There have been many tragic stories of veterans who have been denied services owed to them by our federal government or veterans who have died while waiting for appointments at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals.

I am strongly committed to making sure that every veteran that has served in the 60th District, and across Virginia, receives all the benefits that they are entitled to in return for their service.  I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with a young lady recently who not only is a veteran but also supports them in every sense of the word.

Sarah Maddox Dunn is one of the co-founders of the Piedmont Area Veterans Council, located at 146 N. Main St. in Farmville. Her organization is a federally-recognized Community Veteran Engagement Board (CVEB) listed on the Department of Veterans Affairs website. They are a 501(c)(3) that operates and owns an office in Farmville that provides immediate assistance to active duty members, veterans and their family members in a ten-county coverage area that includes Charlotte, Halifax and Prince Edward counties.

Her greatest challenge is that most of the veterans in Halifax and Charlotte counties are unaware of their services. Mrs. Dunn and her trained staff have contacts within the commonwealth and with the federal government with any agency that can provide any kind of service to a veteran. 

I would like to host a VA Benefit and Resource Clinic in our area and have Mrs. Dunn explain personally the assistance her office can provide. If you are a veteran or dependent and are interested in attending such a clinic, please let us know of your interest as soon as possible. 

In the meantime, if you have an urgent problem, please contact my office at (804)698-1060 or Mrs. Dunn at (434) 907-9655 for an appointment.  I look forward to hearing from you of your interest in a clinic.

Session:

As many of you know, I left for the 2018 session of the Virginia General Assembly.  This is the “long” session, which convened Wednesday, Jan. 10, and adjourns on March 10 — a total of 60 days. 

This session is a session of change.  We have physically moved our offices to the Pocahontas Building on Bank Street from the old General Assembly Building at the corner of 9th and Broad. Our contact information, however, remains the same: (804) 698-1060 or deljedmunds@house.virginia.gov. Adapting to a new environment will require some adjustment by all involved. We have much less available space for meetings, and parking continues to be a problem. I do welcome constituents and always look forward to seeing faces from home. If you are in Richmond, please stop by to see me. 

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concern you may have.  I thank you for the privilege of representing you in Richmond.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But… the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

James Edmunds represents the 60th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. He can be reached at deljedmunds@house.virgnina.gov.