Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1.   Sears leads way with veteran programs.  Examiner.com  When asked about the increasing unemployment rate among veterans, Aiello mentioned that despite the rise in veteran unemployment, Sears will even be more committed to hiring veterans and continue to set the example for other companies to follow. “It …

2.   VA expands grants to tackle veteran homelessness.  The State  The Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday it would award nearly $100 million in grants to groups that help homeless veterans as well as those at risk of becoming homeless. The grants will serve 151 community agencies in 49 states, …

3.   VA redoubles effort to combat homelessness.  FederalNewsRadio.com  The Veterans Affairs Department is giving $100 million in grants to help community organizations support at-risk veterans so they have stable housing. Leaders of the homeless veteran initiative at the VA and Department of Housing and Urban Development …

4.   Homeless shelter gets VA grant to help Utah veteran families.  Salt Lake Tribune  … lives,” the shelter’s executive director says. The grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is a first for the shelter, although The Road Home has partnered with the VA on efforts to serve homeless veterans, says executive director Matt …

5.   VIDEO: What Do Homeless Veterans Need?  Patch.com  Harbor Homes in Nashua has been awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S Department of Labor as part of the Supportive Services for Veterans Families Program. The funding will allow …
 
6.   Fight Goes On Over Mall Visitors Center.  Washington Times “An education center planned as a complement to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall earned an important go-ahead from the National Capital Planning Commission, which supporters say is one step closer to a dedicated space for all military services.” Critics, however, “worry it could be a step backward for the sanctity of the memorial.”
 
7.   VA Expands Grants To Tackle Veteran Homelessness. McClatchy VA “said Tuesday it would award nearly $100 million in grants to groups that help homeless veterans as well as those at risk of becoming homeless.” The grants, which “will serve 151 community agencies in 49 states, the District of Columbia,” and Puerto Rico, “represent a major increase from the number of anti-homelessness grants awarded last year.” In a news release, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said his agency is “committed to ending veteran homelessness in America.” The agency is trying to do so by focusing “on prevention, quickly securing housing and keeping families together, according to VA spokesman Josh Taylor.” Stars And Stripes VA “officials on Tuesday awarded nearly $100 million in new grant for homeless assistance programs throughout the country, an effort they say will benefit more than 42,000 veterans and their family members.” “A full list is available online at the VA’s web site.”  Federal News Radio Tuesday’s announcement, says the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) is a “close ally” in VA’s effort to assist homeless vets. Federal News Radio adds, “The two agencies identified the need and are working toward their goal, said Mark Johnston, acting assistant secretary for the Office of Community Planning and Development at HUD, during an interview with The Federal Drive with Tom Temin and Emily Kopp. The Partnership for Public Service picked Johnston, his VA colleague Susan Angell and their Homeless Veterans Initiative Team as finalists for the Service to America Medal for their work in reducing veteran homelessness.”
 
8.   Veteran’s New War Is Homelessness.  New York Daily News 92-year-old Pearl Harbor veteran James Blakely, who is “homeless, sleeping in a rusty trailer without a toilet in a junkyard on Buffalo Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. ‘I’ve been trying to get a real home for a long time now,'” said Blakely, who is one “of an ever-dwindling number of Pearl Harbor survivors.” Blakely added, “I get Social Security and a 50% veterans’ disability which Obama just raised from $797 a month to over $1,000. So I’m not complaining. A place with a kitchen and bathroom would be nice though.”
 
9.   Business Help For Veterans.  Jackson (MS) Free Press “The US Small Business Administration and the US Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense have teamed up to launch a training program for transitioning veterans from service to entrepreneurship. The US Marine Corps will pilot” the nationwide initiative, which is called “Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup.”
 
10.  2012 Causey Awards Winner — Mary Santiago.  Federal News Radio Veterans Affairs’ Veterans Employment Services Office Director Mary Santiago, one of six 2012 Causey Award winners. The “Causeys recognize the exceptional efforts of those distinguished individuals who work in the human capital management field specifically in pay, benefits, human resources and human capital issues in the federal government and in industry.” Federal News Radio said Santiago “has spent the last year leveraging her passion and unwavering commitment to supporting veterans to implement VA for Vets,” which is “transforming the way VA recruits, hires, retains and reintegrates veterans and military service members. As early as this summer, the federal government is set to fully adopt the VA for Vets platform as a full-lifecycle solution for veteran employment.” Santiago told Federal News Radio that her office is trying to meet VA Secretary Eric Shinseki’s goal of having veterans make up 40% of VA’s workforce.

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