LAKELAND, Fla. — U.S. Air Force veteran Roger P. makes sure to stay on top of his VA clinic appointments.
“I’m fully disabled from the military,” said Roger.
Although a new Veterans Affairs clinic opened in Lakeland this summer, Roger still has to make that long drive to Tampa for certain services.
“When you go to Tampa it’s a gamble if you’re going to get home alive and I have to go to the VA, I go there all the time. I’m glad they built one here in Lakeland, they just don't do everything,” Roger said.
Vet Fest is helping connect veterans to the VA benefits they’ve earned.
The free event will inform vets of available resources and provide on-site support from the Department of Veterans Affairs and other veterans service organizations. It will include toxic exposure screenings, women's health services, mental health support and healthcare enrollment.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Florida saw the third highest increase in vets enrolling for VA health care over the last year.
“As you know even in Tampa, up in to Lakeland and Orlando, while there’s a lot of healthcare out there, a lot of times our veterans have to wait,” said David Dunning, executive director of James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and Clinics.
Veterans will also receive help with employment assistance, housing counseling and transportation services.
Vet Fest is Saturday, Nov. 16 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland. No advance registration or sign-up is required.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska heads to Weedon Island, which has a rich history that dates back more than 12,000 years. During that time, it was home to Indigenous populations, a movie studio, an airport, a safe haven for bootleggers during prohibition, and so much more. Today, the preserve protects this wide diversity of natural and cultural resources for current and future generations.
