A grassroots veterans group in Carroll County has grown expeditiously since its inception last summer and now has its own storefront on the historic Carrollton Square.
According to Veterans Helping Veterans of Mississippi member Ben Shute, the volunteer group now has a headquarters inside the old Conservative newspaper office on the north side of the square. A ribbon cutting was held last Friday, with several special guests, including U.S. Senator Roger Wicker and Larry Harris with the Mississippi Veterans Affairs Board, as well as a large contingency of local elected officials and civic leaders.
The new headquarters will provide veterans a place to go to seek assistance and serve as a meeting place for the membership. Currently, monthly meetings are being held at the North Carrollton Town Hall, but after repairs are made at the new headquarters, meetings will move there.
A partnership between the Carroll County Society for the Preservations of the Antiquities, who owns The Conservative building, and Veterans Helping Veterans is allowing the veterans to use the building rent free for the next six months in exchange for repairs made to the building. Currently, according to Shute, with efforts from Wicker and State Senator Lydia Chassaniol (R-Winona), grant funds are being sought to help make the Veterans Helping Veterans headquarters a place for veterans to not only seek assistance but comradery with other veterans.
“I take my hat off to these veterans for helping our veterans,” Wicker said prior to cutting the ribbon on the new headquarters Monday.
Wicker was part of the catalyst that launched Veterans Helping Veterans, and as an Air Force Veteran himself, became a member of the grassroots organization shortly after it came to fruition.
Vietnam war veteran and Carroll County resident Paul Henderson was living off $800 from Social Security each month. When his friend Ben Shute found out about his financial hardships, he began looking at ways to help Henderson.
Shute contacted his fellow 631st Brigade Guardsman Bernard Evans, a staffer for Congressman Trent Kelly, and Barry Parker, the veterans’ liaison at Wicker’s office. Three days later, Parker was in Carroll County helping Henderson.
That help was blossomed into something bigger, Shute said. From that visit, two other Carroll County veterans were found living below the poverty level. Both are disabled, and both are living without heat in their homes. Both of those veterans have been given assistance.
Word soon spread, and other veterans wanted to lend a hand to those veterans in need, and an organization was formed, Veterans Helping Veterans.
Veterans Helping Veterans president Johnny Marlow said it is only natural for veterans to help their fellow veterans – regardless of military branch.
“We took care of each other on the battle field, and we are still taking care of each other,” Marlow said. “It is no different.”
Currently, efforts are in the works to gain 501(c)3 status for the organization and raise funds for different things, like acquiring handicapped transportation capabilities for disabled veterans to get to the Mississippi Veterans Hospital in Jackson. Also, in other situations where veterans are living in homes in need of repair or without heat, cooling, and running water, the group can make repairs or purchase items needed for a veteran and his family.
Since its inception, Shute said more than 100 veterans have been helped. Tuesday night, at the monthly meeting of Veterans Helping Veterans of Mississippi, representatives from Veteran Affairs was present to help sign Carroll veterans up for benefits.
“We served 39 veterans,” Shute said. “Twenty-two on claims and 15 on the benefits side, and we have two new veterans who signed up in the system.”
To donate to Veterans Helping Veterans, checks can be sent to P.O. Box 77, Carrollton, MS 38917. For more information, email pawpaw38901@gmail.com.
