Upwards of 300 LBCC students attended the Annual Veteran Service Health and Resource Fair held on Wednesday at the Liberal Arts Campus.
The Veteran’s Fair helps students who served in the military access resources they may not have known were available to them before, whether it be mental health, financial, or physical struggles, each booth provided information on different services they offered.
Students were immediately drawn to five labrador puppies with Canine Companions, an organization that provides service dogs to adults, children and veterans with disabilities.
“I got my dog back in February 2019 and she’s been with me ever since,” Jim Pull, a Canine Companion representative said. “This is an option for people who experience PTSD or need extra help,” he added.
Pull spoke to students about his experience with the program and how he benefited from it.
His service dog helps him complete tasks that are more difficult for him to do as a wheelchair user.
These dogs provide services for people with vision impairments, people who suffer anxiety disorders and those who are confined to a wheelchair, among a multitude of other services.
Another booth showcased LBCC’s Healthy Vikings Initiative and provided students with information that could help them secure mental health assistance.
Paolo Canteras, the Healthy Viking coordinator, promoted the use of TimelyCare to students, which is a free virtual health and well-being app that recently partnered with LBCC in March.
This app provides students with on-demand access to licensed mental health providers and medical care.
“The health of our students is important and that’s what we’re here to help with,” said Canteras.
Canteras also spoke about how great the turnout was for the event.
“The turnout was amazing, based on the food they said there were over 300 people and based on the people I interacted with. I spoke with over 100 plus and that was just me,” Canteras said.
The Veterans and First Responders Service Dog Training Team, the LA Sheriff’s Department Mental Evaluation Team and the US Department of Veterans Affairs all had booths promoting services that are all currently available to LBCC students.
James Goodman, an LBCC student and military veteran, said he hoped the fair was able to attract the attention of people who were unaware that LBCC offers so many different programs for vets.
“Our criteria is to get more vets acclimated because a lot of them don’t even know about the programs until you tell them because I was in that same situation. But talking with other vets I found we have a lot offered to us. They basically helped me out in the long run,” Goodman said.
Goodman said he likes to utilize the Disabled Students Programs and Services as well as the math and writing centers to help him with school work.
Students had access to free food from the Habit Burger & Grill and were encouraged to visit the booths as representatives from a multitude of organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Healthy Vikings Initiative and the California Department of Veterans Affairs provided them resources.
The event was considered a huge success and Goodman hopes other student veterans were able to find something that could help them with their personal and educational goals.