Since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a variety of organizations have pooped up to support the troops who have volunteered their service to this country. One of the reason I write this blog is because of my involvement with the Veteran Issues Support Initiative and Outreach Program (VISION). VISION was started by a couple of students at the Syracuse College of Law a couple years ago and has evolved into a viable program that provides some great benefits to the veterans of Upstate New York. One of the main events the VISION holds is Valor Day. Valor Day is coming up this semester on April 5th so I thought I would take the opportunity to plug the program and talk a little bit about it.
Valor Day is an event held at the law school designed to provide veterans with some legal services that they might not be able to get in many other places. Many lawyers from the area come to the law school to provide guidance on legal issues ranging from divorce, VA claims, and discharge upgrades just to name a few. How the program works is a veteran will meet with a lawyer and discuss their issue(s), then the lawyer will advise the client on what the next steps should be by providing information who to contact and hopefully resolve the issue. The importance of this service stems from the fact that many of our nations veterans, particularly the older ones and those without significant funds simply do not have access to legal services. The VA does provide some free legal services but, much like many of the other services provided by the VA, it’s slow and not always effective. Valor Day provides a streamlined process for those in need to first understand the nature of their legal issue, and hopefully provide an avenue for resolution. As a side benefit the law students who volunteer their time get to spend time with lawyers and clients learning how to interview and deal with real world problems.
Valor Day is also so much more than just legal services. Along with the lawyers we also host an information fair where local veterans organizations such as the VFW, Wounded Warriors, and many others provide information about how they can help the veteran community. This provides a nice venue complete with free food and drinks for local veterans to socialize not only with each other but with the student volunteers as well. I have been proud to be a part of this group that has helped a large number of veterans in need. The program continues to grow with the idea that there will be a full time clinic at the law school to provide services year round. As the event draws near and concludes I will provide a break down of how it went with some data on how many veterans we are truly helping.