Tennessee launching a new statewide portal to provide veterans and their families with streamlined access to resources including housing, food, and financial assistance.
Putnam County Veteran Service Officer Mark Harris said the Veterans Connect portal allows users to search for specific services by zip code to find immediate help within their local communities. Harris said the tool includes listings for transit, community support services and daytime care that often fall outside the traditional scope of the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system.
“This is a game changer because a lot of times they, a veteran or family member will sit there, they don’t know what’s available, they don’t know where they can go to,” Harris said. “They don’t know, because they’re kind of limited on what experience or knowledge they have.”
Harris said the portal is designed to assist family members who serve as caretakers by identifying resources for physical safety and respite care. Harris said the platform currently features more than 2,100 programs available for veterans across the Upper Cumberland.
“This will provide services to where they can get assistance whether it’s for, you know, for the home, for physical safety, so they can have some respite care, so they know exactly who they can reach out to quickly to be able to help them with that,” Harris said.
Harris said the veteran service office will provide hands-on assistance for veterans who are uncomfortable using websites to help them navigate the new digital tool.
“Instead of putting that on each of the service organizations, you know, veteran services, they have this portal here,” Harris said. “So now we can use that, and veterans or family members can get on that portal and use it also.”
Harris said veteran service officers previously relied on personal networking and past experiences with agencies to help veterans find funding for rent or electricity. Now, Harris said the new system centralizes these resources to prevent service officers from having to act as a “jack-of-all-trades” for every unique situation.
“I’ve been doing this 11 years, and I wish we had this tool 11 years ago,” Harris said.
The portal becomes active for veterans and their families this Saturday.
