SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Eight veteran services organizations received a total of over $100,000 in grant funding from the City of Scranton. The announcement came on the grounds of the city’s Veterans Memorial Park, a place to honor those who served their nation.
“We should never forget to honor those veterans,” Patrick Ahern, Chairman of the Scranton Veterans Memorial Park, said. “We do it every year at Memorial Day, but this park does it every day.”
Since its dedication in 2020, Ahern and his team have continued to maintain the park and pay respects to veterans through this grant program.
The park, sitting at the foot of Scranton High School, gives future generations of Scranton a reminder of who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Eric Darling works at Valhalla Veterans Services in Scranton. They provide mental health counseling and sometimes lifesaving care.
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“Sometimes you just have a really bad day, and the immediate answer that you come up with is ‘ I’m gonna kill myself,'” Darling said Monday following the announcement. “So, you know that’s how we kind of approach that you’re not sick, you’re not broken, but you’re having some thought processes that need to change.”
At no cost to the veterans, Darling and his team use their experiences as veterans to break down barriers as many adjust to civilian life.
“When you walk in the door, and you start talking to me, you’re not gonna surprise me, you’re not gonna scare me,” Darling said. “We may laugh about some things that we’re probably not supposed to laugh about, and then we can get down to the real issues”
The grants presented continue a three-year commitment from the city to provide services to veterans across the city.
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