More than 200,000 veterans live in southwestern Pennsylvania – an exceptionally large population for a region with no major military bases. To better serve veterans and their families, The Heinz Endowments has announced a $300,000 grant to the Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) to create PA Serves. PA Serves is a single-point service to connect veterans in Allegheny, Butler and Westmoreland counties to social, health and wellness services. PA Serves is the first program of its scope in the Pittsburgh region, made possible through collaboration between 45 local organizations that provide a comprehensive range of support and advisory services, from housing and job assistance to healthcare referrals. By encouraging communication and collaboration between agencies that serve veterans and military families, veterans will more easily find the support they need.
PA Serves will launch on October 1, 2015 and will be administered locally by Pittsburgh Mercy Health System (PMHS). PMHS was selected from a pool of applicants by a consortium of veterans’ service organizations, non-profits and public and private community leaders convened by The Heinz Endowments.