Home Care In Hamilton, VA

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CINCINNATI — Two new veterans are joining the Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission, and both are looking to change how the commission operates and how the Veterans Service Office interacts with veterans who come to them for assistance.

Common Pleas Presiding Judge Wende Cross signed off on the two appointments after an upgraded screening process following WCPO Homefront reports on the operations and function of the commission.

Air Force veteran Steven Staniford is a member of AMVETS Post 1988.

He said WCPO Homefront reports on the Hamilton County Veterans Service Office and Commission raised concerns for him and he came to the Nov. 8 meeting to see firsthand how the commission operated.

“Once I saw what was going on at the meetings and with the commission and the open seats available, I thought somebody needed to step up and do something,” Staniford said.

Ohio Revised Code says veterans must be members of a Veterans Service Organization to be nominated. So, Staniford joined AMVETS.

In a previous interview with WCPO and in his testimony at the state capitol on House Bill 69, Staniford said he is against requiring veterans to join one of the service organizations to serve on the commission. He said many younger veterans don’t want to join organizations that predominantly center around bars.

Since then, he’s spent time diving into the Ohio Revised Code regarding operations of the VSC, calling and speaking with veteran’s service organizations and reaching out to other VSO executive directors to understand how they operate in other counties.

“I felt something click inside that gave me the opportunity to serve again. to serve my fellow veterans again,” Staniford said.

He says what he’s witnessed is a broken system that no longer accurately serves the veterans it was created to assist in many different areas.

“What I'm trying to do here is modernize and bring it into the 21st century and get them the services that are widely provided throughout the state of Ohio in other counties,” Staniford said.

Urulee Watson is a Vietnam veteran and is a member of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 10.

He said his desire to serve in this position comes from the central point of helping all veterans. First and foremost, he said he hopes to raise awareness about the Veterans Service Office.

“The veterans who really need assistance really don't know where in the hell to find it, they just don't,” he said “I think that part of the job I can do or assist in doing is get the information out, letting people know what's out there and what's available and if it's available to them help them get it.”

Watson served in the Marine Corps and was concerned by WCPO Homefront reports and the issues they raised.

He said although he is just one voice on the Veterans Service Commission, he hopes to make change to better serve his fellow veterans.

“I think there's room for improvement and not just in what we do functionally but in the attitude that people come to us for help,” Watson said. “They shouldn't be greeted with the attitude hey you're interrupting my coffee break.”

He wants the office to be inviting, which is different than many online complaints and emails received by WCPO — as well as Watson’s own experience.

“How can I help you, instead of we don't have time to deal with you and nobody's here, you have to call in advance before you come down here. Those are stories I've heard and experienced it myself,” Watson said.

As part of the approving process, the Common Pleas courts appear to focus more on which candidate is the best fit for the future of the commission.

A letter sent to all Common Pleas judges from Court Administrator Patrick Dressing read in part, “in fulfilling our duty as the appointing authority, we implemented additional measures to ensure a thorough and impartial assessment of the nominees.”

The letter went on to explain the court implemented a two-judge panel for each prospective candidate to ensure a comprehensive and impartial evaluation.

Both Watson and Staniford will officially start their role as commissioners Jan. 15. Their term will run for five years.

The Veterans Service Office Executive Director William Boettcherremains at home due to ongoing medical issues, according to Pam Minser, Administrative Assistant of the office. She says he continues to be involved in daily operations and communications as it pertains to office operations.

If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

More Homefront:

'Give me what I’m due': VA denies benefits for veteran who served during Vietnam NKY singer creates music focused on ending veteran suicide, helping nonprofit Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission partly cloudy on Ohio Sunshine Laws

Copyright 2024 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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CINCINNATI — Alger Cable served in the United States Army as a Ground Surveillance Radar operator. He’s now suing the Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission and its executive director among others for how he claims he and his wife were treated during visits to the office for financial assistance.

"A roach has more respect it's that bad," Cable said. "I'm not exaggerating."

"We really wanted to change how the organization treated their veterans. And specifically, we felt that African Americans, we were being treated equally worse than other veterans," said June Hill-Cable.

The couple claims in the lawsuit they were treated like "unwelcome trespassers" and saw "great rudeness and hostility by the employees and staff at HCVSO." Other words in the complaint say the visit was "painful," "agonizing," "demeaning" and "humiliating."

The Cables went to the HCVSO to apply for financial assistance in February 2020. They said their request for food assistance was denied. Alger Cable said they went in front of Executive Director William Boettcher to plead their case and had explained to Boettcher that since his wife handles the finances in the family, she could answer his questions.

"I'm telling him in front of his face, she can answer all your questions, right? She represents me, right? And (that) went out the window," Alger Cable said.

They both claim that Boettcher said she couldn’t speak and that only the veteran can answer. They go on to claim Boettcher said if she didn’t stop talking, he would have a sheriff’s deputy remove her.

"To be threatened to be taken out in handcuffs — how more humiliating can that be? It's, it's, it's degrading, it's frightening and that's coming from the man that's at the top of the helm," Hill-Cable said.

At the end of their meeting, Cable said he mentioned they’ll have to go to Legal Aide to see if they can get anywhere, to which the Cables claim Boettcher told them, "Good luck with that."

They then claim Boettcher said, "You people get the hell out of my office."

WCPO reached out to Boettcher directly for a response to the allegations made in the lawsuit. Veterans Services Administrative Assistant Pamela Minser responded via email on Boettcher’s behalf saying, "On the advice of counsel: Since Case A2300526 is currently pending, we cannot provide a comment at this time."

The Cables filed the lawsuit on their own with no legal counsel. Meanwhile, Hamilton County Assistant Prosecuting Attorneys Eric Munas and Jerome Kunkel have filed motions on behalf of the defendants in the case asking to dismiss it on a variety of legal grounds.

The couple said they are looking for change within the Veterans Service Commission and the office to better serve all veterans. They launched a Facebook group Stand Up 4 Vets Cincy seeking to speak with other veterans who have experienced similar treatment at the HCVSO. Their phone number and email are also on the group site.

Public Hamilton County Veterans Service Commission meetings take place the second Wednesday of each month at 230 E. 9th St. Room 1100, Cincinnati, OH 45202.

If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email [email protected]. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.

FALL RIVER — You may not think that someone who started her own business practicing Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture for 20 years, previously in the private sector in customer service and finance, would be interested in coming to Fall River to take on the job as the city’s veterans’ agent. But you’d be wrong.

Because it's all about helping people, said Michelle Hamilton of Middleboro, who has been on the job as the new veterans' agent for a month, replacing Micaila Britto, who went to work in Somerset recently.

Mayor Paul Coogan said he’s really pleased that Hamilton has joined his team. “She’s going to be a key asset; she has a great way with people and I think that will carry over into the job,” he said.

Hamilton joined the Army right out of high school in 1975 at the tail end of the Vietnam war, and was in the last graduating class of the Women’s Army Corp.

She left the military in 1977 and went to college on the GI Bill, then spent years in corporate America before pursuing her long-time passion of herbal remedies.

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“It’s been a weird and winding road,” said Hamilton.

No stranger to helping veterans, she is the president of Rolling Thunder Massachusetts Chapter 2, the national and local organization open to both military and civilian individuals with a mission to advocate for POW/MIA issues and to assist veterans.

Veterans service services fall river'They’re like my family': This Fall River nonprofit cooks lunch for veterans every week

Envisioning a broader mission for the city’s veteran's agency

“We are the veterans’ service — service,” Hamilton reiterates. “This isn’t just about Chapter 115 money or VA claims.”

Hamilton gave an example of a veteran the department recently assisted, who had been homeless for a long time until getting into housing, is on chemotherapy and was struggling with a utility company over a long overdue electric bill.

A first for the cityFall River gets its first female veterans agent — how her unique experience will help

Hamilton said she was able to help him straighten out the bill, but then discovered the veteran had no food and wasn’t going to receive his check for another week.

Knowing getting some funds from the city veterans department would also take time, Hamilton said Rolling Thunder had funds to help veterans in need.

“I called our treasurer and said that she was going to see a transaction on the debit card,” said Hamilton, who took the veteran to the grocery store.

“So, it's service, we are here to be of service and that’s the biggest thing I want this department to do and that no matter what if a veteran is in need, we are going to try to help them,” said Hamilton.

Working with veteran organizations

It’s no secret that Fall River reveres its veterans and there are numerous and active veteran groups in and around the city, many of which Hamilton has worked with in her role with Rolling Thunder.

She looks forward to continuing that work as Fall River’s veterans' agent.

“There’s a lot of different personalities and there are a lot of different goals and my whole mission with all of us is to work as a team,” said Hamilton. “When we were in the military together, we didn’t care who did what or where or how, we had one mission, one goal.”

That’s what Hamilton said she wants, to have all of the local veterans to work as a team.

“If there one piece I could get everyone to do, that would be teamwork,” said Hamilton. “So that’s my hope.”

Justin Hamilton came to Virginia Tech back in 2001 as a running back from tiny Clintwood High School in Clintwood, Virginia. It was a part of the state that doesn’t often produce a ton of FBS football players, but when it does, it’s often big-time talent. Hamilton, Thomas Jones, Julius Jones and James Mitchell have all come from that part of the state and ended up in the NFL.

Hamilton’s size and athleticism made him an intriguing fit for the Hokies on those early 2000s teams. He would begin his career at running back before moving to wide receiver and finishing his career at safety. Hamilton succeeded at every position, but it was on defense where he found his home. Unfortunately, if Hamilton had been on defense from the start, he would’ve likely been a high draft pick.

Nonetheless, Hamilton was a seventh-round pick in the 2006 NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He also spent some time in 2008 on the roster of the Washington Redskins.

Hamilton got into coaching in 2011 at UVA-Wise, near his hometown. He spent three seasons there before moving on to VMI, where he’d coach the next four seasons. At VMI, Hamilton coached linebackers and special teams.

It was in 2018 when he’d return home to Blacksburg, joining Justin Fuente’s staff in an off-field role. In 2019, he joined Bud Foster’s defensive staff as safeties coach. After one season in his new role, Foster retired. And Virginia Tech promoted Hamilton to defensive coordinator.

While Hokie Nation was excited for Hamilton, they were concerned. Replacing Foster would be difficult, especially under Fuente entering a critical year five. Then COVID hit. Hamilton’s first season as a coordinator was wrecked due to COVID-19. Fuente was fired in Nov. 2021, and Hamilton finished out the season.

New head coach Brent Pry didn’t retain Hamilton, leaving him out of work in 2022. Now, Hamilton has a new job.

Last week, it was announced the Tennessee Titans had hired Hamilton as a defensive quality control assistant. While that’s essentially a beginner’s role on an NFL staff, it’s an incredible opportunity for Hamilton, who acknowledged the move on Twitter.

Officially outta the portal Thanks to all for the love ?

— Justin Hamilton (@coach_ham) February 8, 2023

Hamilton remains a terrific young coach with a bright future. And the great thing about coaching in the NFL is there is no recruiting. That’s a positive for a young coach with a family. In addition, Hamilton and his family now get to live in Nashville, which isn’t so bad.

We can always wonder if Hamilton would still be on Virginia Tech’s staff if he hadn’t been promoted in 2020. Pry would’ve certainly viewed him as an asset and could’ve been a great mentor for Hamilton.

Well, speculation does no one any good. All we can do is wish Coach Hamilton and his family all the best. Once a Hokie, always a Hokie. We here at Gobbler Country will root for the Titans and Hamilton.

Good luck, Coach Ham! We’re pulling for ya.

+40000

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. , Feb. 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- (OTC:PTBS) – BCT-Bank of Charles Town, also known as The Community's Bank, recently announced the appointment of Sandy Hamilton to its Advisory Board for the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The Advisory Board consists of community leaders who work and live in Berkeley County and Jefferson County, West Virginia. The members provide strategic advice to BCT regarding local markets, with an emphasis on the Eastern Panhandle region of West Virginia.

"We are pleased to welcome Sandy to our Eastern Panhandle Advisory Board," stated Alice Frazier, BCT President and CEO. "She is well known to BCT and local business leaders for her tireless efforts to expand new and existing businesses in Berkeley County. Her experience with the Development Authority will provide BCT opportunities to form new relationships that will expand our market share in Berkeley County and beyond."

Hamilton recently retired from the office of Executive Director for the Berkeley County Development Authority (West Virginia) where she served over nine years attracting new businesses to the county as well as assisting existing businesses with growth and retention. Prior to that, Hamilton served as Manager for Workforce West Virginia, assisting businesses across the state acquire and retain employees.

The Martinsburg-Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce selected Hamilton as the 2022 Citizen of the Year. Previous honors include the 2020 Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital and a 2020 Sharp Shooter by the West Virginia Executive Magazine.

Community service continues to be important to Hamilton. She currently serves on the following Boards of Directors: West Virginia Workforce Development, West Virginia School Building Authority, Blue Ridge Community and Technical College Foundation, Horizon Goodwill Industries, Eastern Panhandle Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Horses with Hearts, and Region 9. Hamilton also serves as a member of Martinsburg Rotary and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Committee.

Hamilton earned a Regents Bachelor of Arts degree from , and is an alumnus of .

A life-long resident of , Hamilton enjoys traveling, reading, and is an avid sports enthusiast.

Advisory Board members serving the Eastern Panhandle of are:

Founded in 1871, BCT - Bank of , also known as The Community's Bank, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Potomac Bancshares, Inc. (OTC:PTBS). With approximately in assets as of , the Company conducts operations through its main office, an additional eight branch offices, and two loan production offices. BCT's offices are located in and Counties (WV), Washington County (MD), and Loudoun and Stafford Counties (VA). The Bank provides various banking products and services including free access to over 55,000 ATMs through the Allpoint® network plus online and mobile banking for individuals, businesses, and local governments. The Bank also offers commercial lines and term loans, residential and commercial construction, commercial real estate loans and agricultural loans. The Residential Lending division offers secondary market and portfolio mortgage loans, one-time close construction to perm loans, as well as home equity loans and lines of credit. For over 65 years, BCT Wealth Advisors has provided financial management, investment, trust, and estate services to its clients. BCT was voted "Best of the Best" winner in the 2022 Readers' Choice Awards in three categories: Bank, Loan Services, and Financial Planning. In 2019, 2020, and 2021 the Bank was named a "Best Bank To Work For" by . In 2018, named BCT a "Best In State Bank" for .

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