Almost 40 vendors and nonprofits attended the 2022 Community Outreach Day, providing resources for physical and mental health, housing, jobs and much more. Each one has noticed different unmet needs in the community this year.
The event is sponsored every year by the John J. Pershing VA Medical Center and held outside First United Methodist Church. Veterans justice outreach specialist Gary Helle runs into many veterans who do not realize they qualify for VA care.
“Sometimes we have vets who served ... But if they haven’t been deployed to a combat area, they don’t consider themselves veterans,” he said.
This also includes vets who served less than two years or received other-than-honorable discharges.
It is one thing to know there is help, but it can be another to get there. Vets can be compensated for mileage to the VA but sometimes lack driver’s licenses or reliable transportation.
“The VA helps, we have a transportation network,” Helle said.
The Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Missouri (VNA) also racks up miles, providing home health, hospice care, and other services in 19 counties. They gave blood pressure tests and measured grip strength at their booth while providing information about their resources.
One of the greatest obstacles in their area is the state of rural health care, and the difficulty some people face in finding a reliable primary care doctor.
“It’s such a rural area that it’s hard to serve everyone,” said nurse Nikki Murdock.
Murdock and other staff also noted people are not fully aware VNA services can be covered by grants and other payer sources. They have a social worker who helps patients find funding.
The Butler County Community Resource Council held its Senior Health Fair on health. On Friday, they were set up again, this time with a table of mittens and gloves for visitors. Mentoring Resource Coordinator Dalene Pyrtle said CRC staff wanted to give people a way to keep warm as the temperature drops, especially since they have seen more and more people seeking help with utilities — something the CRC is not equipped to provide.
“We tried to think of something people could use to keep them warm,” she noted.
The SEMO Food Bank provided enough food to feed 200 households. Just an hour after opening, the food bank, Mingo Job Corps and VA volunteers had already passed out half of it.
The rush told Charissa Young of the VA that personal resources were a high priority for visitors this year.
“I would say a lot of it is food, personal needs,” she said.
Other organizations in attendance were Missouri Highlands Health Care, Crown Hospice, Caption Call, Vertava health, Aging Matters, South Central Missouri Community Action Agency, Family Counseling Coordinated Solutions, Independent Living Center of SEMO, Missouri Parents Act, Rehab Services for the Blind, Catholic Charities, Family Counseling Center Housing, Ripley County Housing Authority, AT&T Internet for Veterans, Cricket Wireless, MERS Goodwill, Productive Staffing, Disabled American Veterans, Legacy Hospice, Butler County Health Department, Walgreens, City of Poplar Bluff, SEMO Behavioral Health, PFLAG, Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri, Boys & Girls Club of the Heartland, Missouri Children’s Division, Easter Seals, USDA Rural Development, Poplar Bluff Housing Authority, Haven House, Vocational Rehabilitation, Unite Migrant Opportunity Services and Legal Services.