PLAN OF ACTION 2016
Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation

What is this program and why do we have it?

The Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Program promotes our mission to enhance the lives of veterans, military and families.

If there isn’t a VA hospital close to your community what can you do.

Find opportunities for Auxiliary members to serve veterans in your area. These hours will count toward your Service to Veterans pin and hour bars. Service to Veterans recognizes volunteers who provide service to veterans. Volunteers conduct projects and work for military/veterans and /or families from their homes and in their communities. Service to Veterans volunteers maintain their own recordkeeping and dollars spent.

Ideas:

Member

Sew quilts for the Quilts of Valor Foundation. For more information, please visit
Help a veteran use the internet.
Supply postage for local veterans in rest homes or assisted living facilities.
Organize a clothing drive.
Organize transportation for veterans to assist them with essential errands.
Find out what is needed and volunteer.
Report your Service to Veterans hours to your unit VA&R Chairman.
See Awards section of this Plan for information on Hour Bar Recognition.

Unit

Become the catalyst to find needs and encourage members to help veterans in their community.
Provide hospitality for a job fair for veterans.
Coordinate with local quilt shops to help your unit sponsor a quilting event in support of Quilts of Valor.
Contact members, including those who only occasionally attend meetings and events and invite them to participate for specific limited duration projects that would help area veterans.

Compile and record hours provided by your members.

Coordinate with your PR chairman to tell the community what work your unit members are doing for veterans.
Assist veterans in accessing VA benefits including, but not limited to, health care. This should include coordinating with the local American Legion Post Service Officer.
Encourage eligible veterans to use the VA health care system and its services, including hospitals, Community Based Outpatient Clinics, Vet Centers etc.
Assist in activities that help homeless veterans.

Ideas:

Crochet hats, scarves or mittens to be distributed to homeless veterans. Use information provided by your department chairman to contact the homeless veteran coordinator at the VA health care system nearest you to explore what the unit or you can do to help homeless veterans in your community.

Host or volunteer at homeless veterans’ stand downs, events where homeless veterans receive free goods and services such as haircuts and medical exams. Assembly and delivery of hygiene kits, buddy baskets.

Complete “blessing bags” to be given to the local police department or other organizations that deal with the homeless veteran population.

Support rehabilitation and healing of veterans through arts, crafts, and hobbies.

Assist and support caregivers of veterans.

Provide opportunities for Auxiliary members to serve veterans and their families as volunteers at VA health care facilities through the VA Voluntary Service (VAVS).

Become a regular VAVS volunteer.

Invite others to become VAVS volunteers with you.

Enter all of your VAVS hours in the VAVS tracking system. VA Healthcare facilities volunteer tracking system is different from the tracking utilized for ALA hour bars. Please consult with VA Department Chairman if you need to know the difference.

VA&R Reporting

Mid-Year Reports: This should reflect the program work of your unit and reported to VA&R Chairman. Reports due by December 15, 2016.

Year-End Reports: This should reflect the program work of your unit for the year and reported to VA&R Chairman. This is also when I need as chairman your individual hours of service so that I can figure out if you will receive a bar. I also need the money spent on veterans, military and family as well as any IN-Kind that you did. The money is very important since that is what keeps us as a non-profit organization. The bars do not go to an entire unit but to individual members. Everyone does something for the veterans, military and families. That is the core of our organization. Last year I had reports that stated they did not do anything. That is an impossibility because you have a month to send cookies to a VA facility and that certainly counts. Last year I sent out the form to every unit of how to keep track of the hours, money and etc. This year I expect you to keep your own records however you like just so I get the end result. Anything new that comes up I will let the District Presidents know and it will be their responsibility to pass this information on to the units in their district.

As part of your narrative report, please include answers to the following questions:

How did your unit participate in the caregiver support program?

Describe how members earned their Service to Veterans hours.

What assistance did your unit give at a stand down?

Year End Reports are due no later than May 1, 2017

Veteran Affairs and Rehabilitation Awards

Type of Award: Hour bar

Volunteers are recognized when specific hour milestones are reached: 50, 100, 300, 500, and 1000. After the first 1.000 jour bar is awarded, the next bar will be earned in 1,000 hour increments up to 20,000 hours. Hour bars are also offered in increments of 25,000and 30,000 hours.

Beginning 2014-15 Field and Home Service hours were combined into an all-encompassing category called Service to Veterans.

Unit Award: Outstanding Unit VA&R Program Award - Type of Award: Citation – Presented to: One unit chairman per district (5 awards)

Materials and Guidelines: Entries must include the award cover sheet . Awarded to the unit chairman in each district who conducted the best overall promotion of the VA&R program. The entry must be typewritten in narrative format, not to exceed 1.000 words. Include pictures, clippings, scrapbooks, folders, etc. Units will submit entries to the department chairman by May 15, 2017.

Veteran Affairs Voluntary Service (VAVS) Awards

National Award: VAVS Volunteer of the Year Award/ALANAC Nominee – Citation + $500 donation to VAVS facility of her choice

Nominee must serve in an established VA assignment and be defined as a regularly scheduled volunteer. The American Legion Auxiliary selects the ALA Volunteer of the year.

Member Award: 10,000 Hour Volunteer Service Award – Type of Award – Citation + $100 donation to VAVS facility of her choice presented by the American Legion Auxiliary – Given to volunteers who have reached 10,000 hours of service in a VA facility during this year (April 1, 2016 – March 31, 2017).

Individual Recognition

100 percent VAVS Meeting Attendance Award – Type of Award – Attendance Card presented by the Department of Veterans Affairs – Presented to Hospital Representative and Deputy. – No entry form required – The National VAVS representative will verify the winners from VA records.

I know that this a lot of information but please read it all. Remember to keep a record of individual member volunteer hours, money spent, in kind services and the type of services . Send this information to me with the Mid-year report or all the totals with the year end report. I just can’t stress enough that it needs to be individual members volunteer hours to receive the bars.

I am very fortunate this year to have Becky Fowler and Cynthia Pfeiffer as co-chairman.

Twila Palu/VA&R Chairman 307-388-0194

Rebecca Aaron-Fowler 307-431-8038

Cynthia Pfeiffer 307-388-2791