Veterans Resource Office Opens

The American Legion North Cobb Post 304, in partnership with the and the Veterans Administration, will open a Veterans Information and Referral Office (VIRO) at 4315 Senator Russell Ave. (the Old Jail) in Acworth at 11 a.m. today.

The mission of the VIRO is to provide veterans with benefits information and resource referral within the community where they reside. The office will utilize community volunteers (American Legion members) who wish to serve those who have served from local communities.

They will connect the veterans to the appropriate benefits, services and experts in the most streamlined manner possible. Also, it will allow many of them to receive the resources in their community, and not travel outside the greater North Cobb, South Bartow or East Paulding counties.

The VIRO will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, and the second and fourth Saturdays. Veteran personnel will be on hand to help area veterans starting today.

No appointment is necessary but veterans are encouraged to bring his/her military discharge document (Form DD-214). Veterans who come to the VIRO office will be able to speak with a volunteer about benefits, and they will also be asked to complete and information form so that a VA representative can follow up with them regarding the services in which they are interested. Family members and survivors of veterans may also be potentially eligible for benefits, to include education, home loans, vocational rehabilitation, life insurance, compensation and pension and survivorship benefits.

For more information about the VIRO facility, please call VIRO Manager and Post 304 Vice Commander Bob Hughes at 770-845-5593, or email him at rvhughes1@gmail.com.