Through the Central Coast Hotline and grant funding from CalVet, Transitions-Mental Health Association (TMHA) is adding another program called VetWell.
“VetWell program is an outpatient program where we're offering weekly therapy services, weekly groups on case management," said Hannah Wright, TMHA VetWell Program Manager.
According to Wright, it will connect veterans and their families with much-needed outpatient services without long wait times.
“There's a pretty robust group of veterans in this county and limited services that are available," Wright said. "Veterans, a lot of the time, were having to wait a period of time to get services.”
The program will serve both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
In San Luis Obispo County alone, Veteran Services Officer Morgan Boyd says there are more than 14,000 veterans, many of whom can benefit from VetWell.
“VetWell really is the first of its kind here in San Luis Obispo County," Boyd said. "There really has been no other collaborative effort between CalVet and one of our local nonprofits to provide behavioral health care to veterans and their family members.”
For Boyd and Wright, the new program enables more veterans and their families to connect not only with services provided by VetWell and Transitions-Mental Health Association, but also with various other local resources.
“I'm extremely excited to be working with a team because this is not something that we could do out of our office. We really rely heavily on our community partners,” Boyd said.
To reach VetWell services, you can call the Central Coast Hotline at 800-783-0607. The program went online last week.
