A free workshop to help veterans apply for a new educational benefit will be held at West Kentucky Community and Technical College on Wednesday, June 27, 1:00 - 4:00 pm in room 112 of the Emerging Technology Center.

The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, part of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, is designed to provide unemployed veterans with the education and training they need to compete for high-demand jobs. Qualifying veterans can receive up to 12 months of education assistance. Veterans must:

•Be between the ages of 35 and 60 years;
•Be unemployed on the date of application;
•Have not received a dishonorable discharge.
•Not be eligible for:
•Another VA education benefit program;
•Receiving VA compensation due to unemployability;
•Enrollment in a federal or state job training program.

Ray Gage, the disabled veterans outreach program specialist for the Kentucky One-Stop Career Center, and Kristen Amaya, WKCTC veterans program coordinator, will be on hand to help the veterans with the VRAP online application process.

“This is a great opportunity for veterans in our community to build upon their employable skills and increase their chances of working in a high-demand occupation. We want to help them get started,” Amaya said.

For more information about the VRAP workshop, contact Kristen Amaya at (270) 534-3861 or Ray Gage at (270) 575-7000.