VAVS

Effective February 22, 2024 Martin Lawrence has been appointed as the American Legion Deputy Representative to the VA Medical Center clinic in El Paso Texas.

What Is the VAVS? The American legion Veterans Voluntary Service (VAVS)

3 Primary Objectives

1.Attainment of the most effective use of American legion volunteer resource 2.Coordination and integration of the American legion volunteer assistance into the medical care program 3.Supplementing the work of VA staff in providing health care services to veterans and their FAMILIES

Duties The Duties of the Volunteer Assistance is to render and meet the needs of the medical facility as specifically expressed and supervised by the using services of the medical facility. That assistance is considered generally to be provided by individual volunteers. The Department of veterans Affairs has extended its programs of care beyond the medical facility to the community. opportunities to serve veterans in the community include

1.volunteering in Community Based

2.Outpatient Clinics (CBOCS),

3.Vet Centers,

4.VA national or state veterans cemeteries,

5.Fisher Houses, state veterans homes and

6.community living centers.

7.Some older veterans live alone and need assistance and companionship and volunteers can visit and assist them from their homes.

8.VA Polytrauma System of Care: The VA maintains a polytrauma system of care around the country.

There are 5 types of Volunteers

1.WOC volunteers legionaries who volunteer to participate in the VAVS program on a recurring basis but do not receive Monterey payments

2.Regularly Scheduled legionaries who volunteer to participate in the VAVS program are assigned regular scheduled

3.American legion occasional volunteers legionaries that do not meet the requirements of RA program

4.Student volunteers

5.American legion facility Representatives is an experienced and knowledgeable legionnaire who is the official liaison between the medical center and the AL

Deputy Representative responsibilities include but are not limited too

1.Record keeping

2.Correspondent’s

3.Training legion members on

    – policies

    – procedures

    – attend committee meetings

VA Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOC):

Fisher Houses: The Fisher House Foundation offers support and provides lodging for families while they are visiting the hospital for extended periods of time due to patients receiving care. Assistance is needed in donations of paper goods, linens, food, books and videos,

State Veterans Homes:

Vet Center: Vet Centers serve veterans and their families including professional readjustment counseling, community education, outreach to special

populations, work with community organizations

VA Cemeteries: VA Cemeteries provide military funeral honors to those

who served. Opportunities for volunteers include rifle salute performances, American flag folding at gravesites, and the annual Wreaths across

America placement and retrieval. (http://www.wreathsacrossarmerica.org/)

VA Special Events

VA has many major events where volunteer support is needed. Some of these include:

• National Wheelchair Games, National Golden Age Games,
• National Creative Arts Festival, National Winter Sports Clinic, Homeless
• Stand Downs,
•  Annual Red Cross Blood Drive and the
• Operation Enduring Freedom and
• Operation Iraqi Freedom Welcome Home event celebrations.