Resources for Veterans and First Responders
Jacob Hirsbrunner was one of the organizers of the Veterans Services Fair at Tigert Middle School.
In this part of the country, there are a lot of veterans and there are a lot of resources. Sometimes, however, it takes some doing to bring the two together. A Fair to provide information about the various services available to Caribou County’s veterans, as well as the sometimes overlooked first responders, was held at Tigert Middle School over
the weekend.
Jacob Hirsbrunner, of the VFW Post 9141 in Soda Springs, was one of the organizers of the event. “This is kind of a place where we hope people can come and find out about some of the things they didn’t know about before,” he said.
On hand was a range of various organizations, including Courageous Survival, Caribou Medical Center, U.S. Bank, the VFW, state and local VA representatives, and others.
Courageous Survival was represented by Hailey Mazza, Susan Bingham, and Joe Gregory. Courageous Survival is a peer support organization, that coordinates with various volunteer and nonprofits to provide peer-based support for veterans and first responders. One of the things that the group facilitates are critical incident debriefings for law enforcement.
“After some of the incidents that law enforcement and EMS respond to, it can be very important for them to have a chance to talk with other people, and get out any concerns or responses that need to be processed,” Gregory said.
Ireland Bank’s Kirsten Iverson, Tasha Dailey, and Megan McCurdy let veterans know that U.S. Banks are committed to giving back to veterans. Iverson, a veteran herself, explained that the bank “waives fees for veterans,” which can save both money and hassle with something as essential as banking.
Navy corpsman Sven “Doc” Berglowe and army veteran Alex Schwirian were at the Fair to explain some of the functions of the VFW, and help direct people to the services that would be most helpful for them.
Ashley Wright, counselor with Caribou Medical Center, spoke with visitors about some of the services offered to veterans and responders through the CMC. Ashley also noted that the hospital is planning upcoming activities for May’s Mental Health Awareness Month.
Wes Jones was one of the representatives of the VA at the Fair, who suggested that those interested start with State VSO officers Paul Burgin and Emberly Bertasso, who are located at the Pocatello VA Office at 430 N 5th avenue and can be reached at 208-244-3873.
www.idahoveteransguide.org is the launchpoint website for a range of different services that can be accessed once a veteran has officially registered with the Veterans Administration.
The recently opened Belly View BBQ and Grill truck provided food for the event, and kept things warm as the wind started to pick up on Saturday.
Veterans are encouraged to reach out to any of the numbers or websites above, or to Quartermaster Jacob Hirsbrunner at (214)650-8892.
