SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Members of the non-profit veteran support group Veteran Effect passed out 100 service member survival kits on Sunday to the homeless in Sacramento.
Those survival kits included food items and personal hygiene products. Many of those people were veterans in need, said Vice President of Veteran Effect Matt Osofsky.
The organization was recently founded by a group of U.S. military veterans to help veterans. Their mission is “facilitating change in the veteran community through mentorship, education, and building camaraderie,” said President of Veteran Effect Franciso Valencia.
Valencia is an Army veteran who helped create the organization after he left the service. He said he struggled with depression and emotional detachment, which caused issues with his family and trying to find a job.
“For me now as the president, it’s become my medicine and I’ve seen it happen to other people become their medicine,” Valencia said. “It’s very cathartic when you get around your brotherhood and your brothers and you just get that feeling, that comradery. People that you know will have your back."
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The event was put on in collaboration with other groups who offer support in the Sacramento region including Move America Forward, MVEN (Oracle), and personal donations collected at the Sacramento International Airport.
“Here there’s really different levels of support,” said Scott Raab, the community services coordinator with Move America Forward, which provides care packages to servicemen and women.
There are a number of organizations in the Sacramento area that provide many different types of resources for veterans.
“To help you out, you know getting off the streets for a few days if you happen to be homeless, helping you find a job, helping you learn how to do an interview,” Raab said.
Veteran Effect is one of many organizations geared towards assisting veterans in the Sacramento area. Veterans may also find resources and services through these organizations as well:
The organization “brings together state and federal agencies and fellow nonprofit service providers, who work together to create a comprehensive support network that encourages and assists homeless Veterans in addressing the multiple problems they face at one time and in one location.”
The mission of the California Department of Veterans Affairs is "to serve and honor all California veterans by connecting them and their families with their earned benefits through education, advocacy and direct services."
The Veterans Resource Centers for America's primary focus is on "housing assistance, behavioral health treatment, and case management."
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The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery hosted a tour about local men and women who served in World War II.