One of the big issues that many veterans often face in their daily lives is that they might not have the means to get to all their appointments, especially when it comes to doctor's visits. Now, thanks to the VA, that won't be a problem for veterans living north of Dallas.
The VA just gave a van worth $100,000 to the Sam Rayborn Memorial Veteran's Center in Bonham, Texas – about 90 minutes outside Dallas – to help shuttle veterans to their medical appointments, according to a report from the Durant Democrat. The van will pick veterans up at their homes as many as five days per week, providing crucial access to medical care for those who may desperately need it.
"We are tickled that we have this van now," Don Pappin, a veteran who served in three separate branches of the military and now works to get veterans transportation just like this, told the newspaper. "We've already got an individual we are supposed to pick up in Bennington tomorrow."
The more that can be done to help veterans in the course of their daily lives, the better off those lives are going to be in the future.
With the effort to drastically reduce veteran homelessness, and eventually eliminate it, now seriously under way, many cities can boast of expanded capacity to permanently house former servicemembers who are currently living on the street. This is certainly true in Los Angeles, where the VA recently announced plans to renovate nearly 2,000 units on a long-neglected site.
The VA has a campus in West L.A. that hasn't been used much, but could soon be home to 1,200 units of permanent housing, plus 700 more for short-term use by homeless vets, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. That would be in addition to assistance for disabled veterans living in the permanent units, a cafe, a fitness center, and other facilities that can improve the quality of life there.
However, the deal has only been proposed, and because it is through the VA, it would require the federal government to sign off before work could even start, the report said. In addition, the VA would also have to partner with nonprofit developers to build the units, and probably also do some fundraising to help pay for it.
However, if and when this is completed, it would likely be a boon to many homeless vets in Southern California.
Many cities are trying to tackle a number of problems facing veterans today, and having varying levels of success in doing so. Now, the city of Cincinnati is planning to get more involved in that sort of effort by partnering with dozens of other large cities across the country.
Cincinnati will join the Veterans Economic Communities Initiative, a group of 53 cities nationwide in which an "economic liaison" will work to create a network of organizations to help veterans get education and employment, according to a report from Cincinnati television station WCPO. The initiative was originally launched last year after the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs wanted to extend the VA's reach in local communities.
"Our veterans and military servicemembers have given so much and sacrificed to help our city and our nation over the years," said Cincinnati mayor John Cranley, according to the station. "This new initiative is one way in which we can give our thanks and help make sure they and their families have the resources they need to lead rewarding and productive lives."
Cincinnati was chosen to participate in the program because of its veteran population, local unemployment rates for those former servicemembers, and the expected rate at which its veteran population will grow in the future, the report said. Other cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, and St. Louis are also heavily involved.
This may be good news to veterans across the country who continue to struggle in their search for employment after they finish their service. The organizations that are now getting involved will likely go a long way toward helping servicemembers get the support they need as they try to embark on a fulfilling civilian life once again.
With veteran homelessness now recognized nationwide as an issue that can be solved more easily than many experts previously thought, a lot of state and local governments are starting to do more to deal with it straightaway. That includes Minnesota, where a new initiative has been launched to handle this problem quickly and easily.
The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced that it will organize a Veteran Rapid Response Team to deal with any former servicemembers living on the streets who are identified in a one-day, state-wide count, according to a report from the MDVA. The hope is that this outreach effort can effectively end veteran homelessness within the Land of 10,000 Lakes in much the same way several cities and at least a few states have as well.
Once identified, these homeless vets will be paired with social workers to get them registered and work up a personalized plan for housing them, the report said. Usually, this sort of effort will get any veteran with their own unique plan into a permanent housing situation within four months or so. In addition to trying to track veteran homelessness through the one-day, state-wide count, the MDVA is also asking anyone who knows a homeless veteran to call its hotline at 1-888-Link-Vet.
"Having a housing plan is key," said Eric Grumdahl, who serves as special advisor on ending veteran homelessness for MDVA and the Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. "Homelessness is a problem that we can solve. The best, most lasting solutions are personalized for each individual or family experiencing homelessness."
Veterans who are dealing with unstable housing situations may want to do some research into the ways in which programs such as these may be able to help them, because even the threat of homelessness can have a major negative impact on their lives.
Across the country, veteran homelessness is largely viewed as a problem that is very much worth solving, and many cities are now looking for ways to do so successfully. That includes Northampton, Massachusetts, a smaller city in the western part of the state where a number of homeless former servicemembers are now living.
The city recently held a meeting for landlords with properties to rent there, advising them about the homeless veteran problem and the ways in which they can help to solve it without taking any sort of major financial hit, according to a report from the Springfield Republican. There are a number of programs – both public and private – that now exist to help landlords cover the costs when they house homeless veterans, and as such, a larger number in Northampton are now willing to help deal with this issue.
A number of cities, large and small, have already effectively ended veteran homelessness within their borders, and as awareness of the problem – and how to solve it – grows, that's a trend that should continue for some time to come.
Many veterans have a hard time transitioning back to civilian life, especially if they faced traumatic events during their time of service. However, some experts now believe that people living in violent neighborhoods, such as those in Chicago, face similar trauma in their daily lives. As such, one organization is trying to bring these two groups together to work through those issues.
In Chicago last year, almost 3,000 people were victimized by gun violence in some way, and the Urban Warriors program is now working to connect teenagers living in the most-affected neighborhoods with veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report from National Public Radio. The thinking here is that both will likely need help to mentally process the trauma they've gone through – or continue to experience – and that talking about it can be a major help.
Indeed, the more veterans can do to reach out to anyone or any organization that might be able to help them get some sort of assistance, the better off they'll be. Many groups exist specifically to help veterans in need, and often all former servicemembers need to do is reach out.
Veterans, the GI Bill is the biggest and most important investment in your education the U.S. government has ever made. Don't let it go to waste.
From the moment you leave the service, you have 10 years to use all your veterans benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill and 15 years to use your benefits accorded under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
When those years are up, so too is your eligibility to attend any college or university under the program. No matter how good the reason, the government will under no circumstances extend those benefits for you if you fail to take advantage of them within that 10- to 15-year window.
In entering your life after service, you'll have a number of tough choices to make – namely, do you attend school full-time, get a full-time job, or try to balance an education and employment?
Whatever path you choose, do not let your GI Bill benefits gather dust. Here's why using them is so important, according to the Transitioning Veteran blog:
New opportunities
Having a college degree, certification, vocational training or some kind of apprenticeship on your resume will grant you access to a wide range of new opportunities in the civilian world. Because many employers look for job candidates with a college degree these days, obtaining one and coupling it with your military experience and related skills puts you way ahead of the pack.
A safety net
Veterans know better than most how quickly a situation can change down range.To a certain extent, the same applies to the civilian workforce. Should you be laid off or your employment situation change – with a move, for example – having a degree or certification will help you get back into your field more quickly or else acquire a similar position elsewhere.
Salary boost
When it comes to money, your education can make a big difference in how much you're taking home at the end of the day. A Pew Research study from 2014 found that the earnings difference between those with a degree and those without one was about $17,500 annually. That's the kind of salary boost you don't want to leave on the table.
The GI Bill is one of the easiest ways a veteran can transition from military service to having a degree and a comfortable salary in four or five years. Don't let it go to waste by giving your money to a predatory school – not all for-profit schools are bad, but be careful – or at one that just isn't the right fit for you.
Most of all, though, just don't let the opportunity to succeed pass you by. You've worked too hard and sacrificed too much to let that happen.
Each year, many veterans across the country may be looking for a job, but have difficulty finding a position that works for them. However, that is oftentimes the result of unfounded concern on the part of people in charge of hiring, and many experts actually say this hiring method may be harmful to small businesses in particular.
It's not always easy for veterans to transition back to civilian life, but doing so successfully typically includes finding a full-time job, according to a report from Chief Learning Officer. However, small businesses have been criticized for not always being as open as they perhaps should be to the idea of hiring veterans. But in reality, veterans likely have many skills in a number of different areas that can perfectly suit them for success in a number of fields.
For this reason, experts say that it's often wise for small business owners who are in charge of hiring, or who directly oversee the people who are, to better educate themselves about the benefits that hiring former servicemembers can provide for their companies, the report said. Among the job skills veterans are likely to have is leadership and initiative that they learned while serving their country. Indeed, it may even be wise for them to not only hire veterans, but create hiring programs that can help to identify veterans who are well-suited to the work these companies do, and perhaps even form partnerships with organizations that help connect veterans and companies.
Meanwhile, veterans who are looking for jobs may want to reach out to such organizations. That can help them to find new job opportunities which may go a long way toward helping them have a smoother transition to civilian life once again.
A large number of organizations across the country are specifically focused on helping veterans get the support they need. This is particularly true of homeless veterans, of which a shockingly large number are women. Now, one such non-profit group in Kentucky is aimed specifically at helping women.
The group, called Sheppard's Hands, is currently working to renovate a home in Lexington, to provide housing to as many as three homeless women veterans at a time, according to a report from Lexington television station LEX 18. The house was donated by a local church with the goal of providing as much assistance as possible to these former servicemembers at what is obviously a difficult time in their lives.
"They go home and their families don't understand what they're going through so they can't talk about it, so they withdraw into drugs and alcohol a lot of times and end up out on the street," Phyllis Abbott, founder of Sheppard's Hands, told the station. "We want to make this a place where women come in and, they've been on the street, and all the sudden they're home and they're going to be loved on."
Women who move into the house will be able to live there for as long as a year, the report said. During that time, they will get access to support groups, counseling, job training, and so on, as part of an effort to get them on their feet again and move toward independent, healthy living once again.
The more that veterans in need to reach out to organizations such as these, which aim to provide a hand up to former servicemembers regardless of their situations, the better off they're likely to be going forward.
A streamlined veterans benefits appeals process, expanded access to private care programs and a simplified website are all now officially the goals of the Department of Veterans Affairs within the next 11 months, as stated by VA Secretary Bob McDonald at a Senate hearing on Thursday, Jan. 21.
According to the Military Times, McDonald announced his agency's 2016 ambitions at a hearing that he requested so as to inform the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee of how the corporate-inspired reforms of the VA are progressing after their launch more than one year ago.
"Our goal is to be the No. 1 customer service agency in government," McDonald told the committee. "We know we have a lot to do to get there."
So far, many of the moves made by McDonald have been internal and therefore out of the public eye, with little tangible effect on veterans themselves. The secretary has promised that pending changes will amount to significant improvements in how the VA interacts with and cares for veterans.
Doubt remains, however, as the VA seems to take two steps back for every one step forward. The first-time claims backlog, for example, has fallen by more than 400,000 cases in the last few years, but pending benefits appeals cases have grown by 400,000 in the same time period.
Controversies over ineptitude and even corruption within the VA led Congress members on Thursday to question whether or not enough high-level employees had been demoted amidst scandals, The Associated Press reported. McDonald's response was swift.
"You can't fire your way to excellence," he said.
Instead of casting blame, the secretary pointed to the availability of health care options his department aims to offer in the coming months.
"Our objective is that by the end of 2016, a veteran can go wherever they want (for health care) and it will be paid for," McDonald said, according to the Military Times.
Some lawmakers remained skeptical, but McDonald hopes to prove them wrong.