Rachel Ray, Dunkin Donuts and Soldiers Angels

On this Saturday, December 1, 2007, Rachael Ray and Dunkin' Donuts will be providing holiday cheer and free transportation for New York City shoppers as part of the launch of the National Card Drive for a non-profit organzation caled Soldiers' Angels. Rachael will be at the New York Waterways Terminal on the Hudson River to greet holiday shoppers. Shoppers can get free samples of Gingerbread Lattes and Hot Chocolate and hop aboard old-fashioned trolleys providing free transportation for NY Waterways Terminal passengers to top shopping destinations in Manhattan. Here's the 411:Rachael will announce a one-ton donation of Dunkin' Donuts coffee to Soldiers' Angels, one of the nation's largest volunteer-based nonprofit military support organizations providing aid and comfort to our nation's deployed soldiers and their families. Rachael Ray will also greet armed services personnel and announce a national holiday card drive with Dunkin' Donuts and Soldiers' Angels. New York City holiday shoppers will be urged to fill out holiday cards that will be sent to service men and women stationed outside the U.S. Shoppers can then hop on the Gingerbread Express, a trolley service offering free rides to top Manhattan shopping destinations.And the timeline of events: Saturday, December 1, 2007 from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PMCoffee presentation and remarks by Rachael Ray to run from approximately 10:30 - 10:40 AMRachael Ray available for comment and photos 10:40 - 11:00 AM

VA Reality TV

“The American Veteran” is Reality TV – VA Style
November 16, 2007
WASHINGTON – Using the latest in video and broadcast technologies, stirring music, creative graphics and solid writing, “The American Veteran” a monthly half-hour news magazine from the Department of Veterans Affairs, tells compelling stories of real-life veterans who have taken advantage of the many and varied benefits and services available to them as a result of their military service. “We are committed to informing veterans and active duty military alike about VA’s many benefits and services and we are very pleased with the quality and reach of “The American Veteran,” said Acting VA Secretary Gordon H. Mansfield. “The feedback and recognition the program has received is a testament to the effort put in by all involved.”
The series is designed to inform active duty members, veterans, their families and their communities about the services and benefits they have earned and to recognize and honor them. VA’s Office of Public Affairs and the VA Learning University/ Employee Education System (VALU/EES) produce the program and broadcast it to VA facilities on the department’s own internal network and around the world on The Pentagon Channel and community cable outlets. Aimed at veterans of all eras, their families and the American Public, VA also tells stories of heroism, sacrifice and relives moments in history with those who lived it reminding veterans of the bond of service they all share. The VA Office of Public Affairs offers the program to local broadcasters and cable outlets and makes it available for viewing on the VA Web site www.va.gov, just click on “public affairs” and then “featured items.”“The American Veteran” schedule on The Pentagon Channel is available at * http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/ * where you can also view the program as it is broadcast. The Pentagon Channel has more than 1 million military viewers and is delivered domestically via DISH, EchoStar, T-Warner and Cox cable systems. (Check for service in your area.)

Helping Vets

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON – A Texas-based group is working to give caregivers of war wounded and military spouses the support they need as they transition from the military community to the civilian sector.“Our goal is to empower achievement, independence, and the assurance of renewed hope,” said Tania Mercurio, an Air Force spouse who serves as executive director of Operation Life Transformed.
In working to help every caregiver or military spouse achieve that goal, the group provides virtual or classroom training and education. The training programs allow better job marketability and retention, Mercurio said. The training focuses on fields that are flexible enough to accommodate the sometimes unpredictable schedule of the target audience. Medical transcription, for example, is 80 percent outsourced, she said. Kimberly Ryusaki Marrerro, another executive director of Operation Life Transformed and a Navy spouse, said these types of positions work well for caregivers or military spouses.“We have a talented, untapped pool of resources that needs temporary work,” she said. “Operation Life Transformed works with the caregiver and corporation to provide temporary placement while the caregiver is supporting the injured at a medical facility.” Being able to find temporary employment while helping a wounded servicemember recover can help ensure the family’s economic stability, Marrero said.
The organization, which has won the Newman’s Own Award for excellence and innovation within the military community, has recently become a supporter of America Supports You. America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad. The credibility the affiliation provides groups like Operation Life Transformed in the military community is priceless, said Colleen Saffron, another executive director of Operation Life Transformed and an Army spouse. She also hopes it will help the group network with complementary organizations.“Operation Life Transformed realizes that no one group can meet all of the needs of all of these families, so it seeks to create partnerships with other organizations in order to create a network of support for our military families during this tumultuous time in our nation’s history,” Saffron said. “When someone comes to us needing help that’s not part of our mission, we (want to be) able to send them to other organizations within our network that can help them.”www.lifetransformed.org

KSL News

Groundbreaking Today for Unique Housing Project
November 19th, 2007 @ 7:51am
(KSL News) Salt Lake County's Housing Authority will break ground today on a groundbreaking project.
The Kelly Benson Apartments will be Utah's first permanent housing dedicated to adults 55 years or older who are homeless.
The $8-million project is one of four facilities expected to be finished by the end of next year.
Combined, the housing will provide more than 450 people with supported, permanent housing.

VA Suicide Hotline

Suicide hotline serves as beacon to veterans
Chris Swingle Staff writer

Calls are flooding the Canandaigua-based suicide prevention hotline created for veterans and their loved ones — at a rate of about 135 calls per day.The national hotline, established by the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center on July 25, fielded 12,322 calls in its first three months, one-fourth from veterans, prompting the center to boost its staffing by a third.

Nearly 200 callers have needed immediate response because they talked of suicide and had a gun or other means nearby, or had already ingested pills, said Janet Kemp, the V.A.'s national suicide prevention coordinator.The Department of Veterans Affairs launched the hotline at a time when national reports revealed troubling deficiencies in care for veterans.

Investigative media reports in February cited substandard care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Then two federal reports, in July and September, criticized both mental and physical health care for veterans and called for sweeping changes. Among other reforms, the Department of Defense was urged to address its acute shortage of mental health clinicians.

The V.A. is the largest provider of mental health care in the nation. More than 9,000 mental health professionals, backed by primary care physicians and other health professionals in every V.A. medical center and outpatient clinic, provide care to about 1 million veterans each year.

About $3 billion will be spent on mental health services this year by the V.A. Officials were not able last week to provide a budget figure for the Canandaigua hotline.When the critical media reports were released, the hotline was already in the works but its heavy use highlights the need for such services.Indeed, at least 283 combat veterans who left the military between the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, and the end of 2005 took their own lives, according to preliminary V.A. research obtained by The Associated Press. The rate is similar to the suicide rate among nonveterans, but that time period doesn't include many veterans who served or are serving in Iraq."A specialized service is a very good thing," said Jim Vanderpool of Rochester, who served in the Army in Korea and is commander of Patchen-Briggs Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 307. "Life's burdens are tough enough for everybody. You add the carnage of war, it affects the individual psyche more."How it worksThe veterans' hotline is an offshoot of the long-standing national suicide hotline and doesn't have a separate phone number. Callers hear a recording inviting veterans or those calling in concern for a veteran to press 1. Those who do are transferred to the call center in Canandaigua, which now employs 35 people.

In addition to the hotline, the V.A. established a follow-up coordinator at each of the 153 V.A. medical centers nationwide to check in with every veteran who calls the suicide hotline and is willing to be contacted. Of the 10 area veterans who've accepted follow-up contact, seven served in Vietnam and three served in Iraq, said Lynn Abaied, a licensed social worker hired by the Canandaigua V.A. to provide those follow-ups in the Rochester-Canandaigua region."All of them are in treatment, either for PTSD — post-traumatic stress disorder — or major depression," said Abaied. Levels of risk for service members who have yet to return home is not yet known, but previous studies have found that combat trauma elevates suicide risk.Post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and problem drinking can double or triple a person's risk, yet the rate of suicide among people with these conditions is still quite low, said Dr. Ira Katz, the V.A.'s deputy chief patient care service officer for mental health.Vietnam veterans were at higher risk for suicide for up to five years after that war, but veterans of the first Gulf War weren't found to be at any different risk for suicide than the public overall, said Kerry L. Knox, an associate professor at the University of Rochester Medical Center who this year became director of suicide research efforts at the Canandaigua V.A.Canandaigua's facility is one of three V.A. centers in the nation designated "centers of excellence" to research veterans' mental health issues and share the findings in an effort to improve care throughout the V.A. system.

Too late for Jeffrey

A hotline and especially the follow-up for veterans are good ideas that should have started years ago, said Kevin Lucey of Belchertown, Mass., who filed suit in July against the Department of Veterans Affairs alleging wrongful death and medical malpractice. Lucey's son, Jeffrey Lucey, who'd enlisted in the Marine Reserves after graduating from high school, committed suicide June 22, 2004, at home, nearly a year after returning from Iraq. He was 23."It was too late for Jeff and it was too late for so many others," said Kevin Lucey, who with his wife, Joyce, spoke in Rochester in September at a screening of The Ground Truth, a documentary about service members' struggles after returning from Iraq. Follow-up care for suicidal veterans is critical, Lucey said Thursday by cell phone from his son's grave site, which he often visits. Jeff at first refused to go to the V.A. because of the stigma of admitting a mental health problem, said Lucey, who is a therapist. But the young veteran finally saw a local therapist who referred him to the V.A. hospital, where Jeff spent three days on suicide watch over Memorial Day weekend 2004. At home, days later, he was despondent but unwilling to return to the hospital, where he'd felt like a prisoner. His mother called the V.A., which told them for the first time of the Veterans Outreach Center in their area. Jeff met with a mental health counselor for three hours and was scheduled to be seen three times a week. On June 21, Jeff was in a rage and suicidal, his father said. They each talked to the veterans center by phone and Jeff calmed down. For the second time in a week, the 5-foot-10, 130-pound Jeff asked to sit on his father's lap, said Lucey. They rocked for 45 minutes. Jeff seemed OK the next day when his father went to work. After work, Lucey found that Jeff had hung himself in the cellar.

'Everybody's business'

Today, if a veteran calls the new suicide hotline in imminent crisis, the hotline workers summon community emergency responders. And training has been instituted for V.A. employees at all levels, including those who deliver trays of food or empty the trash, so workers can recognize signs of suicide and speak up. If someone says he'd be better off dead or that you won't have to worry about him much longer because he won't be around, nobody should ignore that, said Kemp, who's also associate director of education and training for the suicide research center of excellence.People should say, "Are you serious about that? Do you need help?" said Kemp. "People will tell you the answers if you ask the questions.""Suicide is everybody's business," said Kemp. Training materials are going to all V.A. staff and community partners this week.The hotline in Canandaigua is a partnership of the V.A. and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is the federal agency that for years has managed the federal suicide hotline. Special service for veterans as well as the hotline number are supposed to be widely publicized at veterans centers, in publications and online, but still some people don't know the hotline exists."I never heard of it," Eddie Israel, a World War II Air Force veteran, said last week while volunteering at the Veterans Outreach Center's computer resource center in Rochester. He gets care through the V.A. and doesn't remember seeing or hearing anything there, either. Patty Gilg of York, Livingston County, said her son, Kyle, seems to be doing well since returning home in August, but his Marine unit suffered many injuries and casualties in Iraq. Gilg roundly approves of the new suicide hotline for veterans."We definitely need to take care of them."

CSWINGLE @ DemocratandChronicle.com ------------------------- Larry Scott --

Yahoo News

By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday.
And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.
The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. 2005 data estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.
In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.
Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.
"We're going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous," said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.
While services to homeless veterans have improved in the past 20 years, advocates say more financial resources still are needed. With the spotlight on the plight of Iraq veterans, they hope more will be done to prevent homelessness and provide affordable housing to the younger veterans while there's a window of opportunity.
"When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it," said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which provides substance abuse help, job training and shelter to veterans.
"I think they'll be forgotten," Keaveney said of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. "People get tired of it. It's not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They'll just be veterans, and that happens after every war."
Keaveney said it's difficult for his group to persuade some homeless Iraq veterans to stay for treatment and help because they don't relate to the older veterans. Those who stayed have had success — one is now a stock broker and another is applying to be a police officer, he said.
"They see guys that are their father's age and they don't understand, they don't know, that in a couple of years they'll be looking like them," he said.
After being discharged from the military, Jason Kelley, 23, of Tomahawk, Wis., who served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, took a bus to Los Angeles looking for better job prospects and a new life.
Kelley said he couldn't find a job because he didn't have an apartment, and he couldn't get an apartment because he didn't have a job. He stayed in a $300-a-week motel until his money ran out, then moved into a shelter run by the group U.S. VETS in Inglewood, Calif. He's since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.
"The only training I have is infantry training and there's not really a need for that in the civilian world," Kelley said in a phone interview. He has enrolled in college and hopes to move out of the shelter soon.
The Iraq vets seeking help with homelessness are more likely to be women, less likely to have substance abuse problems, but more likely to have mental illness — mostly related to post-traumatic stress, said Pete Dougherty, director of homeless veterans programs at the VA.
Overall, 45 percent of participants in the VA's homeless programs have a diagnosable mental illness and more than three out of four have a substance abuse problem, while 35 percent have both, Dougherty said.
Historically, a number of fighters in U.S. wars have become homeless. In the post-Civil War era, homeless veterans sang old Army songs to dramatize their need for work and became known as "tramps," which had meant to march into war, said Todd DePastino, a historian at Penn State University's Beaver campus who wrote a book on the history of homelessness.
After World War I, thousands of veterans — many of them homeless — camped in the nation's capital seeking bonus money. Their camps were destroyed by the government, creating a public relations disaster for President Herbert Hoover.
The end of the Vietnam War coincided with a time of economic restructuring, and many of the same people who fought in Vietnam were also those most affected by the loss of manufacturing jobs, DePastino said.
Their entrance to the streets was traumatic and, as they aged, their problems became more chronic, recalled Sister Mary Scullion, who has worked with the homeless for 30 years and co-founded of the group Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia.
"It takes more to address the needs because they are multiple needs that have been unattended," Scullion said. "Life on the street is brutal and I know many, many homeless veterans who have died from Vietnam."
The VA started targeting homelessness in 1987, 12 years after the fall of Saigon. Today, the VA has, either on its own or through partnerships, more than 15,000 residential rehabilitative, transitional and permanent beds for homeless veterans nationwide. It spends about $265 million annually on homeless-specific programs and about $1.5 billion for all health care costs for homeless veterans.
Because of these types of programs and because two years of free medical care is being offered to all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, Dougherty said they hope many veterans from recent wars who are in need can be identified early.
"Clearly, I don't think that's going to totally solve the problem, but I also don't think we're simply going to wait for 10 years until they show up," Dougherty said. "We're out there now trying to get everybody we can to get those kinds of services today, so we avoid this kind of problem in the future."
In all of 2006, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 495,400 veterans were homeless at some point during the year.
The group recommends that 5,000 housing units be created per year for the next five years dedicated to the chronically homeless that would provide permanent housing linked to veterans' support systems. It also recommends funding an additional 20,000 housing vouchers exclusively for homeless veterans, and creating a program that helps bridge the gap between income and rent.
Following those recommendations would cost billions of dollars, but there is some movement in Congress to increase the amount of money dedicated to homeless veterans programs.
On a recent day in Philadelphia, case managers from Project H.O.M.E. and the VA picked up William Joyce, 60, a homeless Vietnam veteran in a wheelchair who said he'd been sleeping at a bus terminal.
"You're an honorable veteran. You're going to get some services," outreach worker Mark Salvatore told Joyce. "You need to be connected. You don't need to be out here on the streets."
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Associated Press writer Kathy Matheson contributed to this story from Philadelphia.
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On the Net: National Alliance to End Homelessness: http://www.naeh.org/
New Directions: http://www.newdirectionsinc.org/
Project Home: http://www.projecthome.org/
County of Lancaster: http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/
Veterans Affairs Department: http://www.va.gov/
U.S. Vets: http://usvetsinc.org/

Microsoft and USO awards

Microsoft Corp., in collaboration with the United Service Organizations (USO), is proud to announce the winners of the Microsoft Above and Beyond Awards. The awards recognize the contributions of citizens across the country who brighten the lives of U.S. troops throughout the world. "These winners are remarkable examples of how everyday people can do extraordinary things," said Curt Kolcun, Vice President of Microsoft Federal. "Their actions showcase the best of American citizenship, selflessness, and support for our service members and their families - they are true testaments of how to salute our troops."
Chosen through a public online vote, the following winners will be honored for their service in these categories:

Effort Award: Patti Patton-Bader, Pasadena, Calif.
Soon after Patton-Bader began sending care packages to her son in Iraq, she started a group of volunteers to "adopt" soldiers. Since then, the group's 100,000 members have sent tens of thousands of care packages and hundreds of thousands of letters to make sure no soldier is forgotten while serving. Its motto: "May no soldier go unloved."

Medical Attention Award: Walter Fricke, St. Louis Park, Minn. Fricke, a helicopter pilot wounded in the Vietnam War, knows firsthand that family can be the key to a soldier's recovery. One year ago, Walt founded The Veterans Airlift Command, not only volunteering his own aircraft and fuel, but creating a national network of over 500 volunteer aircraft owners and pilots who have joined in the effort to reunite wounded service members with families. The group has already flown over 180,000 miles to help bring wounded troops back together with their loved ones.

USO Promotion and Success Award: Paulette Nelson, Savannah, GA. Before her son's best friend's father was deployed to Iraq, Paulette didn't even know what deployment meant. But after noticing the tearful goodbyes, Paulette decided she wanted to help make a difference. Now she operates the Savannah airport's USO station, and from Hunter Army Airfield she makes sure every soldier gets a warm welcome, and a warm send off, even lending her cell phone so they can make that one last phone call home.

Everyday Difference Award: Todd Schmidt, Burke, Va. While on patrol in Afghanistan, Maj. Schmidt came up with an idea to provide school supplies for local kids. Thanks to him, donors and volunteers have sent hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of textbooks, school supplies and secondhand clothes to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo. Under Schmidt's leadership, Operation Dreamseed has even helped build a school outside Kandahar City by raising more than $80,000 for the cause.

Youth Leadership Award: Brittany and Robbie Bergquist, Norwell, Mass. Just 13 and 12 years old, these siblings heard about a soldier who had run up an $8,000 phone bill calling home. With two cousins deployed overseas, Brittany and Robbie know how important phone calls could be, so they committed themselves to helping soldiers call home. To date, they have raised nearly $1 million and donated over 450,000 phone cards, equaling 2.5 million minutes of talk time.

After announcing the awards in mid-September, Microsoft and the USO received hundreds of nominations, narrowed down the list to finalists in each of the five categories, and facilitated a public online vote to choose the winners. The awards will be presented on Veterans Day (observed), Nov. 12 at a ceremony in New York City's Rainbow Room. "We knew we were on to something special when we first discussed with Microsoft how we could honor those who serve our troops," said Elaine Rogers, President, USO of Metropolitan Washington. "Now, seeing how these winners embody the principles of service and community should inspire each of us towards greater contribution." Kolcun added, "All of our nominees, finalists, and many others out there who support our troops everyday should all be commended for their great work to support our services members and their families. We hope this handful of wonderful examples helps further everyone's efforts and inspires others to get involved."

Heads up for sending cards and packages to VA's

I received this information from my voluntary services chief at the Salt Lake City, UT VAMC. They will RETURN TO SENDER any letter or package that is addressed " any wounded soldier, any hero, any veteran, etc".
My VSC states that she will trust any mail coming from me, the VA leader, or if addressed in her name. So PLEASE when sending packages make sure it is addressed to
Salt Lake City VAMC
Attn: Belinda Karabatsos
500 Foothill Dr.Salt Lake City, UT 84148

Below is the congressional letter regarding this issue.
July 25, 2007
Executive Office Honorable Orrin G. Hatch
ATTN: Travis Gibbons
104 Hart Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Hatch, Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your letter dated July 5, 2007 in which you inquired to the Secretary of Defense regarding your constituent, Mr. Thomas Nay and his concern about wounded soldier mail at Walter Reed.
When we process unsolicited mail, we send an acknowledgment card stating we can no longer accept it and return the mail. We currently have a backlog of unsolicited mail and it may not have been processed yet.
Department of Defense policy prohibits delivery of mail not specifically addressed by name; therefore, we must return mail addressed “Any Wounded Soldier” to its sender. Walter Reed has and continues to receive tens of thousands of cards and letters in support of our Wounded Soldiers and we simply do not have the resources to open and screen each letter before delivering it.
Our focus is providing world class health care to our Wounded Warriors and to continue this program we literally have to direct our medical personnel from this task. For those wishing to show support, we highly recommend going through the many philanthropic organizations dedicated to helping Soldiers and their families, such as “America Supports You” sponsored by the Department of Defense.
Although we obviously have disappointed some supporters, we want to assure you that the staff at Walter Reed does not lack for “energy” and strives to deliver the absolute best care in the world to our patients.
We appreciate your taking the time to write and bring your concern for our Soldiers and their supporters to our attention. If you should have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (202) 782-4868.
Sincerely,
Franklin D. Rowland Jr.Colonel, Medical Service Corps
Director of Information Management