If the national effort to render veteran homelessness extinct is going to continue to see success, homeless veterans need a place to call their own in the long term. A nonprofit group has its sights set on a vacant nursing home in Wilmington, Delaware for just that purpose.
According to The Wilmington News Journal, the Delaware Center for Homeless Veterans has already set plans in motion to purchase the former Layton Home, a 48,000-square-foot facility that will be the first in Delaware to provide permanent, subsidized housing exclusively to veterans.
"We think it is going to be something great for Wilmington," David Mosley, founder of the center and a veteran himself, told The Journal. "We are not worried about filling it. We already have a waiting list of veterans that are precariously housed."
Delmarva Public Radio reported that when the center began in November 2011, it had only nine beds in a small building in the city. Today, it has a five-year contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs to offer 10 homeless veterans emergency transition housing for up to 90 days. An additional eight veterans are supported through other means, The Journal noted.
DCHV's scale will obviously expand with the purchase of the new building. Once it's been renovated, the facility will feature 51 apartments, 10 offices spaces available to community organizations and a number of conference rooms. Mosley told The Journal that he would likely name the home the Pearl, after his mother.
Veterans living in the facility will have constant access to the VA for veterans benefits and case management.
"When you are going through boot camp and being in the military, you develop a camaraderie," said Mosley. "That is lost when you leave, but when you come to a housing facility like ours with other veterans, you develop that camaraderie again…We believe that is the missing piece for veterans that have gone through the experience of homelessness staying housed."
There were hundreds of veterans filling the American Legion hall in Jacksonville, North Carolina on Tuesday for the Sixth Annual Veterans Stand Down event. Though statistics would suggest there are less than 10 known homeless veterans in Onslow County, events like these say otherwise.
According to 9 WNCT, a local news station, the Veterans Stand Down provided an opportunity for homeless veterans and non-veterans alike to to find food, clothing and possible employment centrally located in one place.
Joseph Ramsey, a Marine veteran, was one of the homeless in attendance. After being deployed to the Middle East, Ramsey returned to post-traumatic stress disorder and other domestic trouble. He began to use drugs, which further disrupted his life after service. Despite his lifestyle, Ramsey tries to retain a sense of normalcy for his family, and events like this one help. His primary objectives on Tuesday were to find a job and resources to support his family.
"That's why we're here, trying to get some help you know, and I know we're going to get some good help here this year," he said.
With each new year, the number of homeless attending Veterans Stand Down has grown. But so too has the number of organizations there to provide help. WITN reported that 40 agencies set up tables at the most recent event.
"Anybody can come in and get a haircut, if they need to take a bath they can go next door and take a bath. We have shoes. We have hygiene goody bags if they're homeless, actually sleeping outside we have tents, we have sleeping bags," Kelley Hamilton, a disabled veterans outreach specialist, told 9 WNCT.
Some of the agencies in attendance were there to assist veterans with other types of issues, like mental illness, PTSD and addiction.
Veterans are discharged from the armed services with some of best training imaginable, but when it comes to securing high-level civilian employment, sometimes just a bit more schooling can make a world of difference.
Korn Ferry and Harris Corp., two tech and manpower giants, are joining to offer a free Leveraging Military Leadership Program for both active duty servicemembers and veterans who have recently transitioned into their life after service, the Military Times reported.
This is the same leadership training given to the CEOs and senior executives of Korn Ferry. Veterans participating in the program will be led through three months of coaching, instruction, lectures, assessments and group exercises. Sounds a bit like basic training.
Now entering its fourth year, the program has assisted more than 250 servicemembers of all military branches. Retired Army Col. Robert Fagan called it a monumental experience.
"Most military transition courses start with the action plan in mind, such as resumes, networking and LinkedIn profiles," said Fagan in a news release. "This program takes you through the journey to self-exploration and self-awareness that allows you to develop a vision and a strategy, thereby making your transition more purposeful, meaningful and focused."
Leadership programs like that on offer from Korn Ferry and Harris Corp. are part of a country-wide effort to recruit veterans for civilian jobs. The Columbus Dispatch reported that overall unemployment for veterans over 18 years old is at 4.3 percent, well below the national average.
Companies like Prudential, which has had a veterans hiring office since 2010, have played a big part in providing employment opportunities to veterans and their families.
"Veterans bring significant value to the workforce, including practiced leadership skills, discipline, the ability to perform in stressful situations and a solid work ethic," said Chuck Sevola, a former Army officer and current head of Prudential's Office of Veterans Initiatives.
"We recognize the sacrifices made every day by these men and women," said Sevola, "and believe their experience and leadership can only make our company stronger."
An understanding of military culture is essential for health care systems and providers to effectively care for veterans and their families, a new University at Buffalo study found.
According to the UB Reporter, the university's official newspaper, the study – first published in the journal Military Behavioral Health – suggested that both health and mental health care providers should be given training that would provide them with a basic understanding of military values and belief systems. Just as important, this training would shed light on how veterans personally transition into their life after service.
The University at Buffalo's study is one of the very first to discuss how health care professionals must address the unique challenges facing military families, from deployment difficulties to those obstacles faced after a discharge, when veterans must look for civilian employment.
"The military is a unique institution, with its own structure, terminology, and culture, and military service is often a profound experience that changes the servicemember's identity, and his/her assumptions and expectations about the world," Lisa Butler, an associate professor in the university's School of Social Work and an author of the paper, told HealthCareBusiness News.
"All these factors can present challenges to providers and systems of care if they don't ask about a military service history and don't know how to incorporate that information into the care they provide," Butler continued.
Four different focus groups – two male veterans groups, one female group and one group of military family members – were asked by researchers to explain their health care experiences in depth, with particular emphasis given to those areas perceived to be lacking.
"Just as you want to be culturally competent working with any population, with veterans it is particularly important because they may shut you out if they suspect a lack of understanding. They'll walk away," Butler told the UB Reporter. "Providers who bring military/veteran cultural competence to their interactions with veterans have the potential to enhance outcomes and increase quality of care."
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.
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.
Sometimes small gestures can make big impacts. That's just what Maine's State and Local Government Committee had in mind on Wednesday when they unanimously supported a bill that would, from now on, establish Nov. 1 as Veterans in the Arts and Humanities Day.
According to the Maine Sun Journal, the legislative committee was totally united on the bill, which moved from a public hearing to a work session vote in less than a half hour. If it is approved by the full Legislature, Maine will become the first state to officially designate a day to recognizing and supporting veteran artists.
Rep. Bob Duchesne, who sponsored the bill, didn't have to work hard to convince his fellow lawmakers that many times veterans find exploring different art forms therapeutic, making the transition into their life after service just a little bit easier. Duchesne pointed to the high suicide rate among returning veterans as evidence that something had to be done immediately.
"Bubbling under the surface is a whole range of psychological and social challenges that await our returning veterans," Duchesne told his colleagues, according to the Sun Journal. "As a nation, we've been rather slow to recognize how difficult reintegration is after the tremendous highs and lows of service and the regimentation of deployment and all that goes with it. Life back home is a whole lot different."
Rather than fall back on pills and counseling as an end-all, be-all treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, Maine legislators would give their veterans opportunities through writing, painting, sculpture or some other medium to find relief.
Ars Bellum Foundation, based in St. Paul, Minnesota, in conjunction with the Adler Graduate School in Richfield, have taken a similar approach, according to the Star Tribune. They have created a clinical art therapy program for Minnesota veterans that is based closely on the one seeing so much success at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
"It's a nonthreatening environment where you can put your hands on it; where you don't have to find a word to express a feeling or emotion," said Matthew Vater, a colonel in the National Guard and Ars Bellum – meaning "arts of war" – Board Member. "It helps to reach a part that might not have been reached traditionally."
Even among the heroes of the Pacific campaign in World War II, the Navajo Code Talkers stand out. With the passing of two of their number, family, friends and the Navajo Nation have taken the opportunity to remember their sacrifice and dedication to their country.
On Tuesday, Ernest Yazhe, 92, passed away in suburban Salt Lake City, The Associated Press reported. Born in Naschitti, New Mexico, Yazhe joined the Marine Corps when he was 19 years old. It wasn't long before he was thrown into pitched battle in Guam and Okinawa with a radio, transmitting messages in Navajo that absolutely stumped the Japanese code breakers.
"The Navajo language was the secret weapon that brought victory to the Allied Forces and ended the war in the Pacific," said Jonathan Nez, vice president of the Navajo Nation.
While in the field, Yazhe overheard Japanese soldiers talking about his language. They were frustrated and upset that, despite their best efforts, they could not understand him or his comrades.
Originally just a small group of less than 30, the Code Talkers eventually grew to number at least 440. Yazhe's older brother Harrison, who died in 2004, was also a Code Talker, and he had a younger brother who was killed in action in Italy in 1944. Fewer than 20 Code Talkers are still alive.
The passing of Alfred James Peaches last Saturday, announced by tribal officials on Wednesday, makes that figure even smaller. Peaches, born in Shonto, Arizona, served as a Code Talker in the 6th Marine Division from 1943 to 1946, according to a separate article by The Associated Press.
Ninety at the time of his death, Peaches is survived by his wife, four children and five grandchildren.
Flags across Navajo Nation will be flown at half-staff in remembrance of the men.
Issues important to Iowa veterans – like housing, healthcare and other military benefits – were the center of attention for the annual Veterans Day at the Capital in Des Moines on Wednesday. State lawmakers were joined by 20 organizations that set up shop in the rotunda to inform veterans about the many services on offer.
Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds gave a progress report on the state's Home Base Iowa program, an initiative that pairs veterans with careers that utilize their skills and experience, 13 WHO, the local news station, reported. Since 2013, Home Base Iowa has assisted about 1,700 veterans in finding long-term employment. There's still a long way to go if the goal of 7,500 is to be reached, however.
Despite the progress made in the last few years, Ronnie Murray, an Air Force veteran, says it isn't good enough. Murray has taken it upon himself to do something for his fellow veterans by launching the Empowerment Center, a project offering services no hospital or doctor's office can match.
"I don't think we can depend on the hospital for everything," Murray told 13 WHO. "I believe the veterans that have been blessed to navigate their way through the darkness have a responsibility to reach back and help other veterans."
The Empowerment Center will be a one-stop-shop for counseling, support and resources run by veterans for veterans.
Murray's reason for opening the center is a personal one. Entering his life after service proved difficult, and he fought against post-traumatic stress disorder and depression for a number of years. Talking to fellow veterans and heeding their counsel proved the solution. He hopes that the center will alleviate the pressure put on Iowa VA hospitals.
"The veterans who put their life on the line … they need the community to help make them well in any way possible," said Murray.
Current plans call for the center to be open by August.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott recognized 364 Florida veterans – men and women who had served in conflicts from World War II to Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan – with the Governor's Veterans Service Award at the DeLand National Guard Armory on Tuesday. This is the second awards ceremony for servicemembers in January, ABC 7 reported.
"Last week, we recognized National Guard Day at the Florida Capitol to honor the men and women who are currently serving our state and defending freedom around the world," said Scott at the ceremony. "It is exciting today to award more than 360 Florida veterans for their courage and countless sacrifices in defense of our country. We are incredibly grateful for their service and must take every possible opportunity to thank our American heroes."
Local legislators turned out to show their personal gratitude with handshakes and thanks as veterans moved down the reception line. Volusia County councilwoman Deb Denys was among them.
"It was so wonderful," Denys told The Daytona Beach News-Journal. "After two hours shaking hands, I'd cried all my makeup off."
Sgt. Howard Ray Metzger Jr. was one of the veterans honored by the governor, ABC 7 reported. After joining the Army in 1991, Metzger served in Korea and Texas – where he earned two Army Commendation Medals – and later in Afghanistan, from 2004 to 2005, where he received a third commendation medal for assisting in the country's first democratic election.
Mike White was also in attendance. A veteran of two combat tours in Vietnam, where he served as both a helicopter crew chief and a military policeman, White received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star, and four hard-earned Purple Hearts. In his life after service, he entered a career in law enforcement while constantly advocating for his fellow veterans.