VET CENTER-VIETNAM ERA VETERANS OUTREACH PROGRAM - The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

The VET CENTER-VIETNAM ERA VETERANS OUTREACH PROGRAM, funded by Congress under the Veterans Health Care Amendment Act (Public Law 96-22) and affiliated with the Department of Veteran Affairs, was established in 1979 to provide counseling services to veterans of the Vietnam War. Primarily focused on Vietnam-era veterans, the vet centers offer limited assistance to any veteran. Working with the Cleveland V.A. Hospitals, the Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Cuyahoga County Veteran's Relief Commission, the vet centers furnish therapeutic counseling for individual readjustment or marital/family problems, as well as information about benefits, housing, food, clothing, medical & legal advice, employment and vocational guidance, and other services available from the community. Cooperative referral programs include Domiciliary Care Services, Veterans Addiction Recovery Center, and the Center for Stress Recovery. Although it began operating outreach programs in Dec. 1979 at the VETERAN'S ADMINISTRATION MEDICAL CENTER, its first official east side location opened on Euclid Ave. in EAST CLEVELAND in May of 1980. This office moved to Carnegie Ave. in the center of UNIVERSITY CIRCLE in 1984, and relocated once more to CLEVELAND HEIGHTS in 1987. In 1993 the Vet Centers operated out of 2 locations, 2134 Lee Rd. and 11511 Lorain Ave.

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