Host National Hospice Education Program in Iron Mountain
Iron Mountain, Michigan - The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, will be hosting Hospice Foundation of America’s 2013 Living With Grief® Program on Thursday, April 18, from 8:30 a.m. to noon (Central Time).
The information provided by an expert panel will be useful to health care workers and administrators in hospice and palliative care, hospitals, long-term care and assisted living facilities.
The program this year focuses on “Improving Care for Veterans Facing Illness and Death.” It is designed to assist end-of-life care provider organizations and health and human service professionals in enhancing their sensitivities and understanding of veterans and to provide professionals with new interventions to better serve dying veterans and their families. The program also looks organizationally at military benefits and intersections with VA systems and will explore the traditions and sensitivities of grieving families and resources that can assist them.
For more information or to register contact Selena Okler at (906) 774-3300, extension 34504.
Final Push to Connect Unemployed Veterans with New VA Job Training Program
As Veterans Day approaches, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has received over 72,000 applications and approved nearly 60,000 Veterans for the new Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). The program gives up to 12 months of educational assistance for programs that lead to a high demand occupation and is open to 99,000 unemployed Veterans between ages 35-60. Maximum payments are equal to the full-time rate for the Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty, currently $1564 monthly. By law, the last date of payment is March 31, 2014.
“On the day the country has set aside to honor our Nation’s Veterans, we want all Veterans to know about VA employment programs – especially those who might qualify for this limited opportunity to begin a new high-demand career,” said VA Under Secretary for Benefits Allison A. Hickey.
Potential applicants can learn more about VRAP and apply online at www.benefits.va.gov/VOW or call VA toll-free at 1-888-GIBILL-1.
To qualify for VRAP Veterans must:
- Be 35 to 60 years old, unemployed on the day of application, and have been issued discharges under conditions other than dishonorable;
- Be enrolled in education or training after July 1, 2012, in a VA-approved program of education offered by a community college or technical school leading to an associate degree, non-college degree or a certificate for a high-demand occupation as defined by the Department of Labor;
- Not be eligible for any other VA education benefit, such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Montgomery GI Bill, or Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment;
- Not have participated in a federal or state job training program within the last 180 days; and
- Not receive VA compensation at the 100 percent rate due to individual unemployability.
Michigan Democratic Party Statement on Veterans Day
“Veterans Day began in the United States as Armistice Day, a day not just to honor veterans of what was then known as the Great War, but also to show gratitude for the peace that those veterans had sacrificed to achieve,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “For too many veterans today, peace is a gift they cannot enjoy. With wounds that few can see, many of our veterans are still suffering in silence. As a society, we must commit ourselves to more than parades and one-day celebrations. We must not rest until every veteran that wants a job has one, every veteran that needs health care has it and every veteran that requires mental health treatment receives it. Anything less is an abdication of our duties to those who have served so nobly.”
Source: Press Release
Veterans Administration – Vets Hiring Fair
Listen more about the hiring fair held at Detroit’s Cobo Center June 26-29, listen:
Happening in Da U.P.? Great Lakes Radio Pix!
