I am so pleased to partner with the 144 Community Veterans Engagement Boards (CVEBs) across the nation, but the truth is that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) would not be successful without the support of the members of our communities.  Without the CVEBs, the local impact to assist our veterans in their neighborhoods, we would not be at the level of excellence that we are experiencing.  As I address many conferences on CVEBs, the obvious benefit is the acknowledgement that the community sees the central focus of the CVEB with many organizations coming together at a local level and supporting the veteran, family, caregivers, and survivors.  The CVEBs are truly a force-multiplier in our community that work with the VA to accomplish the goal of serving the Veteran.  Together, we are increasing the support for Veterans.  Recently, two CVEB networking events brought together leadership in a virtual environment to share best practices and information, with three more coming in July and September.  Equally important, we (the VA) have an opportunity to listen to the challenges voiced from the community and take action to assist.  The networking events have become a huge success and I look forward to continuing this communication practice for years to come.  As we continue to increase the footprint of CVEBs across the United States, I look forward to hearing more successes and a strong relationship that we build with our communities.

Nina Ridgeway, Chair of the Southern Nevada Veterans Community Engagement Board (SNVCEB), was chosen to participate as a member of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Department of Veteran’s Affairs Mayor’s Challenge to prevent suicide amongst service members, Veterans and their families.  Nina attended a conference in Washington DC from 14-16 March 18 with Mayors and community partners from several cities across the United States with the sole purpose of developing strategic action plans for their communities to reduce suicides amongst service members, Veterans and their family members.  SAMHSA teamed with the VA to identify cities that would best be suited to lead the way in the first year of the Mayor’s Challenge.  The SNVCEB and the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System will continue to support this initiative and develop strategies to combat/reduce suicide rates in Las Vegas and surrounding cities.  Keep up the great work SNVCEB!

The Northern Shenandoah Valley (NSV) CVEB from Winchester, VA has only existed for six months, but in that short time this collaborative has demonstrated significant progress in serving the Veterans and Military Families of the NSV. On May 14, 2018 the NSV CVEB – in partnership with local employers and resource agencies, Martinsburg, WV VAMC leadership, and Shenandoah University – hosted its inaugural Military Expo with the aim of equipping transitioning service members with the tools to succeed after separation and on improving career opportunities for Veterans, Military Families, Caregivers, and Survivors.  

The Military Expo was attended by over 150 Veterans, Caregivers, and family members and featured 26 transitional information sessions, 45 community resource providers, and 10 actively hiring employers. Retired US Army National Guard Command Sergeant Major Victor Angry keynoted the event and set the motivational tone for the day. Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (VA-10) provided opening remarks and kicked off the panel featuring Director Tim Cooke, Martinsburg VAMC; Dr. Richard Siemens, CoS, Martinsburg VAMC; Delegate Chris Collins (VA-29); Anthony Barnes, Veterans Outreach Coordinator for Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (VA-10); Mayor David Smith, Mayor of Winchester; Sheriff Les Taylor, Winchester City; and Sheriff Lenny Millholland, Frederick County. The panel discussion provided in-depth analysis on meeting the needs of service members in transition to civilian life.

This Military Expo received positive coverage from local media and highlights of the event can be viewed on the NSV CVEB YouTube page.This event is yet another example of the incredible impact the CVEBs can have in meeting the needs of their local Military Families and underscores the importance of collaboration among community stakeholders who are committed to serving Veterans that is central to CVEB success.  

Nine Community Veteran Engagement Boards participate in CVEB Task Force* Hosted by America’s Warrior Partnership

On March 1, 2018, nine CVEBs along with fourteen national organizations and VA representatives participated in the first in-person CVEB Task Force convened by America’s Warrior Partnership. This is designed to be a six- month task force that will deliver tangible tools focused on CVEB metrics and will be shared with all CVEBs and community partners. Discussions and data gathering have taken place in Washington, DC facilitated by Cicero Group®. 

The success of these meetings are attributed to the willingness of everyone to participate in surveys, conversations and critical thinking about the current state of CVEBs and opportunities to make CVEBs even more impactful in the future. The last in-person discussion in DC is planned to occur on July 26th as well as several follow-on teleconferences. Key findings will also be presented at AWP’s 5thAnnual Warrior Community Integration Symposium, September 5-7 in Atlanta, GA.

Nine Community Veterans Engagement Boards:

• Northern Shenandoah Valley CVEB                                               Winchester, VA
• Coastal Carolina Veterans Coalition                                               Jacksonville, NC
• Upstate Veterans Alliance Network                                                 Greenville, SC
• MyVA Pikes Peak                                                                            Colorado Springs, CO
• Northeast Ohio Veterans Community Task Force                           Cleveland, OH
• San Antonio Coalition for Veterans and Families                            San Antonio, TX
• Military and Veterans in Greater Pittsburgh                                     Pittsburgh, PA
• Delaware Valley Veterans Consortium                                            Philadelphia, PA
• Orange County Veterans and Military Families Collaboration         Orange County, CA

Fourteen National Organizations:

• American Red Cross
• America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP)
• Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) - National Veterans Intermediary
• George W. Bush Institute
• Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF)
• Nationals Association of County Veteran Services Officers (NACVSO)
• Student Veterans of America (SVA)
• Team Red, White, and Blue (Team RWB)
• The Elizabeth Dole Foundation (EDF)
• Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
• United Way Worldwide
• Wounded Warrior Project (WWP)
• Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) 
• Vets’ Community Connections (VCC)

Denver, Colorado:  The Veteran-Friendly Communities appreciation program saw a very successful inaugural start the first week of April, in Denver Colorado followed by remarkable events in Arizona, and Michigan.  

The weekend of April 7th and 8th started with a tour of the new Denver replacement hospital, sponsored by the United Veterans Committee; a Community Veterans Engagement Board.  Saturday evening featured a VetTalkX (formerly known as StorytellersX) event with seven exceptional speakers. The speakers included successful and inspirational Veterans who transitioned from the military to careers in the NFL, local police, entertainment industry, and entrepreneurship.

The following night, at the United Veterans Committee banquet, among a crowd of 500 including the Governor of Colorado, Congressmen, Senators, and local VA leadership, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Thomas Bowman presented the first Veteran-Friendly Communities Appreciation Certificate to a CVEB.  

Mr. Bowman commented, “There’s a lot that can happen back east in Washington, D.C., but the best, most tangible, and most important work caring for Veterans happens right here, at the local level… But as you all have proven time and again, we can accomplish a great deal by building partnerships . . .By working together to mobilize resources. . . By engaging in close communication. . . And by coordinating all our efforts – all for Veterans and doing what’s right for them.”

The United Veterans Committee accepted the framed certificate with immense pride and plans to display the certificate in the new VA Denver hospital auditorium named after their organization.    

Phoenix, Arizona: The Veterans Experience Office was excited to have three CVEBs receive Veteran-Friendly Communities Appreciation Certificates at the Phoenix Arizona 9th Annual Statewide Symposium.   Jake Leinenkugel, VA White House advisor, accepted the invitation to present the certificates.   Jake kicked of the symposium by presenting three Veteran-Friendly Communities Appreciation Certificates to the Military/Veteran Community Network (MVCN) of Central Arizona, MVCN of Northern Arizona; and the MVCN of Southern Arizona in front of an audience of over 500 people and 100 organizations representing over 650,000 Veterans.  

 “Collective Impact” was the major theme of the Symposium. After Jake presented the Appreciation Certificates his speech emphasized the collective impact of the Arizona Community Veterans Engagement Board network that centers on strengthening of Arizona’s statewide capacity to care for, support and to connect all service members, Veterans and their families to information, support and providing resources.  

Lansing, Michigan:The next Veteran-Friendly Communities Appreciation event took place in Lansing Michigan.  Dr. Melissa Glynn, Assistant Secretary for Enterprise Integration, presented 10 individual Community Veterans Engagement Boards/Communities from Michigan’s Veterans Community Action Teams with the Veteran-Friendly Communities Appreciation Certificate signed by Acting VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. 

The Michigan Veterans Community Action Teams were implemented in 2013 and were among the first wave of community organizations to join the Veterans Experience Office Community Veterans Engagement Board network and partner with VA.  Many of the Community Veterans Engagement Boards that followed have utilized Michigan as the structure and model for developing their own systems. The VCAT model is considered as a national best practice that has been piloted, implemented, and sustained across the country for more than five years.

Dr. Glynn thanked the Veterans Community Action Teams for their work serving Michigan Veterans- interacting and connecting Veterans to community providers and ensuring that there is a “no-wrong-door” philosophy in serving Veterans.

Los Angeles, California: Dr. Lynda Davis, Chief Veterans Experience Officer and Eric Faulkner of the Community Engagement Team presented the most recent Veteran-Friendly Communities appreciation certificates in Las Vegas and Los Angeles during the Choose Home initiative and Federal Advisory Committee events in June. The Veteran-Friendly Communities appreciation provides a forum in which the veterans Experience Office, on behalf of the Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs, can thank Community Veterans Engagement Boards for partnering with local VA facilities and community organizations, while fostering a Veteran-Friendly community.  

The appreciation certificates were presented by Dr. Davis.  Her comments focused on the collective impact and strengthening communities to care for, support and connect all service members, Veterans and their families to information, support services and resources.  

Together these two CVEBs represent over 520,000 Veterans.   

Las Vegas, Nevada: The MyVA Southern Nevada Veteran Community Engagement Board CVEB (formally known as the Veteran Services Community Group) and their 55 partner organizations are home to the 7th largest Veteran population in the USA.  The CVEB strives to ensure that Veterans of every era and their families get the state and federal benefits and services they have earned and deserve as a result of selfless and honorable military service.  

Los Angeles Regional CVEB was established in 2016, and is home to the largest population of Veterans for any county in the USA.  Los Angeles Regional CVEB utilizes Town Halls as open forums to communicate the CVEB efforts in addressing Veteran’s needs and as a forum to collect/address Veterans concerns with the VA and community.

The CE Team has conducted nine VFC appreciation events and have recognized 30 CVEBs.   Presenters have a common theme -greatest opportunity to impact the lives of Veterans and their families is in local communities.  “The best, most tangible, and most important work caring for Veterans --- happens right here, at the local level,” Randy Reeves, VA Under Secretary of Memorial Affairs.  

Vet-Friendly Community Mailbox

We want to hear from CVEBs and community partners and encourage all to send updates on your community boards, events held in your communities, and send questions and inquires to the Vet-Friendly Community mailbox. Our goal is to respond to your emails in a timely manner providing you the best customer service. 

The Veterans Experience Office, Community Engagement Directorate, is hosting a series of CVEB Networking Events to promote local community collaboration and share success stories, lessons learned, and collaboration ideas among the local community Veteran engagement boards established throughout the nation, VA Leaders, and other community stakeholders. 

Attendees for these events are comprised of Community Veterans Engagement Board members and co-chairs, VA leaders, non-profit organizations, and other interested stakeholders. The goal is to share the unique perspectives, best practices, advice, and networking tips based on a wide array of experience in the areas covered by the CVEB or community activities. These participants took part virtually from NYC; Pittsburgh; Herndon, VA; VA Facilities; and via WebEx, with some even listening in via telephone.

While these are national level events, we are focusing each networking event on one of the five geographic regions. The first event, hosted on June 13th, focused on the North Atlantic region, covering Maine down to North Carolina (video located here). We had 62 participant endpoints dialed in and a total attendance of approximately 100 participants from across the Veterans space including CVEB members, VA leaders, and other commuinity stakeholders.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has joined forces with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) in achieving the goal of 100 million people living heathier lives by 2020. This will require unprecedented collaboration between dedicated individuals, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and state and federal organizations.

The Veterans Hub is one of the seven topical hubs of the 100 Million Healthier Lives (100 MHL) initiative with a bold goal of 20 million Veterans living healthier lives by 2020. The aim is to create a network of organizations and coalitions working to empower Veterans to be the healthiest versions of themselves.   

At the core of the Veterans Hub is addressing the social determinants of health which include access to safe housing, food security, education, employment, reliable transportation, spiritual support, and comprehensive health care services.  By building bridges between organizations, communities, and social support systems, the Veterans Hub will create enabling conditions to support its mission and theme, “Working together to help Veterans thrive.”

The 100 Million Healthier Lives social media platform, connect.100mlives.org, allows Hub members to collaborate, network, and share information about the work that they are already doing in their communities to help Veterans. For example, nonprofit organizations that assist local Veterans in finding homes or faith-based groups working to help Veterans look for jobs. Local community organizations are doing important work with Veterans all around the country, and the Veterans Hub is a tool to help these groups connect with others doing similar work. 

Learn more by visiting 100 Million Healthier Lives or contact Lauren Korshak.

Measuring Communities for More Effective Impact!

Did you know that almost every county in the United States has a military and veteran family as part of the community?

Organizations and community programs serving these populations need informed data to understand the challenges these families face in addition to the strengths they bring to the community. ​ The Military Family Research Institute at Purdue University helps communities and organizations use data and best practices to achieve their goals within the military and veteran space.  MFRI's Measuring Communities is one way this goal is met.

Measuring Communities is an online social indicators project designed to strengthen community efforts to support military and veteran families.​ Users can find information about military and veteran families in 10 topic areas including employment, demographics, behavioral health, medical, financial, K-12 education, post-secondary educations, legal, community and housing.​

A free enhanced report was recently released, giving a national snapshot of each of the 10 topic areas. MFRI hopes this report will be seen as an asset for Community Veteran Engagement Boards (CVEBs) as they strive to support military and veteran families.  The report has already been accessed more than 450 times by individuals and organizations wanting data to support their efforts.  We invite you to join this group of users!

Users can request a Measuring Communities membership online. If you are part of a CVEB,  your membership ID is: NAMYVA17.  If you are not a member of a CVEB, you will receive the membership code after submitting a request online.  It takes a few minutes to get your ID, then you can begin to explore the data!