Vol. 4, Issue 4: Mar-Apr 2021
Make the most of your Veteran Resource Center, even while closed, with your VetNow subscription. Brainfuse has created a dropbox filled with easy-to-use resources.
The dropbox includes documents, social media offerings and web icons, Spanish language materials and film clips. The link is available from Veterans Connect @ the Library PR Toolkit page here: https://calibrariesforveterans.org/prtoolkit.html or use these direct links: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/t4rr7gi5puy9avj/AAC_uftQF_HDQ5M_ YahYXLjha?dl=0 or: https://bit.ly/CAbrainfuse
Sample hashtags:
#vabenefits
#veterans
#anonymous
#whatlibrariesdo
March 24, 2021
Replay available here: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/HJqaLfKjUqNUl6fWksfO9p2hjL9QL_oThlerqjiQR_e2DzJ 3XnuovUS3yonsTVMg.9K8Xj21_XkR88Eyb?startTime=1616612621000
A joint meeting of Cal Vet and Veterans Connect @ the Library staff was held on March 24 to discuss outreach in your local veteran communities. Outreach will result in you meeting more veterans and veteran service agencies and thus expanding the “reach” to veterans.
During the Community of Practice meeting, a panel of CalVet LINCs (Local Interagency Network Coordinators) and staff from Veterans Connect @ the library sites, discussed why it is important to attend your local collaboratives or coalition, how to get connected, and what libraries have to bring to the table.
April 22 & April 28 (attend one only)
Time: 12:00 - 2:00 pm
What: Experts from CalVet will teach you the most commonly asked questions by Veterans and their family members and where to find the answers! At the end, you will be able to answer many questions, even when the Veteran or Veteran family member posing the question isn’t quite sure what to ask. You will also be able to refer Veterans and their family members to the right Federal, California, and/or local resources so Veterans can obtain and use their earned benefits.
Why does this matter? Your goal is to connect veterans to their benefits. With over 1.5 million veterans in California and with an estimate of only 49% of them using at least one benefit, there is a tremendous amount of work to do. In libraries we do this work inside the library and by attending community events. This outreach is much more effective when done in conjunction with all the other local veteran agencies in your community.
The workshop will be presented twice by two different teams. You only need to attend one workshop. The April 22 workshop will be led by Northern CalVet team members, and the April 28 will have Southern California team members as presenters. If you cannot attend the one for your geographic area, don’t worry, you can attend the other one.
Register in advance here:
April 22 - https://infopeople.org/civicrm/event/info?id=975&reset=1
April 28 - https://infopeople.org/civicrm/event/info?id=976&reset=1
With many libraries still closed, your free VetNow/JobNow subscription can help revitalize your Veterans Connect @ the Library program by offering a plethora of services online. Perhaps the most important benefit is that your local veterans can connect anonymously with a Live Veteran Benefits Navigator to get help determining their eligible benefits.
Another major benefit is the live Resume Review. In addition to access to resume templates and resume review, veterans can access a live resume navigator for a coaching session including role-playing interviews. Note: All VetNow navigators are veterans themselves.
The VetNow program can only benefit your local veterans if they know about. Check the slide below for where to link the VetNow information.
Reminder: All Veterans Connect @ the Library sites have $200 to purchase social media to promote VetNow. These funds should be used by April 15, 2021.
Live online help is available every day from 1:00 PM to 10:00 PM PST.
Two things to check right now:
Ideas:
All veterans, spouses and caregivers are now eligible for the covid vaccine.
When someone asks you about vaccines, be sure to ask “have your served?” Veterans have an additional source to receive vaccines.
All veterans (including veterans living abroad), spouses and caregivers should all be able to access vaccines soon, depending on supply chain availability. The SAVELIVES Act (Strengthening and Amplifying Vaccination Efforts to Locally Immunize all Veterans and Every Spouse) was passed into law March 24. This includes veterans not now receiving VA healthcare.
To date about 1.5 million veterans have been vaccinated. This new Act should increase the number eligible from 9.5 million to 33 million people.
More information here: https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5649
Information on how to schedule: https://www.va.gov/health-care/covid-19-vaccine/
Please remember to input your monthly statistics here: https://bit.ly/vetconnect2021
©2021-2022 Veterans Connect @ the Library. All rights reserved. This project is supported in whole or in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services or the California State Library, and no official endorsement by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services or the California State Library should be inferred. Grant Number 40-9055.