The Committee’s Newsletter for April, 2010

As you can see spring is in the air and the Cherry blossoms are budding on the mall in Washington and the Annual Apple Blossom Parade in Winchester, Virginia is right around the corner. This past month, the Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing was involved in the following:

Mr. Rick Corbett, NSO, PVA – Roanoke, Virginia Ms Daphne R. Mize, Virginia Employment Commission/Director, Veterans Outreach Program, DVCH

HENRICO, VIRGINIA (April 14, 2010): On this day Daniel S. Kern and Daphne R. Mize attended a conference aimed at bringing awareness of particular issues affecting our military and veterans. The “Creating Partnerships and Enhancing Accessible Housing Opportunities for our Military Men and Women!” conference covered the following:

• Patricia O’Bannon, Tuckahoe Delegate spoke about Henrico County and the benefits that it provides to active duty military as well as senior citizens.

• Steven Combs, Virginia Dept of Veteran Services announced that Vince Burgess was retiring that day after 35 years of service and would be replaced by Paul Galanti.
• Bryan Greene, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity with HUD gave attendees an update on some of the Fair Housing discrimination cases that HUD is currently investigating.
• Martha Mead, VA Dept of Veteran Services spoke about the New Wounded Warriors program. She mentioned that the HUD VASH program provides housing vouchers for homeless veterans but that not many vouchers left in Virginia, unfortunately.
• Anne Davis, Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) made a presentation on the Service Members Civil Relief Act which was very informative! There were a number of topics that Anne covered that I didn’t know about dealing with financial matters as they pertain to active duty military.
• Rick Corbett, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) spoke on our favorite subject – housing grants for disabled veterans. He expressed his appreciation to John Lewandowski and the Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing for the work that they are doing for veterans with disabilities.
• Cindi Moyer, Langley Air Force Base ended the presentations with comments about predatory lending practices that military personnel fall prey to. She stressed that financial literacy must be taught to more folks in high school so that they don’t make the same mistakes that many before them have made!

A large turnout of personnel interested in knowing about changes that could affect them or others that they know.

Ms Mize, Mr. Donald Price, President, Access Independence - Mayor Elizabeth Minor

WINCHESTER, VIRGINIA (April 16, 2010): This afternoon the President of Access Independence held a ceremony in the AI conference room with members of the community. The occasion was the presentation of the “BARRIER BREAKERS AWARDS” given to individuals, organization, business etc, who have distinguished themselves in breaking barriers for persons with disabilities. On April 16 President/CEO of the Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing, John Lewandowski, and Ms. Daphne R. Mize, Virginia Employment Commission’s Veterans Outreach Coordinator and also the DVCH’s Director, Veterans Outreach were given this prestigious award. In attendance to read the Award Proclamation was the Mayor of Winchester, Elizabeth Minor. Other at the meeting included: WINC-FM Radio Host, Barry Lee, Mr. Erwin, Developer as well as many of the clients that Access Independence helps each and every day.

John S. Lewandowski, Mr. Price and Mayor Elizabeth Minor

ATLANTA, GEORGIA (April 23, 2010): On Friday, April 23, 2010 the Hepatitis Foundation International hosted the official launch of its new Partners in Liver Wellness initiative in Atlanta, GA. Over 30 corporate and community leaders from Atlanta and the surrounding areas were in attendance to learn about this new program. The mission of Partners in Liver Wellness is to promote liver wellness, healthy lifestyles and reduce the incidence of preventable diseases that affect the liver’s health including obesity, diabetes, fatty liver, hepatitis, HIV and substance abuse. This is a national initiative to help employers promote health to their employees and to train healthcare providers, educators, corporate and community leaders and government officials to help fill the enormous knowledge gap in liver health education, to save lives and reduce healthcare costs by empowering everyone to understand the importance of the liver in maintaining healthier, more productive lives.

Former NFL Coach – Dan Reeves and CEO Thelma Thiel

Former NFL Coach Dan Reeves, co-chair of this initiative, shared his thoughts on why.understanding the importance of the liver was important to his players: “Listening to a presentation on the importance of the liver had the greatest impact on my teams motivating them to take care of themselves and avoid the pitfalls of participating in liver damaging behaviors. We need to reach out to our community leaders to help our children, families and employees take responsibility for their own healthcare and adopt healthier lifestyles”

Over the next several months, HFI will be conducting a series of stake holders meetings to bring these importance awareness messages to communities across the nation. If you would like to learn more about how your company or organization can get involved, call Thelma King Thiel at 1-800-891-0707.