Before the pandemic, the Nevada County Veterans Services Office (CVSO) coordinated rides for our low-income, aging, and homeless veterans to get to their VA medical appointments. This service relied on the efforts of local veteran volunteers to transport these individuals from their home to their VA medical appointments and back using a county provided vehicle. Unfortunately, when the initial surge of COVID-19 swept through California, this service was suspended for the health and safety of both our volunteer drivers and the veterans who needed transportation.
As restrictions in California and our county are eased, CVSO is developing its repopulation plan and evaluating how we can safely return to offering in-person services. A major focus of the services that we would like to see return is our “Veterans Serving Veterans” transportation service. However, to offer this service we will need the assistance of our local volunteers once again.
The CVSO is asking for the assistance of a group of qualified (must pass background check) volunteers who can provide 4-8 hours every two weeks to transport our low-income, aging, and homeless population of veterans. The route will consist of the transporting veterans to the Auburn VA Outpatient Medical Clinic, Mather VA Medical Center, or the McClellan VA Medical Center. The CVSO provides a county vehicle to our volunteers and confirms the veteran’s medical appointment to show our volunteers that we value their time. We are currently developing a safety plan that will ensure both our volunteers and the veterans needing transportation are placed in a healthy and safe environment.
The CVSO treats all our volunteers as staff and celebrate them with an annual volunteer lunch. Our previous volunteers who offered their time really enjoyed interacting with the veterans they were transporting, and they offered their time not for the CVSO, but rather the veterans who needed their assistance.
If you would like to assist our aging, low-income, and homeless veteran population in this way, please contact the Nevada County Veterans Services Officer, David West.
David West is the Nevada County Veterans Service Officer. Reach him at (530) 265-1446 or david.west@co.nevada.ca.us. The Nevada County Veteran’s Services Office, 988 McCourtney Rd, Grass Valley, CA, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.