Veterans’ Healthcare Enrollment Event

What’s New in VA Healthcare? Find out about new programs for veterans for which you might be eligible, including MyHealtheVet, Caregiver Support Program, and Women’s Health. The Northport Outreach Team will be on hand to review eligibility and enrollment. This event, to be held at the Sachem Public Library, 150 Holbrook Rd., Holbrook will take place on Thursday, February 16 at 10 a.m. Please bring a copy of your DD214 or Separation Papers. All are welcome to attend. For more information, or to register, call 631-588-5024.

The Northport VA’s Mobile Health Unit will be on site from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. site to provide veterans with individualized sessions to explain and review eligibility and healthcare enrollment, offer hypertension screening, take pictures for identification cards, and provide first-time physical exams for new enrollees. Please note: Identification cards are issued for those Veterans enrolling in VA healthcare. This card is not the same as the one issued by the Suffolk County Veterans Services Agency.

195 Homeless Vets Find Housing in Suffolk

HUD Regional Administrator Adolfo Carrión, NYS Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner and CEO Darryl C. Towns and Marianne Garvin, President and CEO of the Community Development Corporation of Long Island (CDC), today announced that 195 homeless veterans have found permanent housing in Suffolk County under a joint HUD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) program that provides rental housing and support services to needy veterans. The VA estimates that there are approximately 131,000 homeless veterans on any given night in America.

HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) combines a HUD Housing Choice Voucher with VA case management and supportive services. This program connects homeless veterans from local Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC) with HUD rental assistance vouchers provided by local public housing agencies. VA Medical Centers identify eligible candidates for public housing authorities, which administer the vouchers.

Veterans History Project on iTunes

Apple’s iTunes U now features the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP), which is part of the library’s ongoing commitment to make VHP collections and array of instructional materials and primary-source materials freely accessible in digital format. Selected VHP stories, VHP information and guidelines are available for download at no cost at the iTunes website: itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/veterans-history-project/id438186138

State Veteran’s Benefits Directory

Each state manages its own benefit programs. The following is a list of links to the websites for each of the individual states that offer veterans benefits. Be sure to take advantage of the benefits you have earned by clicking on the link to your State Department of Veterans Affairs. For New York State benefits go to: www.military.com/benefits/content/veteran-state-benefits/new-york-state-veterans-benefits.htm

New VA Facebook Pages

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced that all of its 152 medical centers are now actively represented on Facebook. The Department of Veterans Affairs now has 150 Facebook pages, 64 Twitter feeds, a YouTube channel, a Flickr page, and the VAntage Point blog. VA clinicians cannot discuss the specific health concerns of individual veterans on Facebook, but that does not prevent staff from monitoring VA's sites closely each day to provide helpful information to veterans when they can. For more information, visit the Directory of All VA Social Media Sites at www.va.gov/opa/SocialMedia.asp and the VA Facebook Page Directory at www.facebook.com/VeteransAffairs?sk=app_7146470109.