The Veterans Resource Fair

This event is a Labor of Love. It is a idea thought up from a few Veterans that when realized, means a lot of our fellow Veterans and their families will benefit from it. In October 2014, two of us started organizing for this event that we plan to have annually. Looking for a location. And we found it at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall. Next we started looking for partners to aid our mission. Whos

e friendly. Whose not. Whose willing to work (all on a Volunteer budget) for something that sounds crazy to some, and makes perfect sense to others. Making a Large annual Veterans event that can showcase some of the surrounding resources, services, and fellow friends to our community. We found the Pierce County Veterans Advisory Council, Pierce County Veterans Bureau, and Military Veterans Solutions. Soon after we started having community planning meetings to hear other peoples ideas that wanted to help shape the idea of what this event could be. Planning for a event without a budget, can be difficult. This is why you need passion and zeal from the volunteers to be able to make it happen. And annually we intend to provide our Veterans community of the Puget Sound area (Pierce, King, Kitsap, and Thurston) with a FREE Veterans Resource Fair that will have providers for the following sections:
· Community Services
· VA Benefits
· Legal Services
· Homeless Services/ At Risk
· Educational Benefits
· Medical Screenings and Dental Resources
· Apprenticeship/Training and vocational opportunities/ Jobs
· Female Veterans Resources
· Financial Education/ Assistance
· Housing and home ownership
· Reintegration Services
· Disability Claims/ Benefits


This is a community event that is being put on by Veterans for Veterans and their families. The Veteran Resource Fair is a community partnership between various veteran owned agencies, nonprofits, federal, state, and local county agencies whose aim is to provide an annual and reliable place and event where Pierce, King, Kitsap and Thurston County Veterans and their families can obtain direct connections / information to many different types of veteran specific programs and resources. No one is receiving any salaries, fee's, or anything of that nature from this event. It is being done with the time and sweat of Volunteers, a few unemployed and retired Vet's, and others that care. Sincerely yours,

Event Director, Shawn Durnen