Long Island Cares' veterans events to help with housing, food insecurity, jobs — and haircuts

There are more than 81,000 military veterans on Long Island, a growing number from the post-9/11 war on terror era.

Knowing those veterans need a variety of services, not just assistance with issues like food insecurity, Long Island Cares, The Harry Chapin Regional Food Bank, will host the first of four scheduled veterans-only events Wednesday from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at its Center for Community Engagement on Davids Drive in Hauppauge.

The event — and three others planned for Quiogue-Westhampton Beach, Southold and Farmingdale in April and May — are aimed at connecting veterans with experts who can help guide them on a host of life challenges: everything from health and mental health care needs to qualifying for veteran-related tax exemptions and discounts, entitlements and job placement services. Veterans will even be able to get free haircuts at Wednesday's event.

Statistics available from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimate there are between 15 million and 18 million veterans in the country, about 8.4 million from the Gulf War to post-9/11 era. There are about 560,000 veterans in New York. On Long Island there are about 31,500 veterans in Nassau and about 49,650 in Suffolk, according to estimates from a 2023 U.S. Census Bureau survey.

The New York State Department of Veterans’ Services website notes those veterans — about 89% men, 11% women — need assistance with a range of issues that include finding help for post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and military-related sexual trauma, and dealing with housing, food insecurities, benefits questions and military-related tax exemptions.

"It's important, because when you out-process the military there often is not as much guidance as there should be for what comes next," said Long Island Cares Veterans outreach manager Justin Berbig of the planned events. "We'll have over 45 organizations here to answer questions about everything from housing to jobs, access to attorneys, an array of needs — even qualifying for veterans discounts on gas and electric bills."

Berbig understands the issues from firsthand experience.

A graduate of Oyster Bay High School, he joined the Army and was three weeks into basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, when the terror attacks happened on Sept. 11, 2001. An electronic missile systems repair expert, Berbig did an eight-month tour in Afghanistan.

While World War II veterans once dominated the landscape, national estimates from Veterans Affairs show that only about 4% of all living veterans are from that so-called "Greatest Generation," with another 4% to 6% being Korean War veterans and 30% from Vietnam.

More than 43% of veterans are from the post-Sept. 11 era, the rest from all other peacetime service, according to the VA.

Problem is, Berbig said, most veterans don’t want to — or, know how to — ask for a helping hand.

"These are the ones who are looking out for everybody else first, serving themselves last,” he said. “It’s a hard mentality to break.”

Long Island Cares vice president of government relations & advocacy Michael Haynes said that's another reason why events like the one on Wednesday are so important. "There's a lot of veterans in need. And, this is a one-stop shop to help them find those services.”

Long Island Cares provides food distribution to more than 13,000 veterans annually in Nassau and Suffolk. The organization serves, on average, more than 50 veterans a week at each of its six satellite locations — Valley Stream, Freeport, Bethpage, Huntington Station, Lindenhurst and Hampton Bays — on what it calls Military Appreciation Tuesdays and hundreds more at each of its special events.

A list of Long Island Cares veterans-related events can be found at licares.org.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee'pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.