Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

One thing is for certain. David Williams, founder of Joint Operation Mariposa, is not about to throw in the towel on his efforts establishing a veteran services office (VSO) in Sanders County. He has spent years working toward finding a property that would serve the needs of many county veterans.

“We were donated office space, but we did not receive grants because we don’t own the building,” Williams said. Many other buildings in the county have been explored as potential candidates but have been unsuitable for one reason or another. “We’re stuck!” emphasized Williams. “We need a place for an office. We need to find funds to buy something. I may need to ask county voters.”

According to Williams, a VSO “connects a veteran and their benefits.” The office is the only place veterans can acquire forms required to utilize their earned benefits. These range from receiving covered medical care, education expenses, spousal loss benefits, business development funding and much more. Some benefits are issued exclusively at the state and local levels, meaning a visit to a local service center is required.

“There is a VSO in Missoula,” Williams said, “but it is not a fix. We still need to go there, at least 90 miles, to file a claim, leaving us with the same problem.” Making the drive to Missoula simply to file a claim and sign it in front of a witness is daunting and time consuming for many veterans.

“It all boils down to is if I had a building, we would have a VSO.” Ideally, Williams would like to see the donations come together to purchase a property ready to serve, or a small piece of land where an office could be constructed. After that, he is certain the grants will come.