Veterans Resource Fair scheduled

UTRGV will host a Veterans Resource Fair April 6 in Brownsville and April 7 in Edinburg to start a network of agencies for veterans attending the university.

It will be a tabling event with about 30 agencies where veterans can learn about opportunities that are available after they graduate.

“We partner all the time with community resources and campus resources that are available not only for our veterans but our family members, our military families,” said Elda Arriaga, manager of the UTRGV Veterans Services Center.  “So we’re bringing those individuals into our campus to promote their agencies and to give opportunities to our veterans and military families to learn more about them and to see seek assistance through their services.”

At this event, veterans will also be able to meet other veterans on campus and feel the camaraderie they had while still in the service, meet people they were enlisted with and learn about the possibilities available upon finishing their academic career.

Representatives from Hidalgo County assistance programs will attend the event and provide information on housing and educational benefits through the UTRGV Military and Veterans Success Center office and other services.

The Texas Veterans Commission and the Women Veterans Outreach will be on the Brownsville campus during the fair.

Both campuses will have the Veterans Affairs Mobile Vet Center, which is based in McAllen and travels across South Texas to offer services, such as “counseling for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Military Sexual Trauma, bereavement counseling, marriage and family counseling, and resources like VA benefits information and suicide prevention referrals,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Representatives from academic programs popular among veterans, such as criminal justice, psychology, rehabilitation services and social work, are invited to the event.

“It’s a university outreach event but these veterans are able to share that information and that knowledge that they gain with other veterans in the community,” Arriaga said.

Door prizes will be awarded throughout the event. In Edinburg, the fair will take place from 9 a.m. to noon in the UTRGV Ballroom and from 1 to 4 p.m. in Cortez Hall 118 on the Brownsville campus.

For more information, call 665-7934 in Edinburg, 882-8980 in Brownsville or email veteranservices@utrgv.edu.