Service fair matches up veterans with providers
Ariel Bernecky, front left, and Rene Zamora of Freedom Caregivers pose with Veterans Service Commission Director Jeff Shull at the Veterans Resource Fair held recently at the Wayne County Fairgrounds.
Approximately 24 service providers were on hand at the Wayne County Fairgrounds recently to assist veterans financially, emotionally and medically during the second Veterans Resource Fair.
“Right now there is a lack of in-home nursing care for local veterans,” said Jeff Shull, Veterans Service Commission director. “Wayne County is sort of a black hole for that. If a company sends a nurse, they are coming from Akron or Canton. It is 45 minutes or an hour that they are paid for travel time, so it isn’t very cost-effective for a certified Veterans Affairs contracted nurse to come here.”
Shull said right now most of the 90-plus veterans that visited the event were able to get around, but to aging veterans, home healthcare is something that will be on their radar at some point.
“We have a large number of veterans here that cannot get in-home healthcare through the VA because there are no local providers that are contracted,” he said. “That is where Freedom Caregivers comes in. They provide basic care and can serve veterans that have pension aid and attendance benefits.”
Shull said one local organization, Freedom Caregivers, is helping to fill the gap that currently exists in Wayne County for nursing care for veterans.
“We serve both veterans and nonveterans,” said Rene Zamora, Freedom Caregivers director of marketing. “Unlike many other in-home care agencies, we are a VA-approved community care provider. For veterans with the aid and attendance benefit, we can go in and provide services at no cost to them.”
Freedom Caregivers provides personal care, light housekeeping, companionship, nursing well checks, medication refills and meal preparation.
“We don’t provide physical therapy or nursing services,” Zamora said. “We provide homemaking services to those who cannot do those things themselves and face the choice of staying at home or moving into an assisted living facility. We are able to keep people at home with a customized plan of care.”
For more information visit www.waynecountyveterans.org or call 330-345-6638.
Dan Starcher is the public communications coordinator for the Wayne County government.