MONTICELLO — More than 15 organizations from across the Mid-Hudson region gathered inside the Ted Stroebele Recreation Center in Monticello last Saturday with one mission in mind - connecting veterans to the services they need.

Vet 2 Vet of Sullivan County is a Peer Networking program in partnership with Action Toward Independence (ATI).

They hosted their first “Veterans Stand-Down” event as a chance for veterans to network and learn about resources available to them.

Ryan Fuller is a Veterans Advocate with Vet 2 Vet. He said the turnout on Saturday exceeded their expectations and explained how events like these help to connect veterans with important services related to housing, transportation, employment, mental health and more.

“We wanted to get veterans in the area to just come through the door and be able to network with these other agencies that may be able to help them,” Fuller said.

ATI Executive Director Deborah Worden said that it’s important for veterans to know that many organizations are regional and cover multiple counties.

Victory Hill Therapeutic Horsemanship, for example, is based out of Port Jervis and offers equine therapy.

WestCOP, or the Westchester Community Opportunity Program, Inc., assists low-income veteran families and single veterans throughout the Hudson Valley who are currently homeless or facing a housing crisis.

“We Have Your 6” is a volunteer, non-profit organization and a component fund of the Community Foundation of Orange & Sullivan that’s committed to improving the lives of those living with Post Traumatic Stress.

Sharon Toney-Finch is a Purple Heart veteran as well as the founder and chairperson of the YIT Foundation Inc. Named after her late son, Yerik Israel Toney, the foundation helps to raise awareness of premature births, offers assistance to the families of children who are born premature, and provide a place to stay or transportation while their babies are in newborn intensive care units.

YIT Foundation, Inc. also helps homeless and low-income military service veterans and families. Working across five counties in New York, Toney-Finch says they’ve assisted hundreds of veterans who were homeless.

"It doesn’t stop with just placing them, we make sure with the therapy and the financial assistance that they’re able to take care of themselves,” Toney-Finch said.

Worden says that ATI and Vet 2 Vet plan to organize future Stand-Down events to introduce veterans to all these different organizations under the same roof.