Photo courtesy of Cape Cod and Islands Veterans Outreach Center
HYANNIS – The new Executive Director of the Cape and Islands Veterans Outreach Center wants to address housing issues and provide resources for Cape Cod veterans.
In a recent interview with CapeCod.com NewsCenter, Jim Seymour discussed his goals of finding resources for food insecurity and assessing needs for mental health services.
“Our veterans that we’re serving, we’re seeing are older, and they’re running out of their retirement sources because they’re living longer. But there’s also the other piece of young folks that have signed up after high school, gone into serve in the military, whether it’s eight years, ten years, twenty years, then they can’t come back to the Cape because it’s unaffordable for them,” Seymour said.
He’s hoping the group can partner with organizations like the Yarmouth Housing Summit to address the issues.
For resources on the Cape, Seymour mentioned the weekly food pantry held at the Outreach Center in Hyannis on Thursdays.
He also said there are winter-specific items besides food available to veteran families who utilize the pantry.
“Handwarmers, socks, gloves, hats, those kinds of things we’re making available to them as well, given what the weather’s like,” Seymour said. “So, my role is to continue to identify needs and put the resources or the offers for assistance together.”
The South Yarmouth resident had already served on the organization’s board of directors for the last three and a half years before his appointment as executive director in December 2021.
Seymour previously worked as an associate pastor, a chaplain for police and fire services, and as a Navy Chaplain for eight years.
To find out more about the organization’s programs and resources, click here. For the full Sunday Journal interview with Jim Seymour, click here.
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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