The Texas Veterans Commission’s Fund for Veterans’ Assistance recently presented over $600,000 in grants to six organizations in East Texas for providing services to approximately 5,400 veterans.

The East Texas Council of Governments is proud to be a grant recipient of $100,000 of those funds to provide GoBus transportation services and programs for veterans in its 14-county service area.

"It was an honor to accept this funding award from the Texas Veterans Commission and Commissioner Shaneyfelt," said Vince Huerta, GoBus Director. "We are dedicated to growing the program and look forward to assisting more veterans this year."

ETCOG has been a recipient of the TVC grant for two consecutive years. With the grant, its public transit system, GoBus, funds trips to and from medical, dental and mental health appointments; and trips for basic needs such as grocery stores, community meetings, voting, court appearances and tax offices. These trips can be for veterans, veteran spouses and dependents, survivor spouses and active military.

"I want to thank TVC for renewing this funding which allows us to continue our mission to support all East Texas veterans," said Huerta. "This funding has allowed GoBus to provide over 3,000 trips to veterans needing transportation services this year."

The grant is in partnership with over $31 million in grants for veterans, Gov. Abbott announced on Sept. 2. Funding for these grants is generated primarily by the Texas Lottery Commission’s games designated for veteran support. Other sources of funding for the grants come from individual donation options on drivers’ licenses, licenses to carry a handgun, outdoor recreation licenses for hunting and fishing and vehicle registration.

"The State of Texas continues working to improve the lives of our veterans and provide them and their families with the best available resources to thrive," Abbott said. "I thank the Texas Veterans Commission for their hard work to ensure thousands of our veterans are served through these grants. These courageous heroes and their families deserve our utmost support and respect, and Texas will always honor their sacrifice and service to our nation in the pursuit of freedom."

ETCOG is a voluntary association of counties, cities, school districts and special districts within the fourteen-county East Texas region. ETCOG assists local governments in planning for common needs, cooperating for mutual benefit and coordinating for sound regional development.

Established in 1970, ETCOG, either directly, or through its contractors, provides programs and services for East Texas seniors, employers and job seekers.

ETCOG and its contractors also build the 9-1-1 emergency call delivery system, provide peace officer training and homeland security planning services; and deliver rural transportation services, business finance programs, and environmental grant funding for the region.

ETCOG's rural transportation system, GoBus, is available for all rural residents to access safe, reliable, and friendly public transportation.

GoBus provides daily local service within Anderson, Camp, Cherokee, Harrison, Henderson, Marion, Panola, Rains, Rusk, Upshur, Van Zandt and Wood counties, and the non-urbanized areas of Gregg and Smith Counties.

GoBus provides trips from the rural areas into the urbanized areas of Longview or Tyler on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Book a trip by calling 800-590-3371 to speak with our dispatch office.

Find out about all veteran transport services GoBus offers by visiting www.gobustransit.com/govet.

Texas veterans in need of assistance can find available local organizations at tvc.texas.gov/grants/assistance.