Vietnam veteran Ray Biggerstaff has been advocating and working on behalf of area veterans for years as part of the Military Officers Association of America and other organizations.

But when it came time to provide information to veterans about area resources, he noticed something.

“The information was so fragmented. There was no combined documentation of services for veterans,” he said.

So he decided to do something about it. The result is a special edition of the Western Kentucky University ALIVE Center’s Community Resource Guide that includes pages of information detailing organizations that work with or provide services to veterans locally.

Biggerstaff approached the WKU ALIVE Center about adding a section to its existing Community Resource Guide to include a section for veterans. 

“Our resources (for veterans) were very limited, and he had a wealth of information, so we saw this as a win-win,” said WKU ALIVE Center Director Leah Ashwill.

Biggerstaff gathered the information over the last several years from existing fliers, brochures and other sources, and a version of the guide with the veterans section was finalized last fall in partnership with the Cumberland Trace Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America, Southern Kentucky Veterans Council and the Community Blueprint Project.

The veterans section includes 45 listings for things ranging from American Legion posts and the Bowling Green VA clinic to programs such as Supportive Services for Veteran Families, which works with veterans and families who are at risk for homelessness, and Project Healing Waters, which works with veterans and active-duty military on psychological rehabilitation through fly fishing.

While some copies of the guide have been distributed to local veterans organizations and are available at the WKU ALIVE Center, Biggerstaff wants to see them in the hands of as many of the 8,000 Warren County veterans as possible. To that end, he has contacted the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce and Warren County government about helping get the guide more widely distributed.

Biggerstaff said he hopes the guide will be used by organizations to not only relay information about services but also enhance the quality of life for area veterans.

“If a vet is at home, disabled, we want to add meaning and purpose to their lives,” he said. “We want to show the veterans that we care about them.”

Biggerstaff said the guide is the first of its kind in the state, and he believes surrounding counties may pick up on the idea.

He envisions it as “a pilot project that will be copied everywhere in the state of Kentucky.”

The guide could have even more information if State Rep. Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, has his way.

Richards has proposed legislation, at the urging of Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, that would wave registration and annual filing fees for four years for new veteran-owned businesses.

Dubbed “Boots to Business” the measure was approved Wednesday by the House Committee on Veterans, Military Affairs, and Public Safety and now the full house, according to The Associated Press.

— Follow city government reporter Wes Swietek on Twitter at twitter.com/BGDNgovtbeat or visit bgdailynews.com.