At Project ABLE, veterans receive training to help fellow veterans with behavioral health. Thanks to a grant of lottery dollars, Salem-based Project ABLE will train veterans as peer support specialists for other veterans with behavioral health issues. In peer support, an individual provides support to another who shares similar life experiences. Fellow veterans will be trained as support specialists because those who’ve also taken the Oath of Enlistment best understand military related trauma. This sort of support, along with additional wellness classes and services, can provide veterans-in-need with a much brighter future. Thanks to Lottery support, Project ABLE’s training will benefit veterans in six northwest Oregon counties.

St. Andrew Legal Clinic (SALC), based in Portland, provides legal protections for some of the community’s most vulnerable people. Specializing in family law, SALC provides legal advocacy on matters like adoptions, divorce, child custody and support, and more. Thanks to a grant of lottery dollars, SALC will now be able to leverage their legal expertise for the benefit of Oregon veterans, with a focus on economic stability and housing security. With the support of lottery dollars, SALC will provide veterans in five Oregon counties with access to the legal services they might need as they return to civilian life.

KLCAS, a Local agency, helps homeless veterans and those at risk for homelessness. Military veterans can be particularly vulnerable to a housing crisis for a variety of reasons. In southern Oregon, Klamath-Lake Community Action Services (KLCAS) is using a grant of lottery dollars to help prevent low-income veterans and their families from falling into homelessness—or to rapidly re-house already homeless veterans. Assistance might take the form of help finding and accessing a rental, childcare assistance, utility assistance, and other types of support services veterans need to obtain housing and stay housed. With the help of the ODVA, your lottery dollars are distributed to local organizations like KLCAS where they can do targeted good for Oregon veterans.