Tampa Veterans Helpline May Expand Statewide

Veterans help line program might expand statewide
Tampa Bay Rich Shopes
Times Staff Writer
Sunday, April 5, 2015

Tampa Bay has one of Florida's highest concentrations of veterans. Hillsborough and Pinellas alone are home to nearly 170,000 vets, more than double that of Miami-Dade.

TAMPA — A support line that has counseled hundreds of Tampa Bay area veterans since its launch last year may be expanded statewide under a bill moving through the state Legislature.

Begun in late October at the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, the Florida Veterans' Care Coordination Program has so far counseled more than 500 vets on issues from substance abuse to chronic unemployment to post-traumatic stress disorder.

"This is about veterans helping veterans," said Bruce Grant, who helped launch the pilot program in Tampa last year as chairman of the Statewide Veterans Advisory Council.

Grant said the program operates under the Crisis Center but employs a separate toll-free line — 1-844-MYFLVET (693-5838) — to connect veterans to services. The line is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The bill would expand the Tampa Bay program to Florida's 13 other crisis centers, effectively blanketing the state.

"Most veterans out there are not asking for a handout," McPherson said. "They're just asking for a hand up."
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