Page 41 - South Mississippi Living - July, 2018

BACKBAYMISSION takinginitiative
story by Susan Ruddiman
nstead of giving up four years ago when a federal grant fell through, Kenney Washington of Back Bay Mission saw an opportunity. “The federal grant didn’t get funded again, but we still had a great need,” the Director of Client Services said. “We took it upon ourselves through donations and other funds to create the new program.”
The Back Bay Mission Veterans Support Fund was established to exclusively assist veterans
in a way the previous federally funded program could not because it had been associated strictly with housing needs. “We now have more flexibility to do more for veterans,” Washington said.
One of the first clients the program assisted was a veteran who had a house fire, losing all of her belongings. While she found a new place to live, she had no furniture. “We replaced her furniture, and paid for her renter’s insurance for a year,” he said.
Many of the referrals Washington receives come from various departments at the Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System in Biloxi. Here is one such case that Washington wrote about: “I received a referral from a VA social worker stating she had a veteran who needed some assistance with the repair of his car. I spoke with the veteran, and he said he was receiving mental health and other treatment at
the VA but because his car was no longer operable, he was not able to make his appointments.
He stated he tried several other agencies who assist veterans
as well as other agencies in the community, but no one was able to assist him. He lives in the county area of Harrison County in which Coast Transit Authority (CTA) provides no service. Because there are no restrictions on our Veterans Support Funds, we were able to assist the veteran with his car repairs.
“The services that he was receiving from the VA went uninterrupted and the veteran was very grateful for our assistance.”
When applying for assistance, Washington has kept the same application format in place
that was used by the previous veterans grant. “It’s working smart — why reinvent the wheel when the structure is in place,” he said.
Over the past four years, Washington has been able to help about 50 clients through the Back Bay Mission’s Veterans Support Fund.
For more information on the Back Bay Mission Veterans Support Fund, contact Director of Client Services Kenney Washington at 228.432.0301.
Kenney Washington, Director of Client Services.
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