Updated VMFP Website Launches Welcome to new VMFP Web Site. This column - "What's New" is where the latest information pertaining to the activities of VFMP Chapters from all over the county will be displayed. Mouse over this scrolling column and the scrollling stops for easier reading. There may be links included which will open the entire document for reading or printing. The scrolling pictures at the top - mouse over and the scrolling stops - click on the image and the picture will be expanded and some includes comment about the picture. There is a menu bar at the top with drop-downs to show all available links on each page, as well as a menu on the left of each page which contains links. VMFP NATIONAL REPORT ON CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS July 21, 2010 – House Veterans Affairs Full Committee Roundtable Discussion of Innovative Treatments for TBI & PTSD Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) convened a 3-hour discussion with 22 Multiple Discipline & Agency participants from around the nation. VMFP attended the packed Conference Room and later spoke with several of the participants. We came away with the sense that the information is out there and VMFP can play a role in the implementation of solutions to benefit our veterans and their families. Of note are programs called Peer Navigator, Equipment using Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, work with Lipids & Fatty Acids (DHA&Omega 3), Service Dogs Therapy, Infra-Red Acupuncture Joint Stimulation and other tested innovative treatments for TBI & PTSD. The D is being dropped in the new vernacular. July 21, 2010, VMFP Executive Director Matt Cary made a Legislative Presentation to the Truman National Security Military Roundtable and representatives of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner was also in attendance. Matt covered the top five Public Laws passed in the 110th & 111th Congress and discussed the need for legislation to be passed in the areas of Rural Veterans Health Care, Veteran Homelessness and the Disability Claim Backlog. July 14, 2010, VMFP attended the National Conference on Ending Homelessness where Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki was the Keynote Speaker. VMFP engaged the Secretary and spoke with him for several minutes about VMFP’S role and work on the Walter Reed Medical Center proposal. He was interested in the bringing together of various Veteran Service Organizations (VSO’s) and Labor Unions. VMFP will stay in touch with him as the Project proceeds. All The Way Home Conference: A Brief History In June of 2007, Dubuque, Iowa was named an All American City. At a community celebration breakfast event, Tom Howe, then a national board member of Veterans and Military Families for Progress, was asked: "Isn't it great to be an All American City." Howe replied, "If we really are an All American City, we must give an All American response to veterans and their families." The stranger said, "Can I quote you?" The quote was published the next morning in a Telegraph Herald newspaper article about the All American City award gathering. Before noon that day, a phone call to Howe lead to a group of local volunteers planning, raising funds, and creating the All The Way Home Conference. The VA was later engaged as a partner. The All The Way Home conference is a showcase of federal, state, and local programs and services specifically geared toward veterans' coming home issues. The first conference was held in the spring of 2008, with a follow-up conference in the spring of 2010. More than 2700 area veterans and their family members have been served by the conference, learning how to connect and to help others connect to the benefits available. Find out more about the conference VMFP Washington State VMFP-Washington State has been involved and instrumental in several events in the last few months. Bob Rudolph, VMFP-Washington State President, is a member of the Washington State Veterans Legislative Coalition (VLC), representing VMFP. The VLC is made up of a myriad of Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) including, but not limited to the VFW, American Legion, Purple Heart Association, Paralyzed Veterans of America and others. We also work closely with the Washington State Director of Veterans Affairs. Read the Complete Article VMFP Washington State Each summer VMFP-Washington State participates in the Lacey Washington Military Family Support Day where we along with the other participants have raised up to thirty and forty thousand dollars for military families whose spouses are deployed. We have our VMFP banner in place on our booth and usually get a lot of questions from both active duty military and veterans. We have helped a lot of people at these events. We always have our handouts and business cards on display and available. At last September’s event we had a visit from Governor Gregoire’s husband Mike Gregoire who is a Viet Nam Veteran. (See photo below) He is a good friend to veterans. Read the Complete Article VMFP Washington State It’s a great place to network with other veterans groups and to gain visibility for VMFP with those organizations as well as the Washington State Legislators and the Governor. Those of us on the VLC worked very hard last year to get twenty two veterans bills passed and even this year with the huge budget cuts, The Governor still signed many bills that we advocated so hard for.. Read the Complete Article