Veterans Support

LVMAC Tidbits — Older Vets Retraining Assistance Update

“VOW to Hire Heroes” Act’s Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) About to Begin Accepting Applications

This is an update to the 28 March article.  Short story is:

  1. Applications will accepted starting 15 May but the application form is still unknown;
  2. High demand occupations the program will support are now specified;
  3. One can now sign up to receive personalized email notifications to keep abreast;
  4. Competition can expected to be heavy considering the number of slots available and the state of the economy — get up early and get there first.

And here is the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say: (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbits — DAV Van Driver Wanted

Wilkes-Barre VA Volunteer Transportation System Seeks Bangor Clinic Driver

The Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council needs the help of the community in finding volunteer drivers for the Northampton County (Bangor) Department of Veterans (VA) Affairs Outpatient Clinic.  The use of this free transportation service, manned by volunteers, for medical appointments at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center is important to the care of veterans in the upper Northampton County area.

Leonard Croop, the Hospital Service Coordinator for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) at Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, is seeking at least one driver to continue the van service begun in 2007.  Otherwise, the service must cease. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbits — Older Vets Retraining Assistance

VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 Creates New Benefit for Older, Unemployed Veterans

We have reported previously on the VOW  …. Act.  Included in this new law is the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) for unemployed Veterans.  It applies to older, unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DoL) are working together to roll out this new program on July 1, 2012. The new program will provide retraining for Veterans hardest hit by current economic conditions.  There are a limited number of slots available. Go to the VA’s VRAP website  found in their GI Bill website for details. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidibits — Fly Fishing Event

Register for the Latest Lehigh Valley PHWFFI Event Trout Unlimited Hokendauqua and its partner, LVMAC, are again sponsoring a Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing Outing.  It is scheduled for May 5th 2012 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bob Saks’ Pond (a private pond).  Donuts and coffee, full picnic Read more…

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbits — PTSD Help for Families

Veterans and Families’ Guide to Recovering from PTSD is Now Available

We thank the author, Stephanie Laite Lanham, PMH-NP, for granting us permission to publish the 6th edition of this booklet. “The Guide”, as it has come to be called by many, was very well received when nationally distributed for several years by the Military Order of Purple Heart (MOPH) to the Vet Centers in all 50 states. The Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council (LVMAC) believes it has found a new life for the Veterans and Families’ Guide for Recovering from PTSD.  It has been in the process of distributing it over the last two months. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbits

Employers Now Can Now Receive Expanded Tax Credits for Hiring Veterans

On 21 November, the President signed new legislation, a portion of which continued and expanded tax breaks to employers who hire veterans.  H.R. 674 became Public Law 112-56 and Title II within it, the section which applies to veterans, is known as the “VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011.”

While the bill directs certain federal departments to reform or improve veterans retraining and placement,  includes improvements to  Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and directs improvements in the somewhat infamous Transition Assistance Program (TAP) — among  other items of interest  — what seems to be grabbing the attention has been a small section on new tax credits found under “Other Matters.” (more…)

By LVMAC, ago

LVMAC Tidbits

First Generation Gets It Right

First Generation Visual Communication in Allentown “gets it.”  While it is important to support our troops when deployed, it is also important to support them as veterans when they return home and are most likely to be forgotten.  First Generation realizes it takes the  “whole village” to do this.  Not only must federal, state and county governments do their part on our behalf, but in times of war our community must make a special effort to ensure those local nonprofits effectively helping the local military veteran community are supported as well.  One cannot afford the opinion of one former state legislator who stated helping veterans is the federal government’s responsibility alone. (more…)

By LVMAC, ago