Carbon County is continuing to find ways to help area veterans.

On Thursday, members of Together with Veterans NEPA updated the board of commissioners on all it has been doing since beginning the initiative three years ago.

Jennifer Spitler, regional program outreach coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of Military Veterans Affairs and coordinator of Together with Veterans NEPA, said that the main goal in starting the new program was to help address veteran suicides. Carbon County tipped the scales with one of the highest suicide rates for veterans in the country.

In 2022, Spitler said that Together with Veterans has served over 1,200 veterans through outreach services and community events; as well as hundreds of veteran families.

“I think when we started, many people approached us and said, ‘I don’t know how this affects me because I’m not a veteran,’” Spitler said, noting that the group has done a lot of educating to show how they can help veterans and their families.

To help this, the group organized 33 events across the county, started the Vietnam Veterans Coffee Club, partnered with St. Luke’s Lehighton campus and the Scranton Veterans Center to create a Veteran Hub for counseling services; and built a network for veterans to utilize, starting with the Carbon County Veterans Affairs office and the Together with Veterans Steering Committee.

One surprising accomplishment Spitler said was the Vietnam Veterans Day luncheon that was held in March.

“We thought we were going to have 30 to 40 people and as we got closer to the event, Christine (LeClair) kept calling. Well, we have 100 people. Now we have 150 people. Now we have 200. It ended up being over 200 veterans and their caregivers or spouses. We were just floored at seeing the response of people who wanted something where they could come and connect,” Spitler said. “That’s really what we’re about.”

Likewise, in November, the organization hosted over 300 veterans for a Veterans Day dinner at Penn’s Peak.

LeClair, county Veterans Affairs director, added additional accomplishments the organization had last year, including working to connect veterans with the benefits they deserve.

“We now have Vietnam veterans who didn’t think that they earned benefits or where entitled to benefits and now they are receiving disability compensation. They go to the food pantry each month,” LeClair said. “They’re connected to all these resources that are there to support them, which is just phenomenal.”

Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said he personally has heard how this initiative has helped turn around the stigma with some veterans and helped save some lives.

He said that he was at a funeral when a color guard member came up to him and thanked him for the services this organization provide because it has saved his life.

“When people come up to me and tell me that, it really means something,” Nothstein said. “I know it works and I want to thank you for everything.”

LeClair said that Together with Veterans has made a difference in the suicide rates.

“Before I was receiving phone calls, saying that a veteran had taken their life,” she said. “Now, I’m getting phone calls that ‘I have a veteran in crisis. What do I do?’ We’re getting the word out there and they just have to call a phone number to connect to resources. It’s so important and it’s working.”