Birckhead joins veterans’ event

available to them.

Around 30-50 veterans showed out to the community center, Karpf said. She estimated that there were around 100-150 attending veterans across all three days.

The event was originally planned to happen at the Worcester County Veterans Memorial Park in Ocean Pines, but because of weather concerns, it was moved inside the Ocean Pines Community Center, Karpf said.

Snow Hill native Brig. Gen. Janeen Birckhead, who recently assumed responsibility as 31st Adjutant General of Maryland, attended the event both in her capacity as the new adjutant general and as someone from the Eastern Shore, she said.

Birckhead said that while Stand Down events also happen in dense urban areas like Baltimore, veterans there are much closer to resources like the Baltimore VA medical center. The need for veteran outreach is often much greater in rural areas such as the Eastern Shore, given that brick-and-mortar veteran resources are scarce, she said.

“There’s always a need because there are homeless veterans in the area, but the VA and the local services that work together do a really really good job in trying to get them housed as quickly as possible,” Karpf said.

Among the organizations set-up at tables throughout the community center were River Oak Day Center, VA Caregiver Support, Maryland Legal Aid, Maryland Access Point, the Maryland Department of Labor Veterans Services and the Vet Center.

For more information on Stand Down events, visit https://www.va.gov/homeless/event s.asp. Veterans in need can call the Maryland’s Commitment to Veterans 24/7 hotline at 1-877-770-4801.