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Stand Down program for CT veterans will be virtual and in-person, but definitely diminished

Hartford Courant - 9/23/2020

The annual Stand Down for Connecticut veterans -- in past years, a centralized fair of personal services and benefits guidance -- will offer a mostly virtual program and limited in-person care this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The “slimmed down” event is set for Thursday and Friday. Beginning at 9 a.m., Thursday’s program is all virtual. Presentations by the state Department of Veterans affairs and other agencies and community service providers are to focus federal veterans benefits, housing and homeless services, employment and vocational resources, caregiver support, legal aid and education, among other topics.

In-person services are to be offered Friday at four locations -- Patrick Waldron Veterans Hall, 23 Memorial Dr.Danbury; Port 5 National Assoc. of Naval Veterans, 69 Brewster St.Bridgeport; Veterans Rally Point/Easter Seals, 24 Stott Ave.Norwich; and the state DVA’s Rocky Hill campus at 287 West St.

Veterans will receive personal care items. Also, flu shots and COVID-19 testing will be offered, DVA spokeswoman Tammy Marzik said. Representatives of regional veterans centers, the DVA and the Connecticut Bar Association will be on hand to provide benefits information and free legal services.

No haircuts will be offered because of coronavirus protocols, and attendance at each site will be limited to 45 veterans per hour, Marzik said.

Altogether, 300-500 veterans are expected to participate in the 2020 Stand Down. In past years, up to 1,000 vets have converged around tents on the Rocky Hill campus to take advantage of everything from free socks to mental health counseling.

In military parlance, “stand down” means the alert is over and soldiers can relax a bit. In Connecticut, the Veterans' Stand Down started in 1992. The initial focus was helping homeless veterans, but the scope has widened greatly to include services offered by state and federal governments and nonprofit organizations focused on veterans’ welfare.

To register and for more information, visit portal.ct.gov/DVA/Pages/Veterans-Stand-Down.

Jesse Leavenworth can be reached at jleavenworth@courant.com

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