Klover Kare site visited by state veterans affairs director

Phillips County Veterans Service Officer Jeremy Kilpatrick was visited earlier this month by David Callahan, the director of the Colorado Department of Veterans Affairs, who has been making a statewide tour to visit each of the county veterans service officers.

Kilpatrick is the founder of Klover Kare, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting Colorado’s rural veteran communities in creating sustainable, food-producing community gardens.

At the Klover Kare site in Haxtun, Kilpatrick and Callahan discussed several issues that face rural veterans, including their mental health and well-being, the limitations of access to Veterans Affairs facilities and the Community Care Network, issues with medical claims and the Operation Veteran Strong platform.

People can sign up at operationveteranstrong.org to see what is available to veterans, including resources for food, mental health, housing, employment, social gatherings, discounts and volunteering opportunities.  

Kilpatrick and Callahan also discussed the Growing Together program, which is designed to offer communities horticulture systems powered by veterans and first responders to promote future employment, volunteerism, internships, mentorship programs and veteran networking.

This provides veterans new ways to build their skills, resumes and mental and physical well-being while providing food security to their community.

Kilpatrick served in the Navy from 2011-2015 as a logistics specialist. His job was to improve efficiency, and he has taken that drive with him to Klover Kare and in his role as VSO, asking himself what adjustments he can implement to make things better.

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