NEW CITY, NY – Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann was joined by Congresswoman Nita Lowey, County Executive Ed Day, Veteran Leaders and other officials for the opening of a Satellite Veterans Center at Clarkstown Town Hall.

The VA created the Vet Center Program in 1979, in an effort to meet the unique needs of Veterans returning home from combat. Today, Vet Centers and Mobile Vet Centers provide community-based counseling for a wide range of social and psychological services, including professional readjustment counseling, outreach, and referral to care. These services are available to eligible Veterans, active duty service members, including National Guard and Reserve components, and their families. Vet Center services are free and records are kept strictly confidential and separate from the VA and DOD.

“We are proud to welcome the Satellite Vet Center to Clarkstown, offering veterans in Clarkstown and Rockland County a local place to get the counseling services they may need, ” said Supervisor George Hoehmann. “Many combat veterans and their families need the extra support and we are honored to have partnered with Congresswoman Nita Lowey, County Executive Ed Day, and Susan Branam, Director of the County Veterans Service Agency to have a place right here in Clarkstown.”

“Dedicated Vet Center staff, many of them veterans, provide the best in professional readjustment and counseling services for our brave veterans and their families,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “That’s why I’m so proud Community Access Points, like the new Center here in Clarkstown, are serving area veterans and providing essential community-based care. Local veterans can now access services in their community that include counseling for transition to civilian life and a range of other services.”

“Having access to these free services available in Clarkstown is a great step forward in providing for our veteran’s mental well-being. I thank those locally and on the Federal level for their support of this program. It is only by working together that we can begin to have an impact on the nearly 21 veterans and servicemembers who die by suicide every day,” said Rockland County Executive Ed Day.

The White Plains Vet Center is one of the original vet centers from the 1979 pilot program, serving veterans and their families from Westchester, Rockland and Putnam. The White Plains Vet Center has two community access points (part-time satellite offices) in Brewster, NY (serving Putnam County) and Clarkstown, NY (serving Rockland County).

Clients are seen by appointment only. Please call the White Plains Vet Center at 914-682-6250 for appointments or for more information.