Attention Veterans! Free Acupuncture!

Seattle Acupuncture for Veterans provides ear acupuncture treatments at no cost to veterans and their families in a healing and peaceful environment.

Treatments are based on the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) ear protocol, which has proven to be extremely powerful in alleviating symptoms of stress and trauma.

During treatment, people sit fully clothed in a circle of chairs, and the licensed acupuncturist places 5 tiny needles on each ear. The recipients are invited to close their eyes and rest for 30-45 minutes, as the acupuncture does its work.
Where/Where: 
Mondays 6:30 — 8:30PM T
The O’Kelly Clinic at Solid Ground
1501 N 45th Street
Seattle, WA 98103
(206) 930-1238

If you are interested in getting involved with the Military Stress Recovery Project (to receive treatment OR to volunteer) please see http://acupunctureforvets.org/

September 16+17: Town Hall Meetings for VA Puget Sound Health Care System

The VA Puget Sound Health Care System will host two Town Hall meetings with Veterans in September. The purpose of the meeting is for VA officials to listen and answer questions posed to them by our Veterans. All Veterans Are Invited!
VA Puget Sound leaders want to hear from Veterans from around the region regarding issues they believe are impacting Veteran care at the hospital sites in Seattle and American Lake and throughout the Puget Sound at our regional clinics.
The meetings will be held:

• Tuesday, September 16, 2014 from 6-8 p.m. at the American Lake VA Campus auditorium, building 9. 
• Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2014 from 6-8 p.m. at the Southcenter Doubletree, 16500 Southcenter Parkway, Seattle, WA. 98188 

Secretary of Veteran Affairs Robert A. McDonald has directed VA systems throughout the country to meet with Veterans in a variety of different capacities. Veterans who attend either of the Town Hall meetings will have the opportunity to write down questions for a panel of VA experts to answer or the Veteran can ask questions live during an open mic period at each meeting. VA Director Michael Murphy will open each night’s meeting with a short presentation on the current status of wait times and other pertinent topics.
Map To American Lake Campus
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Veterans' Disability Compensation: Trends and Policy Options

According to "Veterans' Disability Compensation: Trends and Policy Options", a report from the Congressional Budget Office:

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) oversees a disability program that makes payments through the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) to compensate U.S. veterans for medical conditions or injuries that are incurred or aggravated during active duty in the military, although not necessarily during the performance of military duties. Compensable service-connected disabilities range widely in severity and type, including the loss of one or more limbs, migraines, scars, and hypertension. Payments are meant to offset the average earnings lost as a result of those conditions, whether or not a particular veteran's condition has reduced his or her earnings or interfered with his or her daily functioning. Disability compensation is not means-tested; veterans who work are eligible for benefits, and, in fact, most working-age veterans who receive disability benefits are employed. Payments are in the form of monthly annuities and typically continue until death.
Adjusted for inflation to 2014 dollars, VA disability compensation to veterans amounted to $54 billion in 2013, or about 70 percent of VBA's total mandatory spending, according to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). The remainder of the department's mandatory spending that year was for programs that provide veterans with housing assistance, education, vocational training, and other assistance. In 2013, about 3.5 million of the nation's 22 million veterans received disability compensation benefits. (Those benefits are distinct from the health benefits provided through the Veterans Health Administration [VHA].)
Spending on veterans' disability benefits has almost tripled since fiscal year 2000, from $20 billion in 2000 to $54 billion in 2013. VA projects that obligations will total $60 billion in 2014 and $64 billion in 2015, a 19 percent increase from two years earlier (see Figure 1).

Read the Whole report (PDF)

WA Vets Will Clinics in October 2014 - register now!

The sole purpose of the WA Vets Will Clinic is to provide free estate planning documents to eligible veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces. In order to qualify for a WA Vets Will Clinic event, an applicant must:

1.  Be a Washington State resident; and 
2. Be a Veteran of a branch of the United States Armed Forces 
3. Have a DD214 (Report of Separation or some other official document evidencing military service); and 
4. Have a net worth of less than $500,000.00 ($1,000,000.00 if married); and 
5.  Additional conditions may be in place for individual Clinic events.

You must apply using the WA Vets Will Clinic online intake form in order to be considered for free estate plan documents - all WA Vets Will Clinic events are by appointment only (no walk-ups). Not all that apply will be selected, and all use and participation is subject to the WA Vets Will Clinic terms, conditions and disclaimer, as amended from time to time.

The clinics are held from time to time. You can see the calendar here. As of today (8/31/2014) the next clinics are:

• Spokane Oct. 4, 2014
• Seattle Oct. 18, 2014
• Olympia Oct. 18, 2014
• Wenatchee Oct. 25, 2014
• PascoOctober 25, 2014.

The WA Vets Will Clinic was founded by the Spokane County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division in collaboration with Army OneSource, Gonzaga University School of Law, Red Cross - Inland Northwest Region, Vet Center (a division of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), and Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs.

For more information, see http://www.wavetswillclinic.com/

Veterans/Masters' Students: The Veterans Innovation Partnership Fellowship Program

The Veterans Innovation Partnership Fellowship Program

Fact Sheet

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

October 31, 2013

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On October 31, 2013, the U.S. Department of State launched the Veterans Innovation Partnership (VIP) fellowship program, a new public-private alliance platform aimed at serving America’s veterans and separating service members by preparing them for diplomacy and development careers.
About the Program
VIP will help build and deploy strategic partnerships between the U.S. government and U.S. private sector to mobilize resources and build networks to promote foreign affairs career opportunities for veterans. The Partnership will focus on the following elements of engagement to support veterans’ transition to diplomacy and development careers:

• Education: Assist with educational opportunities to study international relations;
• Fellowship: Establish fellowship opportunities at U.S government foreign affairs agencies;
• Employment: Facilitate international public and private employment opportunities.

Eligibility Requirements
VIP fellowships are open to veterans who have completed a master’s degree in the fields of international business or international relations. Applicants must apply within two years of graduate degree completion, except for veterans precluded from doing so due to their military service obligation, who will have up to six years after degree completion to apply. Successful applicants are placed in a dynamic developmental program.
*All positions will be in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The expected duration of the fellowship will be one year. The VIP fellowship is not designed to lead to permanent federal employment and does not convey preference in seeking such employment. Nor does it convey the ability to convert non-competitively to a competitive service federal position.
For further information, please contact the Office of Global Partnerships at partnerships@state.gov or visithttp://www.state.gov/s/partnerships/vip/index.htm.

Apply for Vets Restore Program Job Program by August 15

Vets Restore, a partnership between 4Culture, Historic Seattle, and the King County Veterans' Program, is offering an education and career opportunity in preservation carpentry for retuning military veterans in King County.

 The 2014 Fall Vets Restore Program is a 12-week internship/job placement program consisting of 7 weeks of training and 5 weeks of paid, pre-apprenticeship with a successful construction firm. The program is focused on preservation carpentry and historic building rehabilitation.
 For more information and applications visit http://vetsrestore.org/.
The deadline to sign up is August 15, 2014.
 Please kindly forward this information to any lists, or individuals who you think may be interested. Thanks in advance for your help in spreading the word about this great opportunity.

July 4 Cookout at VAPSHS CLC - Party On The Patio!

Thanks to the joint efforts of many parties, a cookout was held in the Peace Garden at the Community Living Center (CLC) of VA Puget Sound Health Care System in Seattle, on Independence Day 2014.
Food was donated by J P Work & Associates, The Pacific Institute, Jefferson Square Safeway, with funding by DAV Chapter 23 (West Seattle). Thanks Friends! (Everybody be sure to give your business to our donors, that's not why they gave but it's how we can thank them).

Thanks also to the volunteers who pitched in and made this possible, and to the staff at the VA who even though working on a holiday went the extra mile to support this awesome event.
Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Volunteers Grillin' and Chillin'

A New POW Flag Was Raised
As A Bugle Played The Star Spangled Banner

Ron and a Volunteer Whose Name I Missed

The Food Just Kept Coming!

All The Cool Kids Were There!

Ron Photobombs Cyril And Schaquay