Madison Co. VA connects veterans from multiple counties with resources

Reggie Sims is the veterans' services coordinator for Madison County.

And while officially he may work for Madison County, the reach of his health goes past county lines based on who enters his office.

"On a normal day, we're helping eight to 10 veterans who come in and need help," Sims said. "And on those days when it's closer to 10, depending on their needs and the difficulty of finding information, those days may be days I work through lunch."

The department hosted a Veterans' Outreach event near his office at the 4-H auditorium at the county complex on North Parkway on Friday.

Different agencies had tables set up throughout the facility. Most of them were representatives of different entities that are designed to help veterans.

There were at least two - Madison County Sheriff's Office and Jackson Police Department - who were there to recruit vets for jobs.

"I know both the sheriff's department and police department are understaffed, and a lot of the time, former military personnel are perfect candidates for jobs in law enforcement," Sims said. "So we're glad to have them here along with everybody.

There was a mobile center set up at the complex also that is designed to help veterans find out what services they're eligible for and the needed paperwork to sign up for those services.

"If I have 50 people come into our office throughout a week, most of them are in need of some kind of assistance in finding out what services are available for them."

Sims served himself from 1992 for 21 years. When he returned to civilian life, he had a lot of questions and no idea where to go for the answers.

Fortunately he was connected with the people who pointed him in the direction he needed to go for answers and help.

It wasn't long after that that he was given a chance to help other veterans when he was told about the job in Jackson.

"I'm from Millington, and my wife is from Brownsville, so coming to Jackson made a lot of sense for us," Sims said.

During his time with Madison County, Sims and the office have been honored with various awards for their commitment to helping the vets of Madison County and their relentless pursuit of answers when vets come in with questions whose answers aren't always simple and easily found.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news