Delaware veterans receive needed services during annual Dover Stand Down

More than 1,200 veterans from Delaware and neighboring states looking for housing and other services will converge on Dover on Friday for the 10th annual Veterans Stand Down.

The popular event — which refers to a command to relax after troops have been on duty — has continued to grow. This year, more than 150 organizations will be on hand to offer veterans basic medical, dental and behavioral services, clothing, housing, haircuts, legal services, a warm lunch and more.

The Dover stand-down will take place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Shutte Park, 10 Electric Ave., just off West Water Street beyond Kraft Foods.

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The event is one of the annual projects by the Veterans Awareness Center Foundation in Greenwood, a nonprofit created by Liz Byers-Jiron, husband Bill and their daughter Mindy.

Liz said she and her husband, a disabled veteran himself, started the organization in 2008 after getting the runaround Delaware veterans once received.

They went into a Veterans Affairs office and were handed a piece of paper with a list of names and numbers to call.

After calling all of the numbers, Liz said she was connected to the person she originally met with without finding an answer to her question.

"That wasn't good enough for me," said Byers-Jiron, who served with Naval Sea Systems Command for 38 years. "In Washington, if there was a weakness, you found the solution. That was when we decided we needed to help."

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Liz said they got involved in the stand-downs, which she's seen grow. From 2016 to 2017, the number of veterans attending went from 800 to 1,200.

The original mission of stand-downs across the nation was to help homeless veterans find permanent housing. That mission was enlarged to encompass all veterans.

There are about 78,000 veterans in Delaware, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Byers-Jiron said that in the past 2½ years more than 750 veterans have been provided permanent housing. Now more emphasis is placed on helping them find employment, get them medical and dental attention and find them other vital services.

"We can help veterans with whatever problem they might have," she said. "We know what keeps them whole. We provide them with the services to keep them from becoming at-risk and so they won't be homeless."

She said the services offered come from the stories she, her staff and volunteers hear about veterans' needs.

One veteran told them he was homeless and not only wasn't getting help with housing or basic services but also was badly needing dental work.

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Byers-Jiron said her organization found out who that veteran was and today he has his own apartment and his teeth are now repaired.

"There is nothing we can't do for a veteran in the state of Delaware," she said. 

Van and bus transportation to and from the event will be provided at seven different locations throughout the state: Wilmington, Georgetown, Seaford, Harrington, Rehoboth Beach and Dover.

Retired Gen. Frank Vavala, Delaware’s former adjutant general, will once again provide opening remarks. He will be joined by Dave Skocik of the Delaware Veterans Coalition, who also will address the veterans.

"The Delaware Veterans Stand Down is an affirmation to veterans, particularly those who are going through a difficult time in their lives, that people do care," Skocik said. "All of the folks who put this together every year have improved the lives of veterans."

For more information, display posters or to contribute, offer goods or services or volunteer, call (302) 349-4898 or email lbjnavcret@hotmail.com.

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.