A Closer Look at the Henderson Vet Center

By Chuck N. Baker
(Henderson) — Many organizations boast that they are “Serving the men and women who served.” And most of them are 100 percent correct. But one national group with local representation uses the phrase in its promotional material.

Vet Centers are community-based and part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs with a history that goes back to the official Readjustment Counseling Service Vet Center Program. It was initially established in 1979 out of the recognition that significant numbers of Vietnam-era veterans were still experiencing readjustment problems. A part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the centers operate separately from the main VA offices and today assist more than Vietnam veterans. Veterans from all eras are welcome.

In Nevada, there are three of these Vet Centers. One is located in Reno and two are located in Southern Nevada, Las Vegas and Henderson. At a recent Open House at the Henderson Vet Center, Outreach Specialist Phellep “Phil” Snow and other individuals spoke about the mission of the two offices.

Defining the mission of the centers, Snow said “It’s an element under veterans’ health care that was made to provide services and really get past a lot of the barriers that veterans experience with regard to mental health matters and social economic needs. It is all about making sure we take care of veterans as well as their family members in ways that traditional VA facilities are not necessarily built for.” The center experience has grown. Now there are licensed clinical professionals and outreach specialists who have military backgrounds themselves. “We’re able to get the word out to the community for raising awareness to veterans as well as their family members, that help is available with things that they may not be able to connect with at other VA facilities.” Snow added that at Vet Centers, there are fewer restrictions and “not as many administrative hinderances.”  There are more than 300 Vet Centers nationwide.

Vet Centers make use of volunteers, as well as students who are veterans and enrolled in a VA Work-Study program the VA offers. New volunteers, veterans and non-veterans, are encouraged to apply. “We have several non-veterans who have a passion and a desire to help veterans and once they complete the necessary background checks, they are welcomed wholeheartedly,” Snow explained. “We want to make sure their personalities are going to be a good fit, so that we don’t unintentionally bring harm to someone who wants to come to us for help.” Snow himself is a Marine Corps veteran, having served for 13 years.

Also on board are members of several community service organizations such as the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion that help with a variety of veterans’ needs. “We try to remain humble enough to know that we don’t have the answer to every question. We make sure we keep a wide range of partners that can help us out with those things that we don’t know how to address or have a good answer for.”

Marine Corps veteran Raymond Warren is a volunteer who served in the Middle East and wanted to continue to help the country when he left the service. He said the employees at the VA told him about the Vet Center, and now he puts in three days a week at the Henderson location working the phones and generally helping to keep things running smoothly. There is a lot to be kept running. Services may include individual and group counseling, marital and group counseling, sexual trauma counseling and referral, bereavement counseling, employment referral, benefits assistance and community education, to name a handful of topics.

Services are available to veterans, as well as individuals on active duty, Reserve and National Guard members and their families. Those individuals sometimes require assistance regarding readjustment issues related to combat duty and other qualifying areas. In addition, bereavement counseling is available for parents, spouses and children of armed forces personnel who died in the service of the country. The Vet Center also operates a mobile RV that travels to outlying areas such as Pahrump.

Snow wants to let the overall veteran and military community know that all are welcome at the Vet Center. “We don’t keep a strict definition of what combat service is, or what military sexual trauma is. We realize that people can be harmed in a variety of ways. If you really try to say that ‘it must be’ this strict definition, you’re coming back to unintentionally or unknowingly harm someone else that may have really needed help,” Snow said.

“Any veteran that does have a difficult time that they are working through, come see us,” Snow urged. “You never can tell what may be a qualifier for service or maybe even a connection that we can establish for you within the community. Because at the end of the day, it’s my belief, and I think many others in the Vet Center program will share, that it’s all about doing the right thing for the veteran …”

The Las Vegas Vet Center is located at 7455 West Washington Avenue, Suite 240, Phone (702) 791-9170.

The Henderson Vet Center is located at 400 North Stephanie, Suite 180,

Phone (702) 791-9100.

The Reno Vet Center is located at 5580 Mill Street, Suite 600, Phone (775) 323-1294.