Lockport, N.Y. (WBEN) - Some increased funding is set to benefit veterans in Niagara County.
State Minority Leader Rob Ortt (R) announced on Tuesday that the county is set to receive over $208,000 in state funding next year for the Niagara County Joseph Dwyer Program, operated through the Veterans One Stop Center.
Named in honor of PFC Joseph Dwyer - a New York native who served as an Army Medic in Iraq - the Dwyer program was established to help veterans returning from service to reintegrate into society, build a peer-to-peer support network, offer housing support, and provide resources for mental health, PTSD, TBI, and suicide prevention.
"This program was created actually by EPA administrator, former Congressman and former State Senator Lee Zeldin. Lee Zeldin represented Suffolk County, and he started this program in honor of Joseph P. Dwyer. It was, I believe, limited to Suffolk County way back in the day, and it is a peer-to-peer counseling program with the idea being that very often veterans are hesitant, or maybe even resistant to talking to a doctor at the VA, or a therapist or a psychiatrist, but they will talk to someone who's worn a pair of combat boots," said Ortt during an announcement of the funding on Tuesday. "And we know peer-to-peer works in other walks of life as well. It works with folks in addiction. It works in a host of ways where you feel there's a trust factor, and you're willing to open up and you're willing to talk to somebody. And sometimes that is all that is necessary to save a life."
Ortt certainly knows how this program has saved lives of veterans not just in Niagara County, but across New York State.
"It is now in every part of the state. I'm proud to say when I was first elected to the State Senate, I helped bring it to Niagara County and bring it to Orleans County, where it was not at that time 12 years ago, a long time ago. But I'm very proud that it is now in both Niagara and Orleans," Ortt said. "I am very proud of the work and the partnership that we in Niagara have done with the Veterans One Stop. We're able to leverage the funding from the Joseph Dwyer program, and maximize all the other things that the Veterans One Stop brings to the table.
"I could serve with a veteran who served in a very different conflict than me, and yet there's just certain things that don't need to be said. There are certain things that are unsaid that are understood, and that's why this program works. It's one of the things I think the State of New York does very, very well. I sometimes am a critic of the State of New York, but this is a program that works, and I would love to see a national program like this across the country. And maybe that's a possibility one day, but this program works because of how it's run. It is not a top-down program; it is very much a bottom-up program."
As a veteran himself, Ortt says this is one of the programs that really makes a difference on the ground for veterans.
"It isn't just, 'Hey, we thank our veterans.' These are folks who've come back who might be struggling, who are absolutely redeemable, and we need to make sure that they can be here to be productive members of our society and our community. And this program helps them get the help they need, or it might just help them form bonds with other veterans," he said.
"Every peer is trained as a peer, but they also are veterans themselves. So they have walked the walk, so to speak. They have worn that pair of combat boots. They have seen friends not come home. They have that shared experience that is very unique to combat veterans specifically, and I can tell you it exists. It's hard to put into words sometimes, but it is a very real bond."
Ortt says will continue advocating for increased funding to the program in the state budget.
"I say unequivocally, this program has saved people's lives, American patriots' lives, and that's a big deal"
"I say unequivocally, this program has saved people's lives, American patriots' lives, and that's a big deal"
