Latest news with #VeteransAdministration
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alliance for Digital Equity pushes for internet access for underserved on namesake day
SPRINGFIELD — Health care, education, Social Security, the Veterans Administration, job applications and city hall are only a click away. That's if a family has reliable internet access of sufficient speed and capacity to get the job done. 'There are a lot of families that have to go without,' said Rachelle Lee of Springfield on Wednesday. 'If they can't go to the library and get a hot spot, they have difficulty. I think it should be considered a public utility.' Digital literacy classes are also needed, Lee said, so elders and others can use the tools. There are fewer since the Republican-led Congress allowed the $14.2 billion Affordable Connectivity Program to lapse last year. The Biden-era legislation had enrolled 55,000 Western Massachusetts households. Lee is a part of the Connect Hampden County Coalition, part of the Alliance for Digital Equity advocating for proposed Massachusetts digital equity legislation. There were events on Beacon Hill on Wednesday, marking what backers call Digital Equity Day. A standout on the steps of Springfield City Hall was called off because of the extreme heat. A bill pending in the state Legislature would require Massachusetts internet providers to offer a $15-a-month flat-rate high-speed plan to qualifying low-income consumers. It has the backing of co-sponsors state Sens. Adam Gomez, D-Springfield, and Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, and state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton. Sonia N. Ramos lives in the Library Commons complex in Holyoke and is a digital peer navigator with Way Finders, a nonprofit housing agency and developer that helped organize Digital Equity Day. Ramos recalled when her daughter was in high school during the pandemic: Schools were shut down. Classes went online. But her family had no way to connect. 'Her classes were her future,' Ramos said in a phone call. 'I remember walking the streets, looking for a signal, looking for help.' Alliance for Digital Equity has about 200 members in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties, according to a statement. It's housed at Baystate Health. New Valley Bank sues Springfield after eminent domain taking at DPW's landlocked warehouse PVTA extends free bus fares through July, August and September Housing and more: Westmass will take over abandoned Monson Developmental Center Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Preserving VA funding is a better than a military parade
It is all well and good that we wish our U.S. Army happy birthday, however, let's also give them a great big birthday present. A gift which would allow absolutely no federal cuts to veteran services and benefits. The current administration is considering slashing 83,000 jobs at the Veterans Administration, where veterans hold one-quarter of jobs. Also, cuts to food, health care and help for housing costs may be on the chopping block. Our veterans deserve so much more than lip service and a birthday celebration. These folks who have put their lives on the line for all of us must not face drastic cuts to their justly earned benefits and services. More: Trans youth health care choices are for families, not government to decide | Opinion Speak up. Our veterans have protected us. Now let's protect them. Joyce Janicki St. Clair Shores The Trump administration's decision to cut funding for learning disability education in American schools is alarming. As someone who has personally benefited from special education programs, I can attest to their importance. In elementary school, I struggled with writing and attended a leading disability class. Despite the challenges, I went on to graduate from high school and attend two prestigious colleges, studying political science and theatre, and received a bachelor of science degree. More: Detroit's business landscape has changed. It's still tough for entrepreneurs. | Opinion I am living proof that individuals with learning disabilities can succeed with the right support. It is unacceptable to suggest that children with learning disabilities are incapable of achieving their goals. The administration's attacks on special education are a clear example of targeting vulnerable individuals who cannot defend themselves. As my birthday approaches next week, I am reminded of the importance of special education programs in enabling individuals with learning disabilities to lead normal lives. Before cutting these programs, it is essential to understand their value and the critical role they play in supporting individuals with learning disabilities. Scott Paul Royal Oak I recently ran into a friend who was visibly depressed. She said that the state of the country has taken a toll on her and she didn't know what to do. I said that my own solution is to get involved and do something. She asked what I'm doing and I told her about the small efforts I've made. I told her anecdotally that doing something, no matter how small, makes me feel better. It turns out that there is solid research that exercise can be as effective as antidepressants. Think about walking at a rally. Just being there with like-minded souls can make a difference. Norm Howe Ann Arbor Submit a letter to the editor at and we may publish it online and in print. If you have a differing view from a letter writer, please feel free to submit a letter of your own in response. Like what you're reading? Please consider supporting local journalism and getting unlimited digital access with a Detroit Free Press subscription. We depend on readers like you. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump VA cuts, special education cuts, protests and more | Letters
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Memorial Day serves to highlight the Trump administration's shabby treatment of veterans
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight) Today is Memorial Day – the day on which we honor the memory of the servicemen and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. All caring and thinking people should take at least a moment today to lift up these heroes. And today would also be a good one to help assure that the government supports the heroes who are still with us. And sadly, the need here is great. As recent news reports have recounted in painful detail, Trump administration budget cuts are decimating the already understaffed and underfunded Veterans Administration and VA hospitals. More than 80,000 employees are being fired and that's sure to wreak havoc with the services upon which millions of military veterans depend. At a Voices for Veterans event in Fayetteville last week, several vets blasted the cuts as cruel, shortsighted, and sure to cause enormous pain and suffering. The bottom line: Memorial Day is about remembering those we've lost – that's for sure – but we also honor their sacrifice by doing everything in our power to spare living veterans from an early grave. For NC Newsline, I'm Rob Schofield.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A Memorial Day reminder to look out for the veterans among us
'I got you.' Terry Schow was on the phone with a young woman who had experienced an episode of sexual trauma when she was serving in the armed forces. She had filed a claim with the Veterans Administration, but the counselor she talked to only made her feel worse about her situation. Desperate, at her rope's end, she called Terry, a former Green Beret who served in Vietnam and in the 55-plus years since has made it his life's work to help fellow veterans. 'Mr. Schow,' she said, her voice choked with emotion, 'this is too hard, I just don't know if I can do this. I don't think I can move on.' That's when Terry uttered the three words that started this column. When he hung up, he sprang to life like he was back on the battlefield. He called his contacts at the VA. He gave them his opinion in no uncertain terms: 'This woman needs a sympathetic counselor, preferably a woman this time, she needs to be listened to, she needs to be taken care of.' A few weeks later, his phone rang again. 'Mr. Schow,' the woman said, 'thank you.' There was life back in her voice. She had been heard. She was moving on. She wanted to live instead of wanting to die. Schow is telling this story not to pat himself on the back, but to draw attention to a problem all too prevalent for veterans: suicide. The statistics are alarming. While suicide affects all aspects of the population, those who served in the military are especially hard hit. As a group, veterans make up 6% of the adult U.S. population, yet account for 20% of all adult suicide deaths. The yearly number has hovered above 6,000 for 22 straight years. What that equates to is that every day in America, 18 to 22 veterans, almost one per hour, end their own lives. And the majority aren't the aging and infirm. The highest percentage is among those aged 18 to 45. The reasons, as Terry explains, are many and varied, but a common denominator, he believes, is the sense of isolation when you leave full-time service and are faced with assimilating back into regular civilian life. This is especially true for those who have been in combat. 'In the military you're part of a team,' he says, 'and if you lose any part of your team in battle, it's awfully hard, it takes a heavy toll, because that person was a piece of you. And when you get out and come home, you can just kind of feel like you're wandering around alone.' It doesn't help, he adds, that 'many folks live inside their devices these days,' compounding the isolation. As a counterbalance, Schow is using Memorial Day as a backdrop to tout a suicide prevention program recently set up by the American Legion. It's called Be The One. 'Today, the No. 1 issue facing the veteran community is suicide,' states the American Legion on its website. 'The mission of the Be The One initiative is to reduce the rate of veteran suicide. We're actively working on lessening the stigma associated with mental health treatment and empowering everyone to take appropriate action when a veteran or service member is at risk — one life at a time.' The Legion's goal is to train 100,000 people in suicide prevention by the end of 2025. Anyone and everyone can get involved, says Terry, who is on the American Legion's national board of directors. It can be as simple as putting your arm around a veteran — ones you know and ones you don't know — and thanking them for their service. 'I'll go through an airport and see a guy with a hat on that says World War II or Korea or Vietnam and ask them how they're doing, where did they serve,' says Terry. 'I've never had anybody push me away. In fact, most of them are so willing. It sounds trite, but a simple thank-you can mean so much to these folks, because you don't know what demons they carry.' Terry points out that the VA 'has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on mental health. They've got a suicide team, they've got a PTSD team.' But for a veteran to take advantage of all the help and treatments available, sometimes what it takes is for someone else to step in and say, 'I got you.' 'If I knew the answers to all the questions about why (veterans consider suicide), I would be a wealthy man,' says Terry. 'But I'm just doing the Lord's work looking out for veterans. It is noble work. There's no pay, but you are rewarded manyfold by making a difference. 'Be The One is a great program. With Memorial Day coming up, it's a good reminder to look out for veterans and the sacrifices some of them carry we can't even see.'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Voices for Veterans' panel: Nation has a moral obligation to care for those who served
Ann Marie Patterson-Powell (left) and Dr. Kyle Horton (right) discuss the nation's obligation to veterans during a 'Voices for Veterans' event in Fayetteville, N.C. (Screenshot from event video stream) A panel of speakers at a Tuesday 'Voices for Veterans' event recently agreed that America has a moral obligation to care for members of the military after they have completed their service. The panelists' remarks were in response to a question by moderator Michael McElroy, a political correspondent at Cardinal & Pine, the North Carolina online publication that hosted the event for the purpose of 'supporting North Carolina's veterans and military families.' The comments came amid concerns about steep staffing cuts at Veterans Administration hospitals. VA staff and supporters contend proposed cuts will hinder the ability to adequately care for veterans. More than 80,000 positions — just over 17% of the roughly 470,000 people it employs — could be eliminated as part of a major restructuring of the federal government's second largest department. The Trump administration is thinking about numbers and not people when it proposes such deep cuts to the VA, said Ann Marie Patterson-Powell, a VA nurse. 'They're not looking at the human side of it. Patterson-Powell said. 'We promised those who signed up and left their families, their homes — everything behind — to serve the country. We said, 'If you do this for me, we're going to take care of you when you come back.'' The nation must do for veterans what it said it would do with 'no strings attached, with no arguments, with no pushback,' Patterson-Powell said. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Press Secretary Pete Kasperowicz defended the Trump administration's planned staffing cuts, saying, 'We're going to maintain VA's mission-essential jobs like doctors, nurses and claims processors, while phasing out non-mission essential roles like DEI officers.') Dr. Kyle Horton, founder of On Your Side Health, a nonprofit that addresses health care disparities and works to improve veterans' care, said the nation has a sacred obligation to protect those who serve. 'Those who wrote a blank check in service to this country with their lives do not deserve to be penny-pinched by Washington bureaucrats,' Horton said. Horton added: 'They don't deserve to be penny-pinched by Captain Bone Spurs in the White House [a reference to President Donald Trump, who obtained a medical excuse from serving in the Vietnam War due to bone spurs] right now and they don't deserve to be penny pinched by DOGE [the so-called Department of Government Efficiency] and [Elon] Musk who don't even know what they're doing. Period.' Patterson-Powell said there is a push by the Trump administration to privatize the VA. That could be harmful to veterans who wouldn't receive the specialized care they now get at the VA, she said. Scott Peoples, a retired Army captain, member of Veterans for Responsible Leadership (VFRL) and an advocate for free and fair elections, noted that America fights its wars with volunteers. The proposed budget VA budget cuts could make people think twice about making a commitment to serve, Peoples said. 'How we take care of them after service is kind of our Number One recruiting tool as well for future people who want to join the military,' Peoples said. He said the Trump administration's firing of VA staff members made him angry. 'Every single one of those people got into it for the right reasons; wants to serve their country by taking care of our veterans and the way they have so inhumanely shrugged off cutting people with no transparency, just people receiving emails, people having moved their families across country [to work at the VA], is just despicable,' Peoples said. Grier Martin, Secretary of the NC Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, said the cuts would have a devastating impact on rural communities. 'If these cuts go through, you're going to see the VA's presence in rural areas start to dry out,' Martin said. 'These are areas that are already starting to see their civilian hospitals close also.' The state's decision to expand Medicaid has been helpful in helping some rural hospitals remain open, he said, but veterans will have difficulty finding care near home if the VA's presence is diminished. 'If you live on the coast, you're not going to drive to Durham and you're probably not going to drive to Fayetteville to the VA hospital to get your care,' Grier said. Rep. Eric Ager (D-Buncombe) said the outpouring of concern and support for veterans gives him cause for hope amid threats of major cuts to the VA. 'That is how change happens,' Ager said. 'It may not be immediate. It may not always be completely satisfying. But the fact that veterans are coming together, that the community is coming together to support veterans, I think will eventually lead to change.' A second panel discussion moderated by Cardinal & Pine's managing editor Billy Ball, focused on threats to democracy and the evolving role of veterans as defenders of democracy. Panelist Bobby Jones, president of VFRL and retired Navy commander, said he could see the cost of freedom in the faces of the veterans in the audience. Jones said the services the VA provides are essential to national security. 'I know this panel is about national security, but my thing is you cannot have one without the other,' Jones said. 'The VA has to be sound in order for us to have a proper national security apparatus.' Jones was critical of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He said neither man understands the concept of service to country. 'For the first time, I believe in American history, we have leadership that doesn't get it, that thinks the Constitution is nothing more than a suggestion,' Jones said. 'Hell, even the South for the Civil War had the good sense to defect and secede before going against the Constitution.' America is in 'unparalleled, unprecedented times' and veterans must step up to lead the country out the quagmire, Jones said. Ball asked the panel to discuss the much-watched North Carolina Supreme Court race between Republican Jefferson Griffin and Allison Riggs, a Democrat. The outcome of the closely contested race wasn't resolved until this month after nearly six months. Griffin conceded after a federal judge ordered the state to certify Riggs' election victory. Military and overseas votes were at the center of the election dispute. Griffin challenged the validity of some military and overseas absentee ballots in the 2024 contest. 'To protect military and veterans' families' votes, really has to come from the voters, really has to come from political pressure,' said Sean Wright, a former Army medic. 'We have to make it, as voters, unacceptable to take away the right to vote.' Rep. Terry Brown (D-Mecklenburg) said men and women who serve overseas have expectations that they will be treated with a certain amount of respect. 'This election really showed how little the powers that be cared about that,' Brown said. 'I like to think about it in terms of people that talk a good game, but they don't back it up.' Brown said Americans can't afford to take a day off defending democracy. 'We have to make sure that's it's not just doing election season, it's not just when there are votes on the line, it's not just when a bad thing happens,' Brown said. 'It's all the time that we're making sure that y'all are laser-focused on protecting against threats to our democracy.' Jay Carey, leader of Resist & Persist, a nonpartisan veterans advocacy organization, said the challenge to the state Supreme Court election was a test by the GOP to determine how much the judicial system and voters could stomach. Carey, who garnered national attention after he was escorted out of U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards' townhall meeting in Asheville in March, said there will be more challenges to valid election victories. 'They're [the challenges] are going to get more and more ridiculous,' Carey said. 'It's going to tie up time and waste more money. Like I said, it was a test. They just wanted to see what they could do.' The discussion turned to talk of Trump's removing the military's Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) and replacing them with what some panelists said are loyalists to the administration. JAGs advise commanders on legal matters and oversee the military judicial system. Jones said the legal protections provided by JAGs are critical to defending the nation against internal threats he fears are coming from the Trump administration. 'I can't stress the panic level enough on this,' Jones said. 'All of the dominoes are falling. To those of us paying attention, it's blatantly obvious. Any time there's a voice of dissent, they shut it down.' This story first appeared in the NC Newsline, a member with the Phoenix in the nonprofit States Newsroom.
