completely VA accredited with VBMS [Veterans Benefits Management System] direct access and we could prioritize the veterans within those communities,” Slater added.
Pereira has been in his role with the city of Holyoke for seven years and said after some in-office analytics were reviewed, his team realized it wasn’t best meeting the needs of the veterans in the city. Everyone in his office is currently accredited with the VA and two of them have access to VA data to watch claims as they’re being developed and help those who qualify. He added it has greatly benefited Holyoke veterans access to resources.
“It’s amazing, what Holyoke has done you don’t see in very many places, but it’s because they switched that focus. [Chapter] 115 is the emergency, you come into the door I can help you today, the VA is the long term betterment for your life and for your family,” Slater said.
Slater also explained with the current Granby model it was difficult, with a part time officer, to always be able to easily connect and assist local veterans when looking for this resource.
“If you call and it’s Dave’s six hours then he’s got a choice to make. Does he either give free time to the town or does that veteran or surviving spouse have to wait X amount of time to contact or be re-contacted by veterans services, which can create quite the backlog of work,” Slater said. “Now you have this brought accessibility into the system where people who had recently been denied come back to the table to be reevaluated and re service connected, so that’s really the biggest benefit to Granby is the VA side of things.”
Slater explained the current VSOs would be consolidated under one office under a host community, which is currently under negotiations, but would ideally be in Holyoke or South Hadley. This office would take on the work of administrating IP support, HR support and more.
“So basically Granby would pay a bill to South Hadley for access to a veteran’s service office that’s staffed five days a week and clients would have access to,” Slater said. “If we located in South Hadley that will be the home office of Granby, South Hadley, Holyoke, with the ability to move into those communities satellite wise for appointments. We can meet them there, or in their home, but ideally they would come to the main hub.”
Pereira said details and needs from each community will be looked at closely as they further this proposal. He added it only made sense for Granby to be able to help their veterans to the same standard being done in surrounding communities.
“If a veteran from Granby came to me in Holyoke and said, ‘I need help with chapter 115 or the VA,’ I have to turn them back to Granby. Although I have all the capacity in the world to help them, I’m getting paid by the city of Holyoke to work for them, so unfortunately I have to turn people back to their municipalities,” Pereira said.
He reiterated the current Granby veterans service office doesn’t have enough hours per year to maintain accreditation. Slater added Granby would gain a higher level of access to services and more services than they currently have through the current part time model.
“If you’re going to have a VSO, it should be VA accredited,” Slater said. “When it comes to accessibility, we are probably the most accessible model that the state has right now.”
The Selectboard all expressed interest in the proposal and added they should be providing the best possible service for their veterans.
“To me it makes sense. We’re able to provide availability for more services out there versus the six hours a week. Any additional services or make things easier for our veterans to obtain information, or tools to access other things just makes sense,” said Selectboard chair Glenn Sexton.
Slater said the next steps in his proposal is outreach. He said he plans on sending out a mailer, attend large scale Granby events – such as Charter Days – with information available, and a veteran town hall in a centralized location to get everyone on the same page of the proposal.
“It’s really to hit the ground and make sure people know these services are out here. I’ve been doing this for four years now and there are still people who just don’t have a clue, even the ones on benefits, of all the things that come with those benefits. So, its all about educating them, and finding them,” Slater said. He added the centralized office for regional veteran affairs would only increase their outreach to those who are unaware of its benefits.
In their letter to the board, Slater asked the board give an official answer on their interest by late October or early November because Amherst and Hadley both are leaving their current district at the end of the year. Slater said he needed Granby’s interest in moving forward to be clear as they go to Hadley and Amherst to fill out the five-community team. He added the South Hadley Selectboard members who are “100% behind brining it” before the Selectboard.
Sexton ended the discussion by saying he felt they could move on and the Selectboard was in support of the proposal. Selectboard member Crystal Dufresne added she was in support.