A vet ribbon

When the federal government cut funding for a national hotline for veterans that  is administered at Rutgers, Republican and Democratic state legislators rallied to vote for $8 million in state funding to underwrite Vets4Warriors (855-VET-TALK), the national call center that is part of University Behavioral Health Care (UBHC). Funding for the program, which employs 40 veterans  working around the clock, was jeopardized when the Pentagon decided to fund an alternate service, which is not fully staffed by veterans. “There’s no program like Vets4Warriors in our country,” says Christopher Kosseff, president and CEO of UBHC, which also administers NJVet2Vet (866-VETS-NJ4) as well as services for police officers, Cop2Cop (866-COP-2COP); mothers of children with special needs, Mom2Mom (877-914-MOM2); and caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients, Care2Caregivers (800-424-2494).