OUR HISTORY
A group of professionals in La Crosse County, Wisconsin became concerned over the increasing number of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were found in the criminal justice system. They found that many veterans in our criminal justice system have a service-related behavioral health issue that is connected to their current criminal behavior. The group began a several step approach to achieve the goal of assisting these veterans obtain services that they had been unable to attain or had been refused or not utilized.
The group first created the La Crosse Area Veterans Mentor Program (LAVMP) on January 4th, 2010 to immediately meet the needs of veterans. LAVMP attempts to overcome the stigma or fears of veterans to engage services available to them through the Veterans Administration System (VA) and the community. The La Crosse Area Veterans Treatment Court was the next component to be created on November 11, 2010.
Our Purpose
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, it is our charitable mission to provide support and mentorship to veterans of the United States Armed Forces who are experiencing legal, mental health or behavioral health problems by assisting and encouraging their utilization of VA Benefits and community-based services.