Probably for the first time in its history, the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center is about to conduct a Town Hall in the Lehigh Valley. You know something has got to be behind this. Read on. (more…)
The Eastern Pennsylvania (aka Philadelphia) District of the Small Business Administration seems to be improving its veterans outreach into the Lehigh Valley and nearby these days. Late last year they did something with CACLV, an odd acquaintance. Hopefully, we will continue to see more of the types of efforts shown below. It has been said 40 percent of all military servicemembers upon discharge wish to start their own businesses (or work for themselves). The statistic is questionable, but there are certainly enough veterans in this third largest metropolitan statistical area of the commonwealth with the aptitude, perseverance and seriousness required to start their own business, if they only knew how. (more…)
The vast majority of veterans — more than 80% by estimate — in the Lehigh Valley do not use the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system, either because they are not eligible or have never applied. Instead, like the good citizens they are, they mostly rely on private insurance, Medicare Read more…
Veterans Sanctuary is dead, killed off by a lack of government-private sector cooperation, but Treatment Trends, Inc. persists in seeking ways to assist those veterans with profound drug and alcohol programs find a better life. Now it is seeking a Veterans Treatment Case Manager to aid veterans who are receiving addiction treatment in Keenan House and the Halfway Home of the Lehigh Valley in an effort to help them access community health, veterans support services, social and VA services. This part of a “veterans track” effort within the organization and has been recognized by the Office of Veterans Affairs, Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs with grant funding. (more…)
Just announced on 17 March 2015 and effective as of 2015, the VA has eliminated the use of net worth as a determining factor for both health care programs and copayment responsibilities. The intention is to make the program more accessible to low-income veterans. The VA estimates this may affect only 190,000 Veterans over a five year period, but VA estimates can be wrong. (more…)
One of the smaller, gold-nugget programs we help fund as part of our effort to assist veterans is Lehigh Conferences of Church’s Permanent Employment Program (PEP) because its vision entails assisting “chronically unemployed individuals to search for, and obtain, meaningful employment by providing barrier assessment, education, case management, and subsidized work experiences in the Lehigh Valley” – in other words, a holistic, work-oriented approach. In so doing, it can take a veteran who was once unemployed to a state of self-sufficiency through meaningful, permanent employment which does not have to be subsidized. (more…)
Frankly, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania seems poor in distributing word or notifying of grant opportunities in the veterans arena. As a consequence, this grant opportunity has been extended beyond its original 13 or 14 February deadline. So, we are taking the unusual step of trying to spread the word, since they have only extended the deadline to 27 February.
An extension has been given to the following grant:
The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) is announcing the availability of up to $750,000 in competitive grants from funds appropriated for Veterans outreach and shall be used for programs providing treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and co-occurring disorders such as substance abuse for Veterans. (more…)
The first Lehigh Valley indoor Stand Down will be conducted by VALOR Clinic Foundation on 28 February between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the El Shaddai Bethlehem Ministries, 529 East Broad Street, Bethlehem, PA. ### As of 8 February 2015
Although we in the Lehigh Valley do not consider ourselves part of Greater Philadelphia, many of us seek employment wherever we can find it — finding good jobs is always an issue. Recently Veterans Recruiting (an organization that had worked with USAA in the past using its virtual job fair technology) has teamed up the with Greater Philadelphia Veterans Network and MedVeteran in an effort to help at least 2,015 veterans find meaningful jobs in 2015. The effort is called the Philly Veterans 2015 Challenge. (more…)
As reported last week (14 January) Mini-Stand Downs are becoming increasingly popular in the Lehigh Valley as a means of finding and assisting the homeless. Various social work agencies, contracting with and responsible to the Department of Veterans Affairs in assisting in eliminating veterans homelessness, are beginning to work together Read more…