The third annual Montezuma Stand Down for Veterans event in Cortez took place Saturday, with 38 vendors offering services to veterans.
Hosted by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5231, the event took place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Montezuma County Annex Building.
Service providers and organizations such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks Lodge, Volunteers of America, Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs and Southwest Center for Independence educate veterans about benefits and help them to secure housing, medical, mental health, automotive, legal, and employment services — as well as other financial and personal benefits.
More than 170 veterans attended Saturday.
“We just listen to their story and try to help them out,” said John Davis, event organizer and a member of VFW Post 5231.
This year’s event garnered about double the donations as last year’s did — not to mention the increasing spike in attendance from year-to-year renders future stand-downs likely, he said.
“It’s a very patriotic community, and we’re lucky to be a part of it,” Davis said.
Grants like the Veterans Trust Fund help organizations like the VFW to aid veterans, he said. For the 2021-2022 year, the state grant was awarded to three Southwest Colorado organizations: the VFW Post 5231, American Legion Post 75 and Veteran Assistance Disabled American Veterans Dunger-Smith, Chapter 44, according to the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
About 8%, or 2,197 of Montezuma County’s 26,183 people, are veterans, according to 2019 population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Several community organizations backed the event. A youth group from Lighthouse Baptist Church sung the national anthem Saturday morning, Veterans could get free massages, haircuts and groceries. Food providers included Southwest Pizza, Bubba’s and Croissant Cowboy.
Davis, along with other veteran advocates and event contributors, could offer countless examples of veterans whose lives were turned around by the yearly event.
Last year, he said, a veteran came in facing eviction, and didn’t know what he was going to do.
“When he hit the street, he was a new guy,” Davis said. “His life changed.”
David Nelson with the Southwest Center for Independence helped 12 homeless veterans secure housing at last year’s event.
“That’s the power of this thing,” he said. “I’ve seen only a very few new faces — which means we’ve done our job.”
He helps veterans receive every benefit they are entitled to.
“It’s not uncommon for people to have little hiccups in life,” he said. “When it becomes recurrent, that’s when they come see me and we get to the root of he problem.”
For Nelson and others, helping veterans get the care and resources they need isn’t just a one-day thing.
“It’s an everyday battle,” he said. “It’s always a fight.”
One of his focuses is adaptive technology, and helping veterans and elderly people get caption phones, which provide real-time text adaptations of phone calls.
He is planning an upcoming stand-down for the Southern Ute Tribe, although a date has not been selected yet.
Also in attendance at the event were Sen. Michael Bennet’s aide, as well as Rep. Lauren Boebert’s aide.
Dan Foreman, one attendee, was thankful for the housing and dental help he’s received.
“You get that taken care of, you’ve got half of life figured out,” he joked.
