October 2025
Join MVH at Grand Rapids, veterans, and community for the 'Veterans Day 5' event on Saturday morning, November 8th. The morning has options for a 1/2-mile untimed walk/roll, a timed 5k, or a timed 5-miler, and concludes with a community pancake breakfast generously sponsored by our friends at SpartanNash.
In and out before lunch, it's a great way to celebrate service alongside veterans, and fellow community members. With options to walk, roll, run, volunteer, sponsor, and/or donate, there's something for everyone at the MVH at Grand Rapids Veterans Day 5 event. Check out some of the photos from last year at the event's social media page, here. Join us!
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Please join MVH in welcoming Ms. Carla Wilson-Neil to our Board of Directors! Ms. Wilson-Neil was recently appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Veterans' Facility Authority (MVFA) Board of Directors, the governing and oversight board of Michigan Veteran Homes. Ms. Wilson-Neil, of Hastings, is a Vietnam era veteran of the United States Air Force. She holds a BA from Michigan State University, an MBA from Aquinas College, and is the retired chief operating officer of a Michigan hospital. Serving on the MVFA Board is one of Ms. Wilson-Neil's more recent opportunities in service and leadership, as she also serves as a Board Member on the Barry County Veterans Affairs Committee, the Women's Giving Circle, and generously gives her time and leadership to a number of other community-serving organizations. Welcome aboard, Carla!
The MVFA Board of Directors, created in statute, provides governance and strategic oversight of MVH, and is composed of nine voting members appointed by the Governor and one non-voting member. You can read about the MVFA Board here.
We often talk about the quality of life we're fortunate to offer our veterans at MVH. A primary factor in delivering such high quality of life is the seemingly countless opportunities our veterans have to engage with so many friends and supporters from our communities. MVH at Chesterfield Twp recently held their annual car show that brought in enthusiasts from near and far to share their hot rods, classics, modern sports cars, and other noteworthy automobiles with the veterans of the Home. Our friends at the Michigan National Guard also joined us to show off some military vehicles. It was a day filled with smiles, reminiscing, and enjoyment.
Our veterans stood to serve, in times of peace, and in times of war. Each one of us has benefitted from that service, and we're proud to partner with our communities to ensure our veterans experience the greatest quality of life possible. We're delivering it, together.
Mental Health THRIVE Training hosted at MVH at Grand Rapids
Who: For Veterans, National Guard, First Responders, Family Members, Veteran Service Providers, and Veteran Caregivers. Sponsored by Veteran Navigators, MDHHS, and Face the Fight.
What: No-cost, engaging training to unlock skills that enhance resilience and well-being. Resilience Fundamentals!
When: Tues. Oct. 28, 2025, 9am-4pm
Where: MVH at Grand Rapids, 2950 Monroe Ave NE, Grand Rapids, MI
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As the leaves begin to change here in Michigan, so does the season. Summer closes, and the autumn chapter once again begins. Throughout the years, our Veterans Homes have gone through seasons of change as well, adapting to meet the needs of veterans today and tomorrow, season after season. Almost five years ago, we opened the doors on the new MVH at Grand Rapids: a more than $60M investment in veterans, currently rated as a 5-star facility by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As members and services have transitioned into this new Home, the legacy red-brick Mann and McLeish buildings on our campus have become obsolete, and have aged past their useful life, marking the end of a 'season'. MVH is approaching the next evolution on the MVH at Grand Rapids campus - the next season - with the demolition of these aged buildings soon, in October.
"Seasons change. And to meet the needs and expectations of our veterans, we often need to change as well," said MVH Director of Development, Ryan Engle. It's a little challenging for me, as a veteran, to see buildings like this go - buildings that fulfilled such a special purpose for so many years. But it's time. They're vacant and have been vacant, with significant issues. We've worked with many local nonprofits to repurpose items within the building that are no longer being utilized by MVH and our members. While I have some nostalgia around this change - as surely others do - this marks the next chapter in the long history of serving veterans on this campus. We'll expand greenspace utilization for veterans and their families, and create opportunities for the campus in the years down the road. And, the expectations of excellence in long-term care have changed as well. We're not putting veterans in old hospital-like structures anymore. When veterans need long-term care, they deserve a homelike environment, and that's what we're providing - and will provide for years to come." Demolition is expected to start in October 2025. The somewhat-iconic white canopy is intended to be preserved and repositioned following the demolition.
Many in the baby boomer generation have memories of what nursing homes were like as they grew up. In many cases, they weren't always wonderful. Indeed, nursing homes carry a stigma - a deserved stigma - from decades passed. Today, Michigan Veteran Homes are one of many skilled nursing facilities working to change that stigma, every day and every hour, with every experience of care.
At Michigan Veteran Homes at Chesterfield Twp, for example, you won't find dimly lit hallways and unresponsive staff. When checking in on your veteran loved one, actually, you might not find them at all, because there's a good chance they're out at a Detroit Tigers game, on a trip out for ice cream, gone fishing, an outdoor concert in the park, or otherwise living their best life. At MVH, our team is committed to delivery the exceptional care and quality of life veterans earned, and deserve. We're changing the stigma of nursing home care, one experience at a time.
Want to support our mission and our members? Learn more on our website.
We're proud of the care and experience we deliver at MVH. That said, we're completely aware that we don't - and can't - do it alone. Each of our Homes has amazing and generous volunteers who selflessly give their time to enhance our mission, and impact the lives of our veterans.
In September, both MVH at Grand Rapids and MVH at Chesterfield Twp held their annual Volunteer Appreciation events - dinners with a program to celebrate some of those incredible human beings who go above and beyond for our veterans. We've so many people to thank for their volunteerism, and 'thank you' certainly doesn't do justice for their remarkable generosity. That aside, we were grateful to be able to celebrate some of these incredible humans with this small gesture of appreciation.
We do more at Michigan Veteran Homes, thanks to our generous supporters. We couldn't did without our volunteers. Thank you, volunteers!!
Gathering with community on days like Memorial Day and Veterans Day - and many other days throughout the year - is incredibly important. Indeed, there are many ways to honor the service and sacrifices of those who've worn the uniform, and the plentiful sacrifices they've made. At MVH D.J. Jacobetti, honoring service and sacrifice is in the DNA of the veterans, staff, volunteers, and broader community of supporters of the Jake. September saw the Home's 'Patriot Day Pig Roast' 9/11, as well as the POW/MIA Recognition Day event on 9/19. But honoring service and sacrifice - and those no longer with us - can be more than formal ceremonies, too. It can also be done through living a life worthy of those no longer with us - a life our veteran brothers and sisters would be proud of, and grateful that we're experiencing. We strive to do that day-in, and day-out MVH, and Jacobetti thrives at it, thanks to its robust community of support. For example, September also saw a Community Memorial Service hosted by Lake Superior Life Care & Hospice, a 'Sock Hop' hosted by U.P. Home Health & Hospice, a 'Big Buck$ Bingo' hosted by VFW Post #9023 Brimley, and so much more. It's honoring service and sacrifice through living a life that those no longer with us would be proud of: living a life worthy of such sacrifice.
Does celebrating service and bringing joy and fulfillment to the lives of veterans sound like a career you'd excel in? We're seeking all-stars to join our Jacobetti team as Activities Therapy Aides, bringing life enrichment to the lives of our members. Apply by Oct. 4. Don't wait! Learn more about career at MVH by watching the video below.
Donations to Michigan Veteran Homes are tax-deductible under 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Michigan Veteran Homes are making a difference in the lives of Michigan veterans and their loved ones. Join us.
Want to learn more about participating in the representative democracy our veterans stood to protect? Visit the Michigan Voter Information Center.
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