Brown County to get VA counseling center [Green Bay Press-Gazette]
By Ellen Ferguson
WASHINGTON — Northeast Wisconsin combat veterans will be able to get counseling and other outreach services closer to home with the Veterans Affairs Department decision to open a Vet Center in Brown County.
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The county is among 39 communities VA officials announced as new Vet Center sites today. The center in Brown County would be Wisconsin’s third such facility, joining centers in Milwaukee and Madison.
The VA’s network of 232 centers offers services ranging from employment advice to mental health counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder and military sexual trauma to bereavement counseling for families to information and referral to community resources.
Gerald Polus, director of the Brown County Veterans Service Office, said the center is needed. His office refers about 10 veterans a month to Milwaukee for service.
“We see young returning vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. I would say well over 30 percent have readjustment problems, ” Polus said.
Polus credited Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, and other congressional lawmakers with helping to push for a Brown County center. Kagen’s office called him this morning with the news. The delegation also sought a center for La Crosse.
“We’ve been waiting for that phone call,” Polus said. “It’s a great program.”
“The addition of this new Vet Center is great news and will contribute to a growing and actively engaged network in Brown County that provides our veterans with the benefits they have earned,” Kagen said.
Read the full article at the Green Bay Press-Gazette
