Family Center Assists Soldiers in Warrior Transition Unit
By Julia
LeDoux
Special Correspondent
Ft Belvoir Eagle
Soldiers
assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit at DeWitt
Army Community
Hospital (Ft Belvoir , VA) will soon be able to make a single stop at the Solider
and Family
Assistance Center to get the
services they or their families need.
The mission
of the center is to provide tailored, compassionate and coordinated social
services to warriors in transition, retirees and family members, explained
Timothy Grayson, a human resources specialist for Fort Belvoir's SFAC.
"We're here
to service the Soldiers who are in the Warrior Transition Unit at DeWitt,"
he said. "This is basically a new program just coming on."
There are
currently 42 wounded warriors in DeWitt's WTU, but that number is expected
to grow to around 100, Grayson said.
Both
Grayson and SFAC director Robin Johnson were hired last fall. Grayson said
the center is currently bringing on board a social worker, guidance
counselor and an information referral specialist.
"We can
function right now, right here where we're at," he stressed from his
office in Bldg. 210 on 21st Street. "Any problems that a Soldier may have right now come to me and the
director. We're here to assist the Soldier and their family. That's our
main thing." '
The center
and its staff move to Sosa Community Center in July.
"By
December, well have an additional wing built on [Sosa] just for the SFAC,"
Grayson said. "When a Soldier arrives to in-process, he won't have to go
anywhere else. We're not a one-stop shop yet, but that's what we're going
to be."
Through the
center, Soldiers and their families can obtain support services including
family services, money management, child care, budgeting, chaplain's
assistance, legal assistance, military personnel issues, logistics,
transportation, installation access, benefits counseling, education,
employment opportunities, information and referral and more.
"We are a
liaison between the Soldiers and the services that are provided by the
Army," explained Grayson. "When a Soldier comes to me with a problem, they
will not have to go to these different agencies. It's my job to give them
a priority appointment so the Soldier does not have to wait."
Grayson can
also contact outside agencies such as the Veterans Administration and
Veterans of Foreign Wars post on behalf of a WTU Soldier.
"I break it
down to find out what the need of the Solider is, whether it is urgent at
this time or whether it's some information they are looking for. Once I
find out what the WTU Soldier needs, it's my job to resolve that issue,"
he explained.
Grayson
said Army leaders recognized the need for immediate services in one
central location for family members and Soldiers for administrative
services without travel or having to locate the service.
"The only
thing the SFAC does not get involved in is medical issues. That is done by
the hospital and the unit they're in," he said.
The SFAC at
Sosa will also include a computer center, a lounge, and child care, added
Grayson.
"If a
Soldier belongs to the WTU, that Soldier's spouse and children have the
right to come over here and receive services just like the Soldier," added
Grayson, who is a 21-year Army veteran himself.
For more
information, call Grayson at 703-805-4409.
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