The Skyhawk Veteran Association is looking for a handicapped veteran who needs a ramp installed at their home.
“We’ve got a couple of veterans who need handicap access that we’ve been told of,” said Skyhawk Veteran Association President Michael Cochran.
When the association first organized on campus, Cochran said members tossed around the question of what kinds of things they wanted to do. One of the members mentioned hearing about a disabled veteran or a disabled widow of a veteran who needed help with a ramp. Cochran said the group is still working on identifying the best candidate for a ramp.
The organization has been in the planning process of learning how to install a ramp for about a year. They want to make sure any work they do is in line with all building codes.
“Right now we’re going through the process of getting it designed to make sure we fall within the specifications and building codes; we want to make sure it is good and solid and does all that it is supposed to do,” Cochran said.
Although the process has been in the works for a while, the organization is dedicated to seeing the project through. The group hopes to have the project complete by the spring semester.
“We have been working on it for about a year, but we are still having issues, because there are classes and things that interfere a lot of the time. We haven’t given up on it; we still want to do it,” Cochran said.
The organization, for the most part, is composed of veterans. Some members are retired military while others are still active. Non-veterans also can join the organization.
“We are open to non-veterans; we encourage people who support the military and veterans to participate,” Cochran said.
The group’s purpose is, in part, to help other organizations on campus and also to be a mentoring group for other veterans and active military members.
“Sometimes the transition between military life and civilian life or college life is kind of daunting,” Cochran said.
Cochran said the group works with veterans’ representatives in Obion and Weakley counties to cut out some of the “red tape” associated with the G.I. Bill and VA benefits. Cochran said the group is founded in camaraderie.
“We have these war stories – sometimes literally, other times figuratively, that we just want to sound off about – that people outside of the military wouldn’t really understand,” Cochran said.
“There are certain things that come up that military people deal with; we have information on how to deal with it.”
The group also tries to help with events on campus any way they can. Recently, Cochran represented the group during Suicide Prevention Week through a panel discussion. Although the group is geared toward veterans – members of the military who are still active and those who support the military – Cochran said that any student can benefit from the Skyhawk Veteran Association.
“From my experience, there are a lot of students who have no real understanding of military; we can give them a little bit of understanding,” Cochran said.
For more information on the ramp project or the Skyhawk Veteran Association, email Cochran at skyhawkveteranassociation@gmail.com.
