Aging Veterans Services

Ana Potter, Division Director

Veteran Volunteer Program Update

The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs (ODVA) Veteran Volunteer Program is one example of the agency’s commitment to ensure every Oregon veteran is connected to the benefits they have earned The role of the volunteer is to help aging veterans and their family members learn about county, state and federal veteran benefits to which they may be entitled. Working through ODVA and in collaboration with our community partners, volunteers work to locate veterans who have not accessed all of their veteran benefits.

After the initial success of the pilot program in three counties and with 17 volunteers, we expanded the program with the goal of opening it up statewide. We held our first statewide training for Washington, Multnomah, Columbia, Marion, and Yamhill counties on January 20, 2020 Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the portion of the program that involved visiting with seniors in person was put on hold. During the pandemic, the Volunteer Program continued to reach out in different ways to help connect with veterans. ODVA developed and sent out brochures to several different organizations including food banks and meals on wheels to remind recipients that ODVA is here to help connect them to resources during the pandemic.

Training new volunteers now that travel and outreach is appropriate has been the primary function of the program. Several in-person and virtual training events have taken place throughout the state. The program currently has 43 volunteers and 45 applicants who have submitted the necessary paperwork to become certified. The program currently has volunteers in 14 counties The maps below reflect where we currently have volunteers and the number of pending applications per county at this time. After the next training, Mark is planning on focusing his efforts on the areas of the state where we do not have volunteers, as well as supporting the current volunteers in program.

In addition to training new volunteers, a refresher training was also prepared by Mark to help our returning volunteers ease back into this role. Mark also has a virtual “Coffee Talk” 2-3 times a month for volunteers to call in, ask questions, share experience and knowledge as well hear positive results from their peers regarding how they helped a veteran.

One volunteer who has been part of the program since the inception of the program in 2018 shared how her volunteering has positively impacted her husband, who was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. As she worked with other Veterans and they gained access to benefits for hearing loss and other service connected disabilities, her husband watched, and waited. He had a negative image of the USDVA and was apprehensive about his wife’s participation in the volunteer program.

Due to the volunteer’s hard work and Veteran Service Officers in Clackamas County, her husband finally applied for hearing loss. He was initially rated at 10% service connected for