Mobile Veterans Center Providing Free Mental Health Services

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA – A mobile veterans center providing free mental health services to military members in the Coachella Valley was unveiled Thursday in Palm Springs.

Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Desert), who sits on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, formally introduced the new resource to an audience at Palm Springs' American Legion Post 519.

The traveling center will provide a trained therapist, who is also a former veteran, as well as free mental health and readjustment services.

According to Ruiz, the mobile center was especially needed for eastern Riverside County veterans, as the Coachella Valley is home to "a disproportionate amount of veterans," while much of the county's veterans' services are housed in the western portion of the county.

Ruiz called the center "a tremendous outcome for the Coachella Valley," but conceded that it was only "a small step" towards providing adequate resources for veterans, which includes Ruiz's goal for a permanent veterans center in the region.

"We need to ensure that all veterans in our communities have the resources they have earned in service to our nation," Ruiz said.

Ruiz said a schedule of the mobile center's stops throughout the Coachella Valley will be posted on his website at https://ruiz.house.gov . See listings here for scheduled stops in Hemet, Moreno Valley, TwentyninePalms, Palm Springs and Indio.

• Also see: 3-Day Weekend In SoCal: Stagecoach Days; L.A. Co. Fair; Tarantula Hikes; Fleet Week; Brunch Cruise

--City News Service/Image via Congressman Raul Ruiz, MD on Facebook