PENDLETON — America’s veterans provided a tremendous service to the nation. Now, Umatilla County has found a way to extend a helping hand to those veterans who need assistance to receive medical care.

Seven projects aimed at helping Oregon veterans in rural communities to more easily get to and from medical appointments received varying amounts of grant money last week. The grants are funded out of $500,000 from the Oregon Lottery, with Umatilla County receiving $20,000 and Union County $50,000.

In Umatilla County, the money will be directed toward CareVan Transportation at Good Shepherd Health Care System and its affiliates. Services are provided to veterans in Hermiston, Echo, Stanfield and Umatilla.

“If a veteran has an appointment with a Good Shepherd Health Care System doctor or physician or other services, they can make arrangements through CareVan,” Umitilla County Transportation Coordinator Staci Kunz said. “The CareVan would come to their home and pick them up for their appointment, and then return them to their home.

“CareVan has been a free service, but with the exception of one other source through Umatilla County and ODOT, it is the only source of funding it receives other than donations.”

Union County’s grant will aid an existing program that focuses on same-day demand available for health care access.

“We were looking for programs that could deliver origin to destination rides at no cost to the veteran,” Regional Transit Coordinator for Eastern Oregon Frank Thomas said. “What that might mean or how that can look may look different in every community we serve.

“We want to reduce the barriers between the folks who served us and the care they earned. Every one of the projects that were submitted did a pretty good job of that.”

The first seven projects approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission totaled $230,000 under the Rural Veterans’ Healthcare Transportation Grant Program. The program is managed jointly by the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs and ODOT’s Public Transportation Division.

There is a similar federal program, but Thomas said the big difference is the wide variety of medical options available through the grants.

“We worked closely with our partners at Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs … to ensure that medical service could mean weight loss, smoking succession, culturally appropriate medicine, acupuncture, behavioral health or any number of things,” Thomas said. “The veteran is going to tell us what they need, and we are going to get them where they need to go.”

The hope is to have all the paperwork processed so projects can begin by Aug. 1. A second round of grants will be awarded this year up to $220,000. Due to COVID-19, the total grant money was reduced by 10% to ensure it would be available. All projects must be identified and the money used by June 30, 2021.