Vet Center provides curbside service for Carson City veterans

Military veterans who have difficulty traveling outside of Carson City for Veterans Administration (VA) services have the benefit of some of those resources coming to them.

Perfecto Manuta, a Readjustment Counseling Technician with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, coordinates the Mobile Vet Center, an outreach on wheels for the Reno Vet Center.

Since 2013, the Mobile Vet Center has made weekly visits to Carson City and rural communities throughout Northern Nevada and parts of Eastern California so that veterans in need of help don't have to travel out of their communities for some services.

Manuta has been a part of the program all three years it has been on the road.

"We do primarily eligibility services," he said. "We deal mainly with veterans who have been in combat."

Manuta, who is a U.S. Marine Corps and combat veteran in Iraq, said he helps veterans become eligible to receive VA services by assisting with applications and paperwork prior to appointments.

"Having someone like me help to lay it out for them is a benefit," he said.

The Mobile Vet Center also provides on-site counseling to military veterans, both individual and group therapy, covering a broad spectrum of issues such as alcohol and drug abuse, marital and family, bereavement, and even group therapy for spouses and significant others of veterans.

The counselors with the Mobile Vet Center specialize in sexual trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Manuta said.

"We definitely get a fair share of people here with PTSD," Manuta said. "We hope our services help with that."

Services are provided from the comforts of a modified motorhome, both its exterior and interior designed to fit the needs of services it offers.

Inside the unit is a spacious one-room office where veterans can receive private and confidential individual counseling therapy, or sit down with Manuta and complete eligibility paperwork for the VA.

"It's such a nice thing to have, and a nice convenience for veterans," said Manuta.

The mobile unit is also outfitted with a large satellite dish on the roof to send and receive satellite-feed signals for video conferencing. This allows a veteran in a rural area to speak live with a care provider at the VA Sierra Nevada Healthcare System in Reno.

In addition, the Mobile Vet Center unit is equipped with Wi-Fi, fax and telephone lines for ease of communication.

There is also emergency preparedness and support technology on board, including space to transport two litters.

"It's more of a central hub in emergency situations," Manuta said.

But perhaps the most important role of the Mobile Vet Center is to remind rural Nevada veterans that they are not alone in their struggles to reintegrate back into civilian society.

They are not forgotten.

That was the chief reason, Manuta said, why Vietnam War veterans opened the Reno Vet Center back in 1979.

Congressed passed legislation that same year establishing the Vet Center Program as a means of reaching military veterans who were experiencing readjustment problems.

Area vets at that time felt alienated by VA system, Manuta said, so they opened an outreach center to help other disconnected vets feel connected again.

There are still vets today, too, who may feel the same way about the system and who struggle to readjust after coming home.

That's why the Mobile Vet Center has become such a valuable resource for the Reno Vet Center's continuing outreach efforts, providing free services to qualified veterans.

To be eligible for services through the Reno Vet Center and its mobile component, a military veteran must either be a combat veteran; part of Operations Joint Endeavor, Joint Guard or Joint Forge; a veteran of the Global War On Terrorism; have received sexual trauma or harassment counseling while serving; or have required bereavement services during duty.

But even if a veteran is not eligible for services through the Reno Vet Center, Manuta said the program will still do all it can to refer a fellow vet to resources and services that can help them.

"We won't turn anyone away," Manuta said.

The Mobile Vet Center visits Carson City every Wednesday afternoon on the Western Nevada College campus.

For more information, contact the Reno Vet Center at 775-323-1294.