Veteran 3 3 2016

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VOL. 4/ISSUE 18

Brevard vets, need a job? Orlando VA is here to help Mary Kemper STAFF WRITER

mkemper@veteranvoiceweekly.com

Did you know that every month in Viera, workshops help veterans get the training they need to secure good jobs? It’s part of a state VA initiative that dovetails with other programs to help needy veterans, and it’s called “Veteran Infused Employment.” It picks up where the basic programs — food, shelter, hygiene, access to benefits — leave off, and the workshops help teach skills to find good jobs. This month, a three-day workshop will be held March 22-24 at the Viera VA Outpatient Clinic located at 2900 Veterans Way, Viera. Each day, the workshops will run from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. On March 22, the workshop is titled “Creating your job search tactics and network;” on March 23, “Goals, resumes and interviewing;” and on March 24, “Performance excellence, mock interviews and graduation.” Friendly and helpful advisers will guide veterans every step of the way toward becoming a desirable employee in just about any field. Lunch will not be provided; however, free transportation through Uber is available. Registration is asked, but not necessary. For more information, contact Annie Artis at (407) 629-1599, ext. 28846, or by email at vhaorlhvces@va.gov. To learn more about the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program, visit www.dol.gov/vets/programs/hvrp/.

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016

A wintery first for female soldier

U.S. Army Capt. Kate Alfin, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot with the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade based at Ansbach, Germany, practices Nordic cross-country skiing under a full combat load at the Allied Winter Course at the Norwegian School of Winter Warfare in Elverum, Norway, Jan. 15. The Allied Winter Course provides students with basic knowledge and practical experience to operate in cold weather environments to include survival, mobility and leadership under winter conditions. See story on page 6. Norwegian Army photo by Olav Standal Tangen

Port St. Lucie looks at housing veterans Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE

pmccallister@veteranvoiceweekly.com

Port St. Lucie has a couple million federal dollars in the bank for helping folks get homes, but is hard pressed to spend it because of a litany of rules that no longer work in the real world. At least, not in Port St. Lucie’s real world where home sales dramatically improved the last few years. Pat Selmer, the community services director, hit on an idea — use those dollars to help veterans with service-connected catastrophic disabilities, such as paralysis, get homes. “We feel they deserve to have a payment-free house,” Selmer said. Selmer updated the City Council about progress on planning for a veterans housing program at its last regular meet-

ing, Monday, Feb. 22. Council members expressed concerns about keeping the developing veterans housing initiative within guidelines attached to the federal dollars granted under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. But, council members are openly excited about helping veterans with service-connected disabilities. “Obviously we’re very committed to veterans,” Mayor Greg Oravec said at the meeting. “We’re a hometown for heroes.” Among other efforts to get more veterans and their families moving to Port St. Lucie in recent years, the city vigorously supported efforts to get the state to build its next veterans nursing home in Tradition. Work on that facility will likely start toward the end of this year. Selmer recently presented the nascent veterans-housing initiative, which is so

See HOUSING page 6


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