{"id":28502,"date":"2013-01-13T05:10:54","date_gmt":"2013-01-13T13:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.57.196.122\/~gdatwofo\/theavtimes\/?p=28502"},"modified":"2013-01-15T11:28:32","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T19:28:32","slug":"local-veterans-get-a-hand-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/2013\/01\/13\/local-veterans-get-a-hand-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Local veterans get a hand up"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Students from the Western Beauty Institute offer free haircuts to local veterans Saturday as part of the quarterly Antelope Valley Veterans Outreach held at Grace Chapel in Lancaster.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Veterans received a host of complimentary services, including eye examinations , dental care, medical care and mental health counseling.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LANCASTER \u2013 Dozens of local veterans received a helping hand Saturday at the Antelope Valley Veterans Outreach.<\/p>\n

The daylong event was hosted by Grace Resources and provided a wide array of complimentary services designed to help local veterans who are having difficulties.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur priority is veterans that are homeless or in trouble and needy,\u201d said Grace Resources Director Steve Baker. \u201cWe want to reach out to our local veterans and their families and do everything we can to help them and honor them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baker said the event began with a complimentary breakfast, courtesy of the Lancaster Rotary.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cWounded warriors had breakfast with the veterans in the morning, and they got a standing ovation for their service to our country,\u201d Baker said. \u201cFor every wounded warrior there are a thousand of us who didn\u2019t get hurt, so we owe a lot to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

After breakfast, more than 75 local veterans were treated to a variety of services, including dental care, eye exams and reading glasses, medical care, mental health counseling, legal aid and other community resources.<\/p>\n

Homeless veterans were connected to programs, such as Operation Healthy Homecoming, a program that links veterans and their families to permanent housing and coordinates a range of services to help them sustain their homes.<\/p>\n

Students from Western Beauty Institute were on hand to provide free haircuts and styling. Veterans were also offered free clothing and hygiene kits.<\/p>\n

Air Force veteran Marilyn Middlesalle said she was surprised at the amount of readily available services.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know it was going to be something where you could see a doctor and get dental work done,\u201d Middlesalle said. \u201cI think this is great!\u201d<\/p>\n

Army and Air Force veteran Rodney Thomas said he attended the event to get an eye examination and free reading glasses. He said the event was essential for all local veterans.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of veterans in the Antelope Valley that don\u2019t really know what services are available to them, and the people here let them know,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of information here, and information is power.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 40 volunteers helped organize the Antelope Valley Veterans Outreach (formerly known as Stand Down), Baker said, adding that the event is held quarterly. For more information or details on the next event, contact Grace Resources at 661-940-5272.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LANCASTER \u2013 Dozens of local veterans received a helping hand Saturday at the Antelope Valley Veterans Outreach. The daylong event was hosted by Grace Resources and provided a wide array of complimentary services designed to help local veterans who are having difficulties. \u201cOur priority is veterans that are homeless or in trouble and needy,\u201d said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":28503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theavtimes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}