On March 1, after more than a year of planning, veterans in the Palestine, Texas, area will have access to a new Veterans Service Center.

The service center will be located at the Palestine Mall near the VA clinic, local news source the Palestine Herald-Press reports. According to local officials, it's important for veterans in the area to have one-stop, convenient access to veterans benefits and services.

“The ultimate goal is to add enough veterans to our local VA roster to justify additional physicians and expand our clinic to hopefully alleviate the long travel to Temple and Waco for services,” Anne Coleman, founder of the Veterans Historic Education Center, told the local news.

Veterans from six surrounding counties use the Palestine Mall VA clinic. The grand opening ceremony for the new Veterans Service Center will be at 2 p.m. on March 1.

VA expects more than 1 million servicemen and women to return home during the next five years, the agency said recently. They will join more than 22 million veterans currently living in the United States. The proposed budget for VA during 2013 is more than $140 billion, and includes money for veterans benefits and services.

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