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Archive for the ‘Vet Groups & Networking’ Category
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues its service to our veterans around the D.C. area with a career fair and expo targeted at connecting veterans to employment opportunities at several federal and private agencies.
The Veteran Career Fair and Expo will be held at the Washington D.C. Convention Center on Wednesday, January 18 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. This event offers veterans with proof of military service the opportunity to meet with recruiters and participate in workshops.
Participating employers include the following:
- The Department of Defense;
- National Cemetery Administration;
- Veterans Benefits Administration;
- Veterans Health Administration; and
- many other federal agencies and private sector employers.
The event is open to all veterans but mainly targets those in the D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia areas, as many of the employers are located in these states. Aside from job recruitment there will be workshops on resume building, interviewing skills, education opportunities, and benefits for veteran health care and education.
The VA offers many programs and resources to support all veterans, especially disabled veterans. Many national and local veterans’ advocacy groups also exist to provide more local resources to those who have served our country and need the proper care to adjust back into civilian life.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veteran’s disability rights firm today – 1-888-234-5758.
Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Benefits, veterans assistance, Veterans Employment, Veterans' Resources
Posted in General, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Benefits, Veterans' Events, Veterans' Resources | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 21st, 2011
A recent report from the Huffington Post states that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plans on spending $100 million to prevent homelessness among U.S. veterans. More specifically, the VA is granting the money to local and community organizations that can help veterans stop from becoming homeless in the first place.
Local and community organizations will be able to apply for a share of the $100 million so they can get involved and help U.S. veterans before they lose their home. The VA believes prevention is the key to eliminating homelessness among veterans. It’s much easier, and takes less effort, to prevent veterans from becoming homeless than it does to establish housing once the homelessness has occurred.
VA Sec. Eric Shinseki hopes to help 35,000 veterans and their families with this grant program. The grant money will be used to offer the necessary services to prevent homelessness, such as education, counseling, and training.
There are over 100,000 homeless veterans, and the VA has already stated that by 2015 they plan on lowering that number to zero. Veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will need help on many levels from many different organizations. While some needs may be much more severe than others, no veteran should return to this country and not have a roof over his or her head.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today – 1-888-234-5758.
Tags: Department of Veterans Affairs, homeless veterans, U.S. veterans, Veterans disability, veterans prevention programs
Posted in Disabled Veterans, General, Iraq-Afghanistan War, VA News, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Disability, Veterans' Resources | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
According to an article NJ.com, Leonard McQuown is walking across the county to “spread awareness” about the large number of veterans with disabilities as well as those veterans unable to find employment. He has hopes at the end of his journey he will form a non-profit, the Veterans Miracle Network, to provide help to any veteran in need.
McQuown has taken the first steps in what will amount to a 15,000 mile journey, which he will complete on foot to raise awareness for disabled veterans. His first stop was ground zero where the mother of a fallen soldier gave McQuown her son’s dog tags to wear along his journey and he recently walked through the state of New Jersey. He plans to head south to complete the 48 more states he has left, so as to avoid the oncoming weather.
Over the next 5 years McQuown will visit every capital in the continental United States. So far, he has been taking shelter at firehouses along the way, where he has been provided meals and companionship.
Upon leaving his military service, McQuown moved around the country and worked various jobs in multiple states. He was always in search of solid employment and stability. Being from a military family, however, it just isn’t in him to stay in one place for too long.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today – 1-888-234-5758.
Tags: Veterans disability, Veterans Employment, Veterans Groups
Posted in Disabled Veterans, General, Vet Groups & Networking | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
According to an article in ABC2News, many U.S. veterans are finding a new healing process through guitar music.
Guitar For Vets is a program focused on helping veterans with disabilities and depleted spirits. It is one of the newest alternative therapy programs for veterans who feel they have nothing more to live for and are having a hard time battling their depressing emotions. Guitar For Vets uses music to put across the message that healing is possible.
Over 1200 veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers have been reached by the nationwide program. Music allows people to connect, which is why it is such a useful tool in therapy. It is also trans-generational, so regardless of factors such as age, gender, or economic status, it is something with which everyone can identify on some level.
For many participants in the alternative therapy program, guitars allow them to release many inner feelings, demons, and otherwise unspeakable emotions. Participants find playing their guitars through the rough times in their lives helps them survive, and prevents them from using other methods of handling those raw emotions, such as possibly drug and alcohol abuse.
The program also allows participants to build their self-esteem while giving them something to focus on aside from their problems. Shifting that focus is what is so inherently vital to many veterans’ recoveries.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today – 1-888-234-5758.
Tags: Alternative Therapy, Guitars For Vets, U.S. veterans
Posted in General, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Resources | No Comments »
Monday, April 4th, 2011
All 34 chapters of the Paralyzed Veterans of America are celebrating the 65th Anniversary of its founding this April. Their focus is to promote the empowerment of paralyzed veterans. Mission: ABLE is a newly launched campaign seeking to recruit Americans to help disabled veterans and their families get the resources they need to live as independently as possible.
To help reach that goal, Mission: ABLE aims to help paralyzed veterans receive:
- Various levels of care;
- Benefits; and
- Gainful employment.
Everyone in the community can help paralyzed veterans in some way, whether it is a local business owner who can hire a veteran with a disability or even just saying thank you to a disabled veteran just coming back from Afghanistan or Iraq. With the ultimate goal being to help better the lives of disabled and paralyzed veterans, everyone can do something.
Across the country Paralyzed Veterans of America will host various events to raise awareness and support. Specifically, these events will seek to raise consciousness and understanding of the difficulties veterans with spinal cord injuries and disease face in their day-to-day lives. Paralyzed veterans have an unemployment rate of 85%, so anything that can be done to help them find solid employment is welcomed.
Paralyzed Veterans of America does more than invest in research looking for treatments and cures for paralysis. They also focus on easing accessibility for paralyzed veterans as well as sponsoring wheelchair sports and making available other recreational activities. They offer a plethora of services to paralyzed veterans as well as their families free of cost. None of this would be possible, however, without the public’s support.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Mission: ABLE, Paralyzed Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans disability
Posted in Disabled Veterans, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Disability, Veterans' Resources | No Comments »
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
Disabled veterans will descend upon San Diego, California from September 19-25th, 2010. They will be there to take part in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic. The clinic is very unique and specific in that it focuses on teaching veterans who have been recently injured how to take part in adaptive sports.
The sports involved in the clinic will include:
- Track and field;
- Sailing;
- Kayaking;
- Surfing; and
- Cycling.
VA Secretary Eric Shinseki praised the summer sports clinic as well as the profound and “life-changing” effects it has on the veterans. The range of adaptive sports offered through the summer clinic helps the disabled veterans “rediscover their capabilities” according to VA Sec. Eric Shinseki. Participants from previous years celebrate the lifetime friendships and solid bonds they develop with the other participants.
The clinic will be hosted by the VA San Diego health care system, as it has been every year since its inception in 2008. Some of the events will take place at the US Olympic Training Center in San Diego. Any military veteran eligible for VA medical care and has been injured in the last 6 years or has one of the following may participate:
- Spinal cord injuries;
- Visual impairment;
- Certain neurological conditions;
- Psychological trauma;
- Burn injuries;
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs); or
- Orthopedic amputations.
Participation in events like these are critical for recently injured veterans’ mental health. Being shown they can still participate in events like these helps veterans physically, mentally, and emotionally as they learn new skills and make lifelong friendships.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Adaptive Sports, Disabled Veterans, Summer Sports Clinic, TBI, veteran activities
Posted in Disabled Veterans, VA News, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Events, Veterans' Resources | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 25th, 2010
The National Veterans Training, Exposure, and Experience (TEE) tournament is being held in Riverside, Iowa, from September 6-9, 2010. Participants will learn, among other things, about golfing with disabilities and the golf tournaments will be held at the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort and 4 other area golf courses.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Iowa City VA Medical Center sponsor the TEE tournament, which is in its 17th year. Visually impaired veterans as well as those suffering from other disabilities will build their self-esteem and develop skills by playing:
- Adaptive golf;
- Bowling;
- Kayaking;
- Horseshoes; and
- other activities.
The TEE tournament was originally only designed for those veterans suffering from visual disabilities or who were blind. In 2009, the tournament opened participation to veterans with other debilitating conditions such as:
- Amputations;
- Spinal cord injuries; and
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs).
The TEE Tournament started as a local event, but in 2008 stepped up to become only 1 of 6 of the VA’s national rehabilitation programs. The TEE tournament had 36 participating veterans its first year and already has 200 signed up for this year’s tournament. Any veteran who is currently under care of a VA medical facility is eligible to participate and veterans ranging from WWII to the current two wars will be represented.
Every participating veteran in this tournament proves having a disability does not mean it is impossible to live an active life. That the number of participating veterans grows every year shows there are more veterans with disabilities refusing to be held back by their various conditions.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Disabled Veterans, Iowa City VA Medical Center, TBIs, TEE Tournament, VA health care
Posted in Disabled Veterans, VA News, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Events | No Comments »
Monday, May 17th, 2010
Nobody knows how to help veterans better than other veterans. There is no refuting the horrors of wars and the possible terror veterans are subjected to during their time of service. For many, though, returning to civilian life can be a much more difficult road to travel.
Vets Helping Vets is a non-profit outreach program headquartered in Ocala, Florida. Hank Whittier is the Executive Director and is noticing disturbing new trends in veterans needing help. Besides the increasing number of veterans requesting help, Whittier has noticed many initial requests start with help finding employment and quickly degenerate into needing help with food and rent. The economy seems to be just as crippling as transitioning back into civilian life.
Whittier is also seeing many more requests for mental health help. The requests, though, are just as likely to come from families as from the veterans themselves. Some veterans are simply not aware of available benefits, and others cannot handle filing all the necessary paperwork. For some veterans already receiving benefits, they need transportation.
Vets Helping Vets has existed since 1997. Volunteers perform all the work and the organization relies on food and monetary donations for their success. Some of the ways Vets Helping Vets assist those in need include:
- Employment referrals;
- Benefits information;
- Transportation for VA medical care;
- Food pantries; and
- Financial assistance.
While Vets Helping Vets does provide some direct help, they focus on matching veterans in need with the most suitable service agency for their circumstances.
Learn more about how Vets Helping Vets make sure veterans in need are given the help they rightly deserve.
If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, contact LaVan & Neidenberg. You may be entitled to certain programs and benefits so contact our veterans disability rights firm today.
Tags: Veteran groups, veterans assistance, veterans helping veterans
Posted in Disabled Veterans, General, Vet Groups & Networking, Veterans' Resources | No Comments »
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
The Veterans of the Vietnam War, Inc. (VVnW) was founded in 1978 and formally recognized by the VA as a Veterans Service Organization in 1995. Though the group initially was created to serve Vietnam Veterans who were not initially welcomed by many veterans organizations (according to the VVnW’s site), the VVnW is open to veterans of all braches and eras.
The VVnW coordinates a number of unique programs for veterans. Their “United Veterans Beacon House Project” provides transitional housing to homeless veterans discharged from VA hospitals. Veterans participate from 6 months to two years and complete rehabilitation and reintegration through the program.
The Veterans in Conflict with the Law program serves veterans who are incarcerated with the process of reintegrating into society. According to the VVnW, over 300,000 veterans will be released from prison in the next few years.
The VVnW also lobbies on behalf of veterans, coordinates military support package drives, and educates grade school and high school students about the Vietnam war.
Read more about the organization and how you can donate to it.
Posted in Vet Groups & Networking | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 to assist veterans who served during a wartime period. The Legion is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, but maintains offices in Washington DC. There are currently 3 million members in more than 14,000 American Legion posts worldwide.
Veterans can get involved in the American Legion at the local level via different departments that organize events.
You are eligible to join the American Legion if you served during one of the time periods below:
April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918 (World War I)
December 7, 1941 to December 31, 1946 (World War II)
June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955 (Korean War)
February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975 (Vietnam War)
August 24, 1982 to July 31, 1984 (Lebanon/Grenada)
December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990 (Panama)
August 2, 1990 to today (Gulf War/War On Terrorism)
It costs $25.00 to join the American Legion. To learn more about the organization, visit the American Legion website.
Tags: American Legion, american legion website, veterans
Posted in Vet Groups & Networking | 1 Comment »
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