The Veterans Affairs Medical Center in White River Junction wants to give veterans who cannot live independently the option to move into a foster home. But so far there have been no takers.
VA’s director for the project, James Pierce, is building the new foster home network in the White River Junction area.
“The program is designed to help veterans who can no longer independently find and reside in peoples’ homes, that are called caretakers,” Pierce said.
So far, Pierce says, the welcome mat is out at three homes in the area. But so far no veterans have enrolled. Pierce thinks that’s because there are already residential programs and other social services, especially for homeless vets in the Upper Valley. Still, he says some veterans living alone who can no longer care for themselves would benefit from the supervision and family atmosphere in a foster home.
“But also since this is such a new program and most people in the public don’t know about it I think that’s part of the reason also that they haven’t accessed something like this program,” Pierce said.
To do that, he says, a veteran can contact him directly through the VA Medical Center.
