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Soldiers’ Angels Northern California Team Blog
“May No Veteran Go Unloved... Walk Alone... or Be Forgotten…” |
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This year, we will continue to focus our support on wounded, homeless and incarcerated Veterans. In addition to the millions of ways our Angels support our local heroes, in 2009 we’ve identified 4 specific areas of focus: 1. Homeless Veterans — Continued support for the VA-HUD voucher program by providing move-in costs of ~$1,200 per previously homeless veteran to move into permanent housing. 2. All Veterans — Make sure every Northern California veteran has determined the value of their current VA benefits and joined the VA if appropriate. 3. For all GWOT Vets – Have you received your post deployment screening test? We want to keep you out of the penal system and close to your family. On any given day, veterans account for nine of every hundred individuals in U.S. jails and prisons 4. Let all veterans know Soldiers’ Angels is always there for you.
Thanks to all of the support and hard work of our devoted Angels, you will all be proud to know that 2008, our first full year as a team, was a success by any measure. You made a significance difference in the lives of our local veterans; highlights include:
· Visited hundreds of patients at the VA hospitals and shelters to thank veterans for their service and give them a Basket of Thanks
· Raised more than $35,000 to support emergency requests from our local veterans
· Sent more than $60,000 worth of backpacks and personal hygiene products to the VA for distribution at all Northern California Stand Downs
· Covered utility & security deposits allowing up to 35 previously homeless veterans to move into permanent housing
· Angels found homes for over a dozen homeless veterans and in one case, to serve as a companion to a veteran suffering from Alzheimer’s
· Established an athletic scholarship fund to provide local veterans with financial assistance to reach their goals which included hosting hundreds of veterans at an open house together with the City of Sacramento, ‘Thank You for Your Service 2008’ Event
· Angels offered babysitting services to the children of veterans going back to school
· Angels dropped in once a week to help home-bound veterans
· Angels provided transportation to homeless veterans undergoing cancer treatments at local hospitals
· Sent hundreds of care packages to local military folks deployed overseas
· Served as a member of the VAVS Board
· Greeted hundreds of airport arrivals and departures and funerals
· Angels have offered part-time jobs to local veterans while they seek permanent employment
· Provided emergency funding to dozens of veterans for food, rent and transportation
· Paid the Coast Guard for a fishing license for a formerly homeless veteran who completed treatment and moved to Alaska to become a commercial fisherman
· Attended monthly meetings of the Military Veterans Group at Folsom State Prison
· Distributed information to our Angels from dozens of local veterans organizations
· Sent more than 500 local veterans to Giants games in SF, providing transportation, Soldiers’ Angels t-shirts and snacks
· Hosted the second annual Soldiers’ Angels Christmas Party at the House of Dignity in Oakland
· Acted as an advocate to insure that local veterans applying for VA positions have their applications acknowledged and are interviewed for positions they are qualified to hold |
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Thank you for your online tax-deductible donations; they’re critical to our support of Northern California Veterans. |
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Meet the El Dorado Independent Pool & Spa Services Association who are generously donating the proceeds from this golf tournament to Soldiers’ Angels for the second year! Prizes include a week’s stay in Pajaro Dunes, Monterrey, in your own beach house!
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Spotlight of Honor |
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Making A Difference |
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Military Veterans Group of Folsom |
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Veterans Speakers Bureau |
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You should!! You don’t have to be disabled to benefit from VA membership. You have EARNED these benefits through your service to our country. It’s your decision whether or not to use them. Why not contact your local representative to determine what they are — you might be surprised to learn how the VA can improve your life.
Compensation & Benefits Handbook for seriously ill and injured members of the armed forces… click here.
For Northern California veterans in the greater Sacramento area, please contact the following representatives. For all other California locations, click here.
OEF/OIF Veterans Contact Ryan Feil Transition Patient Advocate OEF/OIF U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 10535 Hospital Way Mather, CA 95655 916-843-9016 ryan.feil@va.gov www.oefoif.va.gov
All Veterans Contact Sacramento Vet Center 1111 Howe Ave., Suite 390 Sacramento, CA 95825 Philip Navarro 916-566-7430 Philip.Navarro@va.gov
All Veterans Contact Veterans Claims Representative Sacramento County Veterans Service Office Jan Wald / Baldwin or Bruce Carroll Jackson 916-874-6811 JacksonB@saccounty.net
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Veterans, you’ve earned your VA benefits! |
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Indulge your tastebuds with a sharp bite of honesty. Announcing Advanced Sales… Click here for a Sneak Preview…
Written by the Military Veterans Group of Folsom State Prison in partnership with Soldiers’ Angels, ‘Life Lesson Cookbook’ is a collection of delicious, easy-to-make recipes along with stories that allow veterans with important life lessons to share what they have learned, the mistakes they have made, and what they have found and resolved so that others can learn from their experiences. If others ever find themselves in similar situations, then hopefully these life lessons can help them avoid making the same mistakes.
Thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans depend on their country for care and support. Millions of additional veterans deserve the same. And we want you to know that Soldiers’ Angels is committed to ensuring that all veterans continue to have full access to VA support and know they are not forgotten.
By purchasing this book, you may just help someone you know avoid trouble in their life, you’ll surely enjoy the recipes and artwork, and you’ll be helping our local vets find jobs, move into permanent housing, get educational and athletic scholarships, along with the millions of ways we reach out to help our heroes every day.
Purchase of this book will help us facilitate realization of our goals. So please buy a book and help support our vets!
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Help us continue our work in 2009. Now more than ever we need your help—whether it be through your continued support of our many special requests, visiting patients in the VA hospitals, or making a financial donation. Click on the donation button at the top of the page or on the ‘Donation’ tab for more donation information.
Since our group began in October 2007, we’ve made major strides to complete our mission—to positively affect the lives of our local veterans. 100% of your donations go to help them—all of our work is voluntary. Please make a tax-deductible donation to SANC today, and help us ensure that 2009 is another historic year for our local heroes.
It’s our honor and privilege to support our veterans and we look forward to doing much more this year… because of all the wonderful Angels who wake each day to do something positive for a hero.
Thank you. |
