This one is worth the bother to check out, if you are a local program, big or small, with a homeless veterans initiative. Only problem for you may be the suspense for application: April 20. Sooooo … act fast! (more…)
At the 18 January Council Meeting, Vice President Michael Vath announced the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation had recently awarded our organization a Community Partnership Grant of $5,000 towards its efforts to assist in eliminating homelessness among our Lehigh Valley veterans. The Foundation, an important and respected part of the warp and woof of this community’s fabric, whose origin lies 1967 with Bethlehem’s 225th anniversary celebration and the donations of school children and steelworkers among others, promotes philanthropy in order to improve the quality of life in our region, encourage collaboration among area philanthropists, and to serve as a source of information and expertise regarding charitable giving.
The funds will be used by the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Action Committee (LVHVAC), an LVMAC coalition whose membership consists of the leading organizations which address the plight of homeless veterans in Lehigh and Northampton counties and are willing to combine their efforts with those of the local Allentown VA Outpatient Clinic’s homeless team, whether or not they are VA contractors. The committee was formed out of the belief that in order to be successful, outreach, assistance and recovery efforts required more integration and the use of a continuum of care approach in the Lehigh Valley. There was also a need for a forum where these organizations could sometimes problem-solve together with the local VA. (more…)
Recently we learned the Lehigh Valley Regional Homeless Advisory Board (LVRHAB) is conducting a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) homeless point-in-time survey the evening of 24 January extending through 25 January.
HUD is the government agency overseeing home mortgage lending practices and is centrally involved in solving the issue of homelessness by the nature of its purpose. Every year it conducts a Point in Time (PIT) Count of the un-housed on the predicted coldest day of the year. The count involves seeking out those who are unsheltered and those in emergency shelters or transitional shelters — that is, homeless households. The numbers obtained are important to HUD’s reporting of its accomplishments and to their funding practices. But as its name may imply, its tendency is to focus geographically on urban areas. (more…)
Ignore the bilingual preference requirement. Veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces still speak English (or at least American English). If you have the other skills, are level-headed and are interested, consider applying. See details below: (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…)
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
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…
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 in a more integrated fashion. It’s about time.
The Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living is lead agency for the 24 January event in Allentown. (more…)
It’s official the VALOR Clinic Foundation’s Mini-Stand Down for those who are homeless will be conducted on 13 December under the Fahy Bridge on Sand Island in Bethlehem, according to Bob Rapp, Jr., the local coordinator for the organization. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. To Read more…
Operation Homefront through its Homes on the Homefront program wants to help military veterans and their families realize their own American dreams. It continues to receive donated homes to award to deserving military families around the country through partners like Chase, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Meritage Homes. The homes are renovated to “move in ready” standards and ultimately deeded over subject to certain conditions being met.
A home in Easton has just become available for a deserving and eligible military veteran family. Those interested must apply by 8 November, currently. (more…)