2021 Hometown Heroes

2021 Hometown HEROES Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS May 27, 2021 Page 9 brought home with him mirrors the pain of so many veterans. He’s one who knows when he sees a veteran struggling with personal relationships, substance issues, emotional issues, homelessness and inability to find work, that it is a matter of “but for the grace of God.” And perhaps that is what drives him and so many others to do what they are doing in Logan County. While Schaler is deeply imbedded in Logan County, he credits his late wife Melanie for bringing him from Indianapolis, Indiana to this community. He noted it was just over 20 years ago when he and she moved to Lincoln for the benefit of Melanie’s daughter, Sarah. Melanie and Joe had both been in prior relationships. For Melanie, the need to come to Illinois was due to the need to have Sarah in closer proximity to her natural father in Peoria. However, over the next 20 years, the two became a part of the community and earned a reputation as being active supporters of all veterans in Logan County. Schaler noted that it was about 10 years into it that he started becoming even more involved. He had retired and was facing many obstacles in trying to do his own personal claims for military benefits. He noted that every time he had to address a problem, he had to leave town to do so. It bothered him that there was no one in Logan County he could go to for assistance. He had a conversation with Dr. David Hepler, who was then the Logan County Board Chairman. The topic of a Veterans Assistance Commission came up and Schaler began researching what it was with encouragement from Hepler. He found that the provision for a VAC had been established by the federal CONTINUED u