YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The head of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission wants to reach veterans in the county that may not have been counted in the most recent U.S. Census.
To connect with them, Susan Krawchyk says the commission provides resource information at places like sporting events, nursing homes and the Canfield Fair, hoping to ensure local veterans receive their earned benefits.
Across Ohio, 602,318 veterans were counted in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, giving the Buckeye State the eighth highest number of veterans. In Mahoning County, they number 15,000.
Although the state figure marks a nearly 30% decrease from a decade ago, 6.6% of Ohio’s population are veterans and of those, 7.2% earned income below the poverty line and 29.5% were living with a disability.
Similar statistics are found in Pennsylvania which has the fourth-highest veteran population.
So where do veterans turn when they need well-deserved assistance to get by? Some area organizations have resources and contacts to help.
Whether it is housing, a meal, a warm coat, mental health counseling or education, there are places to turn.
A Haven for Homeless Vets
Veterans Haven is slated to break ground soon to provide transitional housing for homeless veterans at a location on the south side of Youngstown. Veterans Haven is part of Family & Community Services and Brandi Parker serves as assistant director of veterans’ services.
The project has been retrofitting shipping containers and will merge them with traditional construction to provide homes where veterans can find support.
Lynnette Forde, president of The Youngstown Foundation, says most of the funding has come from federal sources, but the foundation’s partnership with Veterans Haven has been one of the projects that impresses her. A shipping container gets modified with a window, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and a bathroom to turn it into a home for a veteran.
“What they are able to do with a little bit of money and love and partnership from government sources, from other nonprofit agencies, from veterans themselves, as well as our little bit of money…,” she says. “I was just blown away at the creativity, the innovation to house people for long periods of time – folks that have served our country and they love this country. And I didn’t believe it until I saw it.”
Some of the original plans had to be reduced by $700,000 after building costs went up and the project came in over budget. It is now a $1.35 million project but it’s behind its initial schedule.
Parker says Veterans Haven also is able to offer toiletries, housing supplies, garbage bags, laundry soap, paper towels, beard trimmers and other items to veterans through donations that can be dropped off at their office at 2611 Homestead Ave.
Educational Support at YSU
Rick Williams, associate director of the Youngstown State University Office of Veterans Affairs, considers the office “a one-stop shop” of resources and direction for veterans transitioning into either graduate or undergraduate classes at YSU. The office can help those applying for school, help evaluate their military experience to convert it to college credits and help in applying for VA education benefits, as well as other funding sources and scholarships geared toward those with military experience.
YSU is an Ohio Collegiate Purple Star School, which is a designation for schools providing the highest levels of support to veterans. Williams says the office processes all VA, defense department and state education benefits applications, such as GI Bills, Military Tuition Assistance and National Guard Scholarships. For those on active duty or reserve students called away during the semester, YSU has a “very friendly military withdraw” policy.
“Once they are a student, we then go into ‘retention mode’ and do our best to educate them on the support services available on campus and resources in the community to give them the best chance for success,” Williams says.
Constructed in 2014, the 6,000-square-foot Carl A. Nunziato Veterans Resource Center provides a classroom/community room, study hall, lounge space, computer lab, kitchen, outdoor picnic area and other spaces for veterans at the university.
And as they approach graduation, Williams said center personnel make sure students know about military and veteran focused job fairs and receive résumé and interviewing assistance. They also connect them with statewide and local firms known to seek veteran employees.
Currently serving 209 student veterans and 90 dependents using veterans’ benefits, Williams says center staff works hard to ensure everyone on campus who has served knows about and takes full advantage of the military benefits they earned, as well as those financial aid opportunities available to all YSU students. He encourages veterans and dependents to visit the center to learn more.
Although the YSU Office of Veterans Affairs does not assist nonstudent veterans, Williams says they treat every veteran with dignity and respect, listening to their needs and referring them to many of the resources in the region – including the Carl A. Nunziato Community Based Outpatient Clinic on Belmont Avenue, Veterans Outreach and Veterans Haven.
Coats and Boots
During November, the Youngstown Blue Coats will be concentrating their efforts on homeless and low-income veterans. One in five people served by the Blue Coats is a veteran.
What started as a single coat drive to honor the father-in-law of YBC President and CEO Patty Summers turned into a passion. He asked her to do the project instead “for the boys who never came home.” One coat drive turned into an ongoing push to take care of many others.
Known for making sure those struggling without a coat and other warming items receive one in this region, the Blue Coats accepts new and gently used larger coats, hats, gloves, handwarmers, blankets, new socks and dry boots. Items can be dropped off at O’Reilly Auto Parts stores in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.
Blue Coats distributes them, seeking out those who are homeless in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
By asking through the Veterans Haven and the Veterans Service Commission, a veteran in need can directly receive items from the Blue Coats, says Summers.
Rick’s Ranchwear Inc. donated 1,200 pairs of cowboy boots, and Summers says the Blue Coats will have a veterans-only boot distribution this month.
Other distribution events are being planned in Butler, at the Trails End Conservancy in Pennsylvania and at Washington Square in Warren during the month.
To raise funds, Summers says YBC will be selling poppies, including paper ones and others of sturdier materials, that will be placed in the field next to the Blue Coats office in Hubbard before Veterans Day. The Blue Coats are raising money for a 12-passenger van to pull their trailer, as well as money to replace their bus, something they know they will need to do soon. These vehicles are used to haul donations to distribution sites and homeless encampments.
Move for Veterans Services
The Veterans Service Commission of Mahoning County helps veterans find what services are available, starting with applications for VA benefits by both veterans and their widows and widowers.
Krawchyk, head of the commission, says some benefits offered
to low-income veterans without assets include a $600 burial benefit, winter utility assistance for gas and electric and assistance to cover home health.
The commission can help veterans receive emergency financial assistance if they lose their job before unemployment begins.
“We don’t want to see anybody become homeless,” Krawchyk says, “so we have a financial assistance program too that can bridge that gap until they get on their feet again.”
Located at Oakhill Renaissance Center, the Veterans Service Commission will be in its new location, next
to the VA Outpatient Clinic by this time next year, Krawchyk says. That will cut down travel for those seeking services from both places and allow them to easily refer veterans to each other.
Krawchyk notes the Veterans Service Commission offers counseling and can refer those in need to additional counselors through the VA. The commission also offers rides to the clinics in Parma, Pittsburgh and Butler, Pa., when veterans need specialized care.
And when it comes time to honor veterans, the Veterans Service Commission helps local veterans’ organizations by participating in a ceremony in downtown Youngstown on Veteran’s Day. The commission also helps lay roses each spring for Vietnam veterans from the county and buys flags to decorate the graves of veterans on Memorial Day.
Krawchyk says they also help get high school students and Scouts involved, knowing that the membership of many veterans’ service organizations is aging.
“We turn it into a learning event, an educational event,” Krawchyk says, “We’re not all going to be here forever to continue that and it’s a joy to have the kids out there helping us.”
Pictured at top: A rendering of a container home like those Veterans Haven plans to build on Youngstown’s south side.