VetsENews.com is a service of
the Veterans Multi-purpose Center. We publish
monthly articles on the latest in news developments involving
Veterans and the military. If you have any questions or comments,
please contact us at: 866-598-8387
Please join us in the fight to provide
hope. Your partnership truly can make a
difference.
The
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center – a
veteran’s mental health care advocate
and veteran support organization in the
field for more than 20 years – is
pleased to introduce our new Corporate
Sponsorship Program. Corporate Sponsors
are now invited to join our Center in
its continuing mission to develop and
promote programs that touch people, and
save lives.
War-torn Troops Soothed
by Horses’ Spirit
(zootoo.com)
MIAMI -- The science of the
human-animal bond is proving very effective in a
new arena: on the home front of a new war.
Returning veterans are finding help, as well as
healing in therapy that involves a saddle and a
set of reins.
"It feels pretty good. I feel
tall," said U.S. Marine Gene Calonge, who
recently returned from his deployment. Learning
to ride again is strengthening the bodies and
minds of young vets here at the South Florida
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center in Davie, Fla.
The last time Calonge mounted
a horse, was his service with the Marine Corps.
This time around it's Sam, a 4-year-old Arabian,
giving him a much-needed boost.
"It's different bonding with
an animal, you feel like you're not going to be
judged so much about anything so ... you and him
just have a good time,” said Calonge.
News in and around the Veterans Multi-Purpose
Center
July 14th at 7:00 PM there will be a salute to
veterans concert at VFW Post 1966 This is a
special performance by Britt Small (national
recording star and Vietnam veteran) This event
is being sponsored by the Veterans Multi-Purpose
Center. Be sure to come out and say hello to
Britt and enjoy his music.
Also Bob Bambury
and the Veterans Multi-Purpose Center of Central
Florida were invited to attend the Western
Festival of Clermont on the 26th of June 2010 to
demonstrate our Equine Assisted Therapy
Programs.
The Center’s staff also attended the annual
Groveland, FL 4th of July celebration to
distribute flyers regarding our Central Florida
Programs. We met some good people there, the
local American Legion was there on hand and we
talked about visiting the Post to present our
Programs.
New Option for Marking Veterans’ Graves in
Private Cemeteries
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric
Shinseki announced today that the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) is offering bronze
medallions to attach to existing, privately
purchased headstones or markers, signifying a
deceased's status as a Veteran.
"For Veterans
not buried in a national or state Veterans
cemetery, or those without a government grave
marker, VA is pleased to offer this option that
highlights their service and sacrifices for our
country,” said Secretary Shinseki.
The new item can be furnished instead of a
traditional government headstone or marker for
Veterans whose death occurred on or after Nov.
1, 1990, and whose grave in a private cemetery
is marked with a privately purchased headstone
or marker.
Under federal law, eligible Veterans buried
in a private cemetery are entitled to either a
government-furnished grave marker or the new
medallion, but not both. Veterans buried in a
national or state Veterans cemetery will receive
a government headstone or marker of the standard
design authorized at that cemetery.
The medallion is available in three sizes: 5
inches, 3 inches and 1 ˝ inches in width. Each
bronze medallion features the image of a folded
burial flag adorned with laurels and is
inscribed with the word “Veteran” at the top and
the branch of service at the bottom.
Job Corps and VETS Launch Veteran Employment
Project
All Expenses Paid -- Including Housing, Job
Placement and Transition Support. The U.S
Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employment and
Training Administration and the Veterans’
Employment and Training Service have announced a
demonstration project to assist eligible
veterans who have recently left the military in
gaining enhanced skills to compete in the
civilian workplace.
This project will apply
the comprehensive training model of Job Corps –
a no-cost education and vocational training
program administered by DOL – to support the
education and training of 18- to 24-year-old
veterans. The initial project will enable young
veterans to live and train in one of three Job
Corps centers: Atterbury Job Corps Center in
Edinburgh, Indiana; Earle C. Clements Job Corps
Center in Morganfield, Kentucky; and Excelsior
Springs Job Corps Center in Excelsior Springs,
Missouri.
This demonstration project supports the
Secretary of Labor’s goal of “Good Jobs for
Everyone.” It will recruit eligible veterans and
teach them the academic, career, technical and
social skills they need to become employed. This
education and training will be provided to them
through services provided by Job Corps.
Veterans accepted in the demonstration
project will live among non-veterans and other
veterans who are also transitioning from the
military to civilian life. One of the Job Corps
program's key benefits is its post-graduate
support. When veterans are ready to begin
transitioning into their careers, Job Corps
staff will assist them in job searching, resume
drafting and job interviewing skills. Job Corps
will provide graduates with transition services
for up to 21 months after graduation, including
assistance with housing, transportation and
other support services. Upon completion of
training, veterans will be assigned to career
transition counselors to assist them with job
placement or enrollment in higher education.
VA Makes Filing Claims Easier
and Faster for Veterans
Simpler Forms and New Program Reduce Paperwork
and Speed Process
WASHINGTON – As part of Secretary of Veterans
Affairs Eric K. Shinseki’s effort to break the
back of the backlog, the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) is reducing the paperwork and
expediting the process for Veterans seeking
compensation for disabilities related to their
military service.
“These reductions in
paperwork, along with other improvements to
simplify and speed the claims process, symbolize
changes underway to make VA more responsive to
Veterans and their families,” said Secretary
Shinseki.
VA has shortened application forms to reduce
paperwork for Veterans. The new forms, which are
being made available on VA’s Web site at
www.va.gov/vaforms, include:
A shortened VA Form 21-526 for Veterans
applying for the first-time to VA for disability
compensation or pension benefits. This form has
been cut in half – from 23 to 10 pages. It is
immediately available to Veterans via Web
download, and will be available through VA’s
online claim-filing process later this summer at
http://vabenefits.vba.va.gov/vonapp/main.asp
VA Form 21-526b for Veterans seeking
increased benefits for conditions already
determined by VA to be service-connected. This
new form more clearly describes the information
needed to support claims for increased benefits.
