Mobile Vet Center Arrives on Maui, March 22-31

[flashvideo file=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7opZ5QaUMJA /] By Wendy Osher

A Mobile Vet Center truck arrives on Maui this weekend for a series of events to provide free services to Active Duty, Reserve, Guard personnel, and Veterans.

The events kick off on Saturday, March 22, and continue through the end of the month at various locations across the island.

Services include free and confidential readjustment counseling, referrals, and information on benefits provided by local VA and Army OneSource representatives.

Mobile Veteran Center. Courtesy photo.

The schedule of Maui events runs from March 22 to 31, and includes the following:

• Saturday, March 22: Swap Meet in Kahului, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Sunday, March 23: Maui Intersection Church at Kalama Park on South Kīhei Road, 2 to 4 p.m.
• Wednesday, March 26: Lahaina Craft Fair on the Honoapiʻilani Highway, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Thursday, March 27: University of Hawai’i Maui College Vet Center on Ka’ahumanu Avenue in Kahului, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Friday, March 28: Homeless Veteran Outreach Camp Olowalu, located at 800 Olowalu Village Road in West Maui, 12 to 4 p.m.
• Saturday, March 29: Women Veteran Stand Down, at the Army National Guard facility, located at 2701 Mokulele Highway in Pu’unēnē, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Monday, March 31: J. Walter Cameron Center on Mahalani Street in Wailuku, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The Mobile Vet Center provides direct outreach to Veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs Readjustment Counseling Services.

The mobile truck has been operating on ʻOahu and collaborating with community partners for nearly two years, and is being transported to Maui this month thanks to the assistance of Young Brothers, Ltd, in collaboration with Army OneSource, and the Hawaiʻi Behavioral Health Alliance.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa is scheduled to attend the kickoff event on Saturday, March 22, from 9 to 10 a.m., during which he will be distributing hygiene kits donated and assembled by Vietnam Veterans on ʻOahu for fellow Veterans.

“This Mobile Vet Center is an important tool for community outreach for our veterans,” said Mayor Arakawa in a press release statement. “Many come back from serving their country only to find they have problems readjusting to civilian life. We must extend every resource to try and help them if we can; the community owes them that much at the very least,” he said.