The Texas Veterans Commission was named this week as a recipient of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Highly Rural Transportation Grant of $120,000.
The grant will be distributed among eight counties in Texas to provide veterans with transportation to the VA or VA-authorized health care facilities.
“Veterans in these rural counties shouldn’t have distance stand between them and the care they’ve earned," said Elaine Zavala, Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans’ Assistance program director. “If you need transportation to VA or VA-authorized health care appointments, help is on the way.”
The highly rural areas are defined as having less than seven people per square mile. Many veterans in these areas may not have VA medical facilities or non-VA appointed facilities nearby and require transportation assistance to and from appointments.
The grant is expected to provide transportation for approximately 1,250 veterans in the following Texas counties:
•Briscoe
•Hansford
•Cochran
•Jim Hogg
•Kent
•Duval
•Kimble
•Menard
Once the Texas Veterans Commission distributes the grant money to the eight counties, it is the counties hands to then use the funds to arrange and provide transportation for veterans to the VA facilities or VA supported appointments.
“This will improve access to medical appointments for veterans in eight rural counties who are a long way from medical care facilities,” said Zavala. “These veterans would otherwise have difficulty getting to their appointments or may not make it to their appointments.”
Veterans in need of this transportation in these counties should contact their Veteran County Service Office, or find the contact for each county at Highly Rural Transportation and scroll down to Texas Veterans Commission.