June 2025 Edition of the Forward March Veterans' Newsletter

Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs sent this bulletin at 06/20/2025 02:24 PM EDT

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www.FloridaVets.org

June 2025

Welcome to the June 2025 edition of the Forward March Veterans’ Newsletter. We ‎‎appreciate the 66,000 subscribers who look to us for the latest news ‎impacting our State’s nearly 1.4 million Veterans, their families and survivors.‎ Serving as the premier point of entry for Florida Veterans, the ‎Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs ‎‎operates a ‎‎network of nine State Veterans’ ‎Homes and provides statewide outreach to connect our ‎‎Veterans ‎‎with their earned ‎services, benefits and support.

As you’ll see in our lead article, Governor DeSantis signed key Veteran-related bills from the 2025 Florida Legislative Session during ceremonies earlier this month at our Douglas T. Jacobson State Veterans’ Nursing Home. Most of them take effect July 1, 2025. I commend the Governor and Legislature for their steadfast commitment to the health and wellbeing of our State’s Veterans.

With the end of the legislative session earlier this week, our agency’s annual budget is on the Governor’s desk for review prior to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. We’ll follow up with more on our budget in next month’s edition. I'm confident our agency's budget will be one to be proud of.

We observed Women Veterans Recognition Day in Florida on June 12. I salute FDVA State Women Veterans’ Coordinator Vanessa Thomas and her team for hosting a great two-day series of events in Tallahassee on June 6-7. Similar events were conducted throughout the state to celebrate our State’s more than 168,000 Women Veterans. I appreciate all who supported those efforts.

Summer is the time of conferences and conventions in our State, and last weekend I had the opportunity to speak in Orlando with delegates at the State conferences of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Connecting Veterans with earned benefits and services is a common theme, and these three organizations are among the best at supporting our Veterans and their families. I appreciate their invitations to address their delegations.

I also enjoyed meeting Veterans and their spouses at the Veterans Florida Expo in Tampa earlier this month. Our retiring and separating service members should know Florida goes to great lengths to welcome them to our State. Florida offers unique benefits such as no-cost benefits and disability claims counseling, in-state tuition rates for those using the Post-9/11 GI Bill, a range of property tax exemptions, expanded Veterans’ preference for employment, and extensive licensure and fee waivers for many activities and occupations.

Kudos to Home Administrator Marlies Sarrett and her team at the Baldomero Lopez State Veterans’ Nursing Home for earning the Florida Health Care Association’s Bronze Commitment to Quality Award for 2025. We’re very proud of her accomplishments.

I ask you to honor our State’s more than 44,000 Korean War Veterans on June 25 as we commemorate Korean War Remembrance Day, the 75^th anniversary of the invasion of South Korea by North Korea. One hundred and seven Floridians remain unaccounted for from that war, and we honor and remember their service to our Nation.

If you seek no-cost counseling regarding Veterans’ issues, please contact one of our State Veterans’ Service Officers ‎at (727) ‎‎‎319-‎‎7440 or via email at FDVA.VSO@FDVA.FL.GOV. Our team of Hope Navigators is also hard at work connecting Veterans and their families with information and resources to improve their quality of life. Contact one of our Hope Navigators today at HopeNavigators@fdva.fl.gov or call (833) GET-HOPE.

You can also learn more about Veterans’ issues by following us on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn. A free Mobile App is also available by visiting https://app.floridavets.org.

I’ll close this month’s newsletter by wishing all U.S. Army soldiers, past and present, a very happy 250th birthday. We salute you for your selfless service to our Nation.

I appreciate all Floridians for making the Sunshine State the most Veteran-friendly, appreciated, and sought after State in the Nation. Please share this newsletter with others. We are honored to serve you.

Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Support Florida Veterans and their Families

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis signed three pieces of legislation June 6, aimed at strengthening Florida’s support systems for Veterans and their families. With nearly 1.4 million Veterans calling Florida home, the state continues to deliver for those who have served, and this legislation reaffirms Florida’s status as the most military- and veteran-friendly state in the nation.

Read more

Honors are rendered during opening ceremonies of Florida’s annual Women Veterans’ Conference at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, June 7. Resources for Women Veterans can be found online at https://womenveterans.floridavets.org/. The Sunshine State is home to the second-largest population of Women Veterans in the nation, and are one of the fastest-growing segments of the Veteran population.

FHCA Recognizes State Veterans’ Home for Earning Bronze National Quality Award

The 120-bed Baldomero Lopez State Veterans' Nursing Home in Land O’ Lakes is a recipient of Florida Health Care Association’s Bronze Commitment to Quality Award for 2025. The award, announced May 29, acknowledges efforts to enhance residents' lives through quality care. The Bronze National Quality award is the first of three distinctions possible through the AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program, a comprehensive organizational assessment and recognition program for long-term care providers.

Transitioning service members and state Veteran leaders met June 6-7 in Tampa for the 2025 Veterans Florida Expo. Experts, such as FDVA’s Holly Bernardo and Stacey Smith, left, gathered from all over Florida to assist military members with one-on-one discussions and networking about easing their transition out of the military, accessing earned state and federal benefits, and launching or growing entrepreneurial endeavors.

FDVA State Veterans’ Service Officer Denise Moseley connects Veterans with earned services and benefits during an outreach event in Jacksonville, June 13, as part of Women Veterans’ Recognition Week in Florida. The Sunshine State has the second largest population of Women Veterans in the United States, with more than 168,000 who selflessly served in uniform putting their lives on the line to ensure our Nation remains the land of the free.

FDVA Emergency Manager Steve Murray talks about Veterans' Affairs in Disaster Response at the 2nd Annual Florida's Training for Emergency Management Symposium on June 10, in Orlando. Follow us on social media during active storms for the latest.

To contact a State Veterans’ Service Officer from anywhere in Florida, call (727) 319-7440 or send an email to FDVA.VSO@FDVA.FL.GOV. A reminder that all services provided by the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs are free to the client.

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Operating as the premier point of entry for Florida’s nearly 1.4 million Veterans, FDVA ‎‎operates a ‎‎network of State Veterans’ Homes and ‎provides statewide outreach to connect ‎‎Veterans ‎‎with earned services, benefits ‎and support. ‎Click on the graphic (above) to join our award winning team by visiting bit.ly/48g5lLy.