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New organization offering assistance to veterans

Ada Evening News - 8/18/2018

Aug. 18--As a veteran of the U.S. Army, Josh Schwarzott wants to help veterans overcome their reluctance to seek help when they need it.

The Ada man and his wife, Jessica, are part of Veterans Rally Point, a new organization that aims to connect veterans and their families with the services they need. The organization consists of a veterans council, five smaller teams focused on various issues and a mentorship program.

Part of the organization's mission is to encourage servicemen and women to reach out to other veterans for help.

Schwarzott, who serves as Rally Point's secretary, said many veterans are more comfortable talking to someone else who has served in the military.

"I know myself as a vet, I'm not going to open up to somebody who never saw combat," he said in a July 16 interview. "There's just not a lot of shared experiences there. But if I can get linked up with somebody who spent some time in the Army, who was an infantryman who deployed and saw combat, I can relate to that person."

Help for veterans

About four years ago, a group of people were trying to launch a special court for veterans with legal troubles in Pontotoc County, Slaughter said. But their efforts failed because the county did not have a veterans council at the time.

Slaughter, who works in East Central University'sVeterans Support Services office, said discussions of launching a veterans court started up again recently. Slaughter's boss suggested that she should look into what it would take to start a veterans council.

Slaughter later posted information about her project in the Facebook group "Pontotoc County OK Area Veterans Rally Point" and was surprised by the response.

"I put a post up, thinking that I was going to have to force feed and try to get five or six people together," Slaughter said. "And what happened was, I put that post out, and it got an overwhelming response. I probably got 60 messages within so many hours."

The group's creator, Josh Schwarzott, saw Slaughter's post and contacted her to discuss her project. He was concerned at first that the project might not succeed, but as he talked to Slaughter about it, he decided to get involved.

Schwarzott and Slaughter also talked to Stacy Hester, a former Marine who owns the Tulsa-based business 3C Concepts and Consulting. The three C's stand for "connecting," "communicating" and "community" -- the concepts upon which the Rally Point program is built.

Hester is also involved with Warrior Partnerships of Eastern Oklahoma, a division of the Tulsa-based Community Service Council that is developing a plan to serve the needs of returning veterans and their families or caregivers.

Hester, who is acting as an advisor for Ada'sRally Point program, said officials with Warrior Partnership and other organizations serving veterans would like to see the Ada program inspire similar programs throughout the state.

"I'm so pumped and excited because right here in Ada, Oklahoma, becomes the pilot program for what is looking to get tremendous support at the state level in Oklahoma and possibly the Department of Defense," he said. "That's exciting stuff."

Mentorship

In addition to the veterans council, Ada'sRally Point organization includes smaller teams focused on five areas where veterans could use some assistance -- legal, housing, education, healthcare and employment. Those teams will serve as clearinghouses where veterans can find the resources they need to tackle those issues.

The organization also includes a mentorship program that offers another venue for veterans who need help.

"The mentorship program itself is going to be the main focus and the most beneficial part of this whole thing -- and really, the backbone of what we're doing," Josh Schwarzott said.

The organization is currently seeking volunteers willing to serve on each of the five teams, especially education, employment and housing.

Rally Point's next meeting will be at 6 p.m.Sept. 6 at Harmony Baptist Church, 224 SE County Road.

For more information about Rally Point, contact Valori Slaughter at (405) 287-7799.

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(c)2018 The Ada News (Ada, Okla.)

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