Polk County Veterans Affairs reports steady staffing, monthly food drive and new client portal rollout

Pat Sweeney, executive director of Veterans Affairs, told the Polk County Board of Supervisors that the department’s full-time staffing remains unchanged and its direct assistance line in the county budget is unchanged.

Sweeney said the office continues to operate with eight full-time employees and has come in under its annual budget for five consecutive years, averaging about 91.78% of budget use over that period.

The department’s recurring community service is a drive-through food pantry at River Place. "Last fiscal year, we served 5,493 veterans there at the drive-through food pantry," Sweeney said, and he reported total food costs of $112,299.17 for that program.

Sweeney described several outreach and partnership activities the office has run in the past year: a River Place event with the nearby federal VA hospital intended as a networking and resource fair for veterans; a Marine Corps League car show that drew 94 vehicles and local vendors; and a 250th-anniversary plaque presentation with the Daughters of the American Revolution at Woodland Cemetery.

On technology and client services, Sweeney said the department will complete its migration to a new client file system known internally as "the River." "We're probably going to hit the switch probably in the next 4 weeks, flip over to using the River completely for our client portal," he said. He noted the system will allow staff to send text reminders to veterans about appointments and that the office hopes to add an online appointment-scheduling feature after the migration.

Sweeney said the department is negotiating a contract with Meals on Wheels so the county can pay for home-delivered meals for eligible veterans, and he described the office’s role in federal claims work. He reported that veterans’ federal claims resulted in large receipts in November, and said the office works frequently with the VA and the SSVF federal caseworkers to help veterans move from shelter to housing — at times paying bills that prevented placement.

Sweeney also outlined several longer-term ideas he is tracking, including organizing an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., exploring whether a future tiny-home village could include a veterans-only section, and relocating a World War I memorial now in Burke Park to a more visible site such as River Place; he estimated moving the monument could cost about $100,000.

Board members thanked Sweeney for the department’s work; there were no formal actions or votes during his presentation.

Closing: Sweeney said the department’s everyday assistance — including small payments that clear recurring barriers to housing — is the work he and his staff do most often and that the board’s support is important to maintaining those services.