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CSCVC Press Release
Coverage – Request to Governor to Reopen Veterans Posts
CSCVC Press Release Coverage – Request to Governor to
Reopen Veterans Posts
KOVR-TV13/31 (CBS) Sacramento, November 11, 2020
https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/11/11/veteran-halls-open-coronavirus-closures/
Advocates Fight To Keep Veterans Halls Open Amid Another
Round Of Coronavirus Closures – CBS Sacramento
By Laura Haefeli
STOCKTON (CBS13) — A new surge of coronavirus cases is
forcing businesses in Northern California to once again close their doors.
Places like VFW posts and American Legions, which are classified as bars, may
have to close as coronavirus cases spike and counties move backward in the
state’s tiers.
On the eve of Veterans Day, Retired Corporal Frank S. Wright,
USMC, and Major William C. White, one of the oldest living Marines in the U.S.,
say it’s places like the American Legion that’s helped them cope with
post-traumatic stress disorder.
"That’s what the legion does for you, it gives you a place
to discuss. You have to get it all out of your head,” Wright said.
But with COVID-19 cases spiking across California, veterans’
posts are at risk of having to close their doors to military members once
again.
Bob Reeb is a lobbyist with the California State Commanders
Veteran Council. He says the group sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office
asking for posts to remain open regardless of coronavirus restrictions.
"Many of the veterans’ posts and halls have a small bar as
part of the building,” Reeb said. "The bar does not have to be open in these
posts and halls. These posts and halls serve very important roles in the lives
of our veterans.”
Reeb says access to mental health resources tops the list of
importance for veterans.
"The veterans’ service officer can meet with veterans and
assist them in filing claims whether they be health-related or otherwise, to
secure benefits from the vets’ administration in Washington D.C. Having the
buildings themselves closed is creating real issues for veterans throughout
California,” Reeb said.
Veterans halls are often used for group gatherings from city
council meetings to weddings. Reeb tells CBS13 if they can’t start renting
their halls out soon, the financial impact could be devastating.
KABC-TV7 (ABC) Los Angeles, November 11, 2020
https://abc7.com/veterans-day-american-legion/7871436/
American Legion Posts remain closed due to COVID, posing
problems for Veterans around Southern California (*video)
By Sid Garcia
PANORAMA CITY (KABC) -- As we salute the men and women who
have served in the military on this Veterans Day, one group that's honored vets
for more than a century is facing some very tough times.
On a normal Veterans Day, this American Legion post in
Panorama City would be filled with Veterans and their families enjoying the
holiday. Like many other posts, it's now empty... closed for over eight months
because of the pandemic. Andy Robledo has been a member of this post for 16
years.
"We have our WWII vets in their 90's now. Korean War
vets are in their 80's, and most of the Vietnam vets are in their 70's. They're
getting older and we miss them a lot," said Robledo. "And we just
can't wait to be able to see them again. We give them hugs, that's what we
usually do... and we don't know how much longer we have with them."
"I feel a connection to what our fathers and family members
have died to protect. And couldn't more American than honoring these
people," said Erik Rettebal.
Because of the Purple Tier Los Angeles County is in, the 17
American Legion posts in the county cannot open, which means they can't raise
money to pay their bills: Pancake breakfasts, Friday night dinners, leasing
their facility out for special occasions- that's how they usually raise money
to keep their doors open.
"Elks, Moose lodge, American legion, VFW, we're all in
the same boat together," said Post Commander Jere Romano. "And each
one of these facilities still need electricity, upkeep, pay their taxes; so
even though we're closed costs are still rising. And those costs need to be
addressed. And if they're not addressed, that a lot of these facilities will
need to sell their buildings."
The posts are asking Los Angeles County to list them as
essential so they can at least open up to 25 percent capacity. One Veteran told
me these posts are their second home. This is where they can go to be with
others who understand what they've been through.
"These posts allow our veterans to sit down with like
members. They don't even have to talk. They can sit in a corner and be silent
and feel enveloped. We become a family here," said Ellen Mitchell,
American Legion Post Commander U.S. Army Veteran.
The bottom line is this: if these posts aren't allowed to
open up, their doors could be closed permanently.
KESQ-TV3 (ABC) Palm Springs, November 11, 2020
Veterans council pushes Gov. Newsom to reopen VFW posts
for essential services, support (*video)
A California state veterans council is pushing Governor
Newsom to allow VFW posts and halls to reopen.
In a letter sent to the governor last week, the California
State Commanders Veterans Council (CSCVC) claimed VFW posts
are being wrongly categorized as bars, and keeping them shut down is preventing
veterans from accessing critical services and support.
For online veterans resources in the valley, click here or
here.
"They've helped me with my paperwork; now they're hard
to access because of the virus and it's hurting everybody, veterans
included," said Gary Caldwell, a valley veteran who served in the U.S.
Navy in the 80s, spending five years aboard the destroyer U.S.S. Robinson off
the coast of San Diego.
This Veterans Day he and his wife Becky Goebel set their van
up to enjoy a drive-in movie at the Palm Springs Air Museum.
They said they've waited months to get assistance with a
Veterans Affairs disability claim.
"Without the posts being open, it's hard to talk to
anybody," Goebel said. "For 8 months, 9 months now, we've not been
able to make contact and that's crucial in getting this done."
In La Quinta Wednesday, Daniel Prentice with VFW Post 3699 in
Indio was giving out buddy poppies for donations, one of the only ways VFWs can
fundraise in the pandemic.
Prentice said despite regular zoom meetings, veterans are
missing out on important socialization due to posts being closed.
"That's so important for older people and veterans,
especially those with PTSD," he said. And while some VFW services have
been made available online, many veterans don't have that capability.
"If veterans aren't real internet savvy, that is an
issue," Goebel said. "How do they make contact? They're used to being
able to see a person, interact with a person."
Still, some veterans worry about getting back together in
person as the pandemic continues to worsen.
"I'm in a high risk group," Prentice said. "At
a meeting, we could have 25 to 75 members in the hall and there's not room for
everybody to really get separate and some people aren't careful with their
hands and their masks."
KXTV-TV10 (ABC) Sacramento, November 11, 2020
Bar or community center? Advocates push to reopen
veterans' posts, halls (*video)
By Van Tieu
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Veterans Day amid a pandemic can be
summed up in two words.
"It sucks," Retired US Army Lt. Col. Pete Conaty,
a veterans advocate, said.
On a day where veterans would fill the post to celebrate and
bond, he said Veterans of Foreign Affairs Posts and American Legion Halls are
sitting dark and empty.
"We've been overlooked," Conaty said.
Under California's reopening guidelines, veteran halls and
posts have been shut down because they're considered bars. The establishments
hold membership-only veterans' liquor licenses.
"That's only a very small portion of what these posts
and halls provide to veterans," Bob Reeb, a legislative advocate, said.
Reeb is assisting the California State Commanders Veterans
Council in getting the state to change its pandemic blueprint. The advocates
wrote a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom in early November arguing that the posts
are community resource centers for veterans, where they connect with each other
and get benefits.
Volunteers say its especially true for aging veterans who
are not tech-savvy and need help navigating computers to connect to benefits
and resources.
"This is their home. This is a veteran's community
center for veterans, and they are suffering now that we've been closed for
seven months," Conaty said.
According to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), from March
to September, its service department saw a drop of over 850 veterans' claims --
roughly $2.2 million owed to veterans and their families.
"This is pretty much their social life and we've taken
that away from them," said Jeanne Harshbarger, Sacramento's American
Legion Post 832 volunteer bar manager.
Harshbarger said the sense of community the post provides
for veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other
challenges stemming from service is like medicine to the men and women she
serves.
"There's a tremendous amount of healing power,"
she said.
Without the posts and halls, advocates say California is
failing its physically and emotionally disabled veterans and their families.
Advocates say they want to posts open with appropriate
coronavirus restrictions, before the posts go under, financially, and create
negative impacts on veteran communities for years to come. Conaty said he had a
message for Newsom this Veterans Day.
"Governor, please help us. Open the veterans' posts and
halls. We will work with you and we will follow all the rules, but we need you
to help us open our post," he said.
ABC10 reached out to the Governor's office and have yet to
hear a response. The California State Commanders Veterans Council said it is
awaiting a response from the governor as well.
Modesto Bee, November 11, 2020
https://www.modbee.com/news/local/turlock/article247084327.html
Mouths are where the money is. How struggling veterans
groups manage through pandemic
By Deke Farrow
As veterans groups appeal to the state to loosen
restrictions on posts and halls during the COVID-19 pandemic, some local
chapters have been leaning heavily on takeout and limited-seating meals to stay
afloat.
Weekly breakfasts and dinners long have been a steady source
of income for posts to maintain facilities and offer programs and services, but
the loss of canteen revenue and facility rentals because of the outbreak has
made them more crucial.
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5059 in Turlock has a fairly
full calendar of meals for November, including taco nights every Monday and
burger dinners every Friday. It also has Wednesday lunches that have included
chicken plates or chicken sandwiches and chili and cornbread. A special
Veterans Day dinner this week has steak and oysters on the menu.
The Monday and Friday dinners are the "die-hard ones that we
always keep going,” post Commander Lyle Ducheneaux said in a phone interview
Monday. The Wednesday meals have been thanks to community donations of food and
volunteer labor.
Loss of facility rentals has cost the post somewhere in the
neighborhood of $25,000 — "a major hit,” he said. And the loss of the only
fundraiser the VFW does (as opposed to fundraising by its auxiliary), which is
working as servers at the county fair, was another $10,000 blow when the event
was canceled last summer, Ducheneaux said.
"And of course when we were shut down altogether (during
lockdown and when Stanislaus was in the purple tier), wow, I wouldn’t even want
to guess,” he said. "Since this happened, it’s easy to say it cost our post
easily in excess of $100,000.”
At a time when bills and other costs keeping coming even as
revenue dwindles, the extra meals have been a big help, he said. "We’re trying
our damnedest to keep things going and stay afloat,” Ducheneaux said, saying
the post had one air-conditioning unit go belly up and another cost a lot to
repair, had to replace a beer cooler, needs major roof repair and has to bring
a restroom up to Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.
Those expenses are on top of ongoing costs like property
taxes and catering and Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control licenses. "We
can’t let any of that lapse,” he said. "You would think that nonprofits for
veterans would be cut a break on requirements, but no.”
POSTS ‘AT BACK OF LINE’ FOR REOPENING
In fact, ABC licensing to serve alcohol may have worked
against posts during the pandemic. A news release issued Monday by the
California State Commanders Veterans Council says it believes posts have been
mistakenly categorized as bars under the state’s reopening guidelines because
many of them "hold a restrictive, membership-only veterans’ liquor license.
This classification puts veterans’ posts at the back of the line for reopening,
and puts access to services further out of reach for many veterans.”
And in a letter to the editor received by The Modesto Bee,
VFW state Commander John G. Lowe said the state is being asked to reclassify
posts. He says posts’ work is being curtailed on top of the pandemic by
unnecessary government regulations.
"VFW posts are community hubs providing many essential
programs and services. We offer free professional help with VA disability
claims. We assist veterans who are homeless or distraught.”
Thankfully at Post 5059, programs and services like helping
vets pay for gas, rent and groceries are supported by a different account
funded through contributions, Ducheneaux said. So the loss of revenue from
COVID-19 restrictions "has not attacked our general fund yet because of our
gracious community,” he said. "It is dwindling but it still there.”
American Legion Post 88 in Turlock also has upped its
meal-service game, adding Monday dinners, and finds itself "in good shape” to
weather the pandemic financially, Commander Carl Lasiter said by phone.
Though his post, too, lost its biggest fundraiser of the year
— a beer booth at the county fair — "we’re very fortunate that we have enough
in reserves to pull us through this crisis. Our people in the past have kind of
given us that margin or edge that we have.”
Still, meals bring in needed revenue, and just as important,
keep the post in the public’s mind, the commander said. Post 88 offers tri-tip
sandwich meals on Monday nights and meals of either spaghetti, ribs or steak on
Friday nights. The cook, John Haggstrom, posts on his Facebook page what the
meals will be and takes reservations so he knows now much to prepare, Lasiter
said.
"We’ve been very successful, selling out almost every Monday
night and Friday,” the commander said. "So far, we’ve been doing all
drive-through but we offer outside seating. But now that it’s gotten cold,
people probably won’t be wanting to eat outdoors.”
A STRUGGLE FOR MODESTO’S VFW
At VFW Post 3199 of Modesto, loss of facility rentals for
weddings, quinceaneras, work and retirement parties and more has cut deeply
into everything from facilities upkeep to services offered to a scholarship
fund, said Arlene Martinez, president of the post auxiliary.
Like its fellow Turlock post, the Hatch Road facility needs
air conditioning and roof repairs, she said, and also has insurance, utilities
and other ongoing costs.
Only in the few weeks that Stanislaus County has been in the
red tier has the post been able to open at 25% capacity, she said, so revenue
still is tight, there still are no rental bookings for limited use of the hall
or the post’s park area.
"We haven’t had small-group gatherings here,” Martinez said,
and turnout for meals has been light. At a breakfast, "you might get a family
of four or five at a table over here, and you may get one or two at a table
over there. And then there are some that go outside there with the sun shining
and pretty nice weather.”
So the meal sales — Friday dinners, Saturday barbecued
chicken sandwiches, Sunday breakfasts and a recent drive-through fried chicken
dinner — "haven’t made much of a dent, but it’s a little bit coming in,” she
said.
What veterans groups really need, Martinez said, is an
exemption to restrictions "so we can carry on to do what we always have done.”
Veterans, who have done so much for their country, deserve that, said the
73-year-old widow of veteran Daniel Martinez.
Her husband served more than 23 years in the military, from
the Marines to the Army National Guard, she said. At age 56, he was deployed to
Iraq.
He died two years ago, Martinez said, beginning to cry. Of
him and his brothers and sisters in arms, she said, "I have this in my heart,
because without them, where would we be?”
Patch Los Angeles, November 11, 2020
https://patch.com/california/los-angeles/ca-veterans-ask-newsom-reopen-posts-others-scramble-adjust
CA Veterans Fight To Reopen Posts: 'Not Just Halls With
Bars’
By Kat Schuster
LOS ANGELES, CA — American Legion Posts used to be a place
where veterans of all ages could gather and share stories of service. But as
the coronavirus pandemic forced hundreds of veterans halls across the state to
close, many aging veterans who did not adapt well to online socializing were
severed from their communities.
Last week, veterans across the state collaborated to send
Gov. Gavin Newsom a letter, urging him to reopen these historic posts and halls
after months of closure. Authors of the letter allege that these veterans'
posts have been falsely classified as "bars" under reopening
guidelines, cutting veterans off from necessary support and health resources.
And while the classification of these posts as bars wasn't
completely inaccurate, leaders of such halls maintain that these places can
offer more than a place to grab a drink.
"I think there is absolutely a way to transform that
space with the right resources, but just purely classifying an American Legion
as a bar is incorrect," Jennifer Campbell, commander of the Hollywood
American Legion Post 43, told Patch. "While they have a bar and it may be
a social gathering point, it's not the backbone of what it is that we do for
our members and for the community. "
Campbell is the second woman to be elected commander of the
Hollywood American Legion Post 43, which open its doors at its current location
in 1929 but was first established in 1919.
Some 275 posts have closed amid a wave of COVID-19
restrictions imposed earlier this year. Five posts have been permanently
shuttered, and three others are pending closure, according to John G. Lowe,
State Commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Many of these California halls are ripe with history, with
some over 100 years old. Post leaders like Campbell have been working to
preserve their historical value and community engagement during the pandemic.
"A lot of people are scrambling, and I know a lot of
posts have looked at closing their doors," Campbell said. "I think
that the older population desperately feels it...I think a lot of time the
highlight of their month was getting out to the American Legions for
meetings."
Campbell says the Hollywood post has attempted to transition
their members — all 1,300 of them — to become an online community. They have
scraped together Zoom happy hours, and launched a state of the art drive-in
theater.
"It's challenging...we obviously have a large
demographic of aging veterans that are the most vulnerable to this virus and so
we are very cognizant of that," Campbell said. "But there's also a
lot of people that rely on these resources that the American Legion
provides."
The Hollywood Legion Theater, which is the first and only
drive-in theater in Hollywood, has done exceptionally well, she said, with
attendance soaring and even selling out some shows. Celebrities Tyra Banks and
Zoey Deschanel have also attended showings at the Hollywood drive-in.
"We ourselves rely on the income of our business model,
which relies on our theatre and our events," Campbell said. "So we
have had to quickly scramble and transition to this drive-in, which nowhere
near covers the debt we've incurred."
Many posts across California generate their own funds
through events, and they provide funding for scholarships and emergency
financial relief.
"Members provide vital voluntary services to our
communities," Lowe wrote in his letter to Newsom of the posts statewide.
"This includes over 90 thousand hours last year, equating to roughly $2.8
million in donated time and money."
For the older members, the post launched a Buddy Check
Outreach program to keep track of senior veterans who may be feeling
increasingly more isolated.
"We're making sure they have the things they need,
especially early on when you couldn't get toilet paper," Campbell said.
"We're checking, do they have the essentials that they need? Do they have
someone to check on them? Do they have transportation to their doctors
appointments?"
Despite all of these efforts to transition, some members
simply fell out of touch in the last several months.
"As much as we try to connect with our older members, a
lot of time they're not on social media," she said, adding that the
Hollywood post recently had many of its World War II veterans pass away.
"We just have an aging population and it's been very sad not to be able to
pay tribute to in the manner that we would hope to."
While many veterans have called for a complete reopening of
these halls, Campbell says that could be a risky decision.
"I don't think the answer is necessarily just opening
up altogether because what I would hate to see is exposing aging members to the
virus who would have an even harder time fighting it," she said.
To transition to a safer space in which posts could reopen,
Campbell says she hopes the state will consider offering more resources to the
halls and veterans in the state.
"I think the bar element is important to a lot of posts,
but it's not the only element," Campbell said.
While many of these posts did in fact hold liquor licenses,
Lowe and veterans organizations across the state have maintained that the posts
should not be classified as bars and that the closure of such posts and halls
was causing "significant hardship on countless veterans, as well as
threatening the long-term existence of these important places."
"Unfortunately, many of our posts have halls and
possess liquor licenses," Lowe wrote in a September letter to Newsom.
"...many of our posts are not just halls with bars, but rather hubs within
our communities providing a wide range of essential programs..."
Newsom's office did not immediately respond to Patch for
comment.
From March to September, the VFW Service Department recorded
a drop of more than 850 veterans' claims, according to Lowe. And the lack of
compensation received by veterans' families also decreased by $2.2 million,
Lowe added.
These posts, according to Members of the California State
Commanders Veterans Council, serve as a refuge for veterans who suffer from
physical and emotional trauma. Before the closure, many posts had trained
veteran service officers who could help veterans apply for benefits such as
health care and mental health care, the letter states.
Lowe says that without these posts, veterans are forced to
commute to larger urban centers to receive assistance, "whether this means
free, professional help filing, or appealing a VA disability claim, providing a
therapeutic place for our veterans, assistance with veterans who are homeless
or contemplating suicide."
Posts also once offered assistance with education access and
job training. As a result of the months-long closures, "thousands of
veterans" were unable to access these resources, the letter states.
Lowe also says that these closures have impacted
California's economy, adding that the VFW processed 3,400 claims in 2019 alone,
which rewarded in $30 million of compensation and pension benefits to veterans
and their families.
"While we understand and commend your efforts to protect
Californians, we hope you will reconsider classifying our post home as 'bars'
and allow us to open for important veteran-related activities while adhering to
COVID-19 precautions," Lowe wrote to Newsom in September. "Our motto
of 'No One Does More For Veterans' is being curtailed by the pandemic, but also
from unnecessary regulations at all levels of government."
KCBS-TV2 (CBS) Los Angeles, November 9, 2020
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/11/09/veterans-posts-california-newsom-bars-coronavirus/
Veterans Groups Call On Newsom To Reopen Vet Posts, Halls
Classified As Bars
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A statewide coalition of veterans
organizations is urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to reopen the state’s
veterans’ posts and halls that have been closed since March due to the
pandemic.
In a letter sent to Newsom last week, members of the
California State Commanders Veterans Council (CSCVC) said despite providing
critical services to veterans such as processing claims for healthcare and
disability benefits, veterans posts are still not eligible to open because they
are classified as bars.
According to the CSCVC, veterans’ posts have been mistakenly
categorized as bars under California’s reopening guidelines due to the fact
many of the posts hold a restrictive, membership-only veterans’ liquor license.
The group says such as classification puts veterans’ posts
at the back of the line for reopening, and could delay critical access to
services for many veterans.
From March to September, the VFW Service Department saw a
drop of over 850 veterans’ claims – a decrease of $2.2 million – owed to
veterans and their families for their service, according to John G. Lowe, State
Commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California.
"Our posts are not halls with bars, but rather hubs within
our communities providing a wide range of essential programs and services to
help veterans of every generation,” he said. "Posts’ closures have had
devastating impacts on our ability to provide vital assistance to veterans,
especially in rural and smaller communities.”
Bars that do not offer meals remain closed statewide under
Newsom’s executive orders that date back to March.
The group is requesting that posts be allowed to reopen so
long as they comply with ABC and county health restrictions, regardless of the
status of the counties in which they are located.
KOVR-TV13/31 (CBS) Sacramento, November 9, 2020
https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2020/11/09/hall-post-open-covid-bar/
Veterans’ Group Asks Gov. Newsom To Reopen Posts And
Halls In California
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A veterans’ organization is asking
Governor Newsom to allow the state’s veterans’ posts and halls to reopen. It
says the establishments help connect vets to essential services.
Post and halls up and down the state have been closed since
March due to the pandemic. They have liquor licenses, and, as a result, have
been classified as bars — something the California State Commanders Veterans
Council (CSCVC) says is a mistake on the state’s part.
In a letter sent to the Governor last week, members of the
Council argued the posts serve to connect vets to services and benefits like
healthcare, mental health services, and job training.
"California’s veterans’ posts play a critical role in
connecting our state’s veterans with the benefits and services they need. They
also aid homeless veterans, connect veterans dealing with depression and PTSD
to counseling, and provide meals for disabled and homebound veterans. The
closure of our posts has had a direct and negative impact on the ability of
veterans’ service officers to help our veterans,” said Ed Grimsley, State
Commander, American Legion, Dept. of California.
Veterans’ posts reportedly help veterans navigate and apply
for benefits. Since the posts have been shut down, there has been a decrease in
claims for veteran disability and pension benefits, said John G. Lowe, State
Commander, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Department of California.
"From March to September, the VFW Service Department saw a
drop of over 850 veterans’ claims – a decrease of $2.2 million owned to
veterans and their families for their service,” said Lowe.
The state reports that the positivity rate for COVID-19 has
increased .8% to 3.7% for the 14-day average.
Palm Springs Desert Sun, November 9, 2020
California veterans' posts ask Newsom to let them reopen
amid COVID-19 pandemic
By Maria Sesito
Veterans organizations across the state have sent a letter
to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking him to reopen veterans' posts and halls. The
facilities, classified as bars, closed along with other indoor operations amid
COVID-19 restrictions earlier this year.
Members of the California State Commanders Veterans Council
(CSCVC) say that these closures have resulted in a drop in services to veterans
across the state.
"California’s veterans’ posts play a critical role in
connecting our state’s veterans with the benefits and services they need,"
said Ed Grimsley, state commander of the American Legion's Department of
California.
"They also aid homeless veterans, connect veterans
dealing with depression and PTSD to counseling, and provide meals for disabled
and homebound veterans," Grimsley said. "The closure of our posts has
had a direct and negative impact on the ability of veterans’ service officers
to help our veterans."
Veterans’ posts have been mistakenly categorized as bars
under the state's reopening guidelines because many have liquor licenses,
according to CSCVC.
"From March to September, the VFW Service Department saw a
drop of over 850 veterans’ claims – a decrease of $2.2 million owned to
veterans and their families for their service," said John G. Lowe,
state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Department of California.
"Our posts are not halls with bars, but rather hubs within our communities
providing a wide range of essential programs and services to help veterans of
every generation."
"Posts’ closures have had devastating impacts on our
ability to provide vital assistance to veterans, especially in rural and
smaller communities,” Lowe said.
CSCVC is requesting that posts, in compliance with Alcoholic
Beverage Control and county health restrictions, be allowed to reopen
regardless of the status of the counties in which they are located in the
state's color-coded four-tier reopening framework.
Tom Swann Hernandez, founder of AMVETS Palm Springs Post 66,
hasn't seen the letter, but said he agrees with the premise.
"Our meeting room is separate from the bar and
restaurant," Swann Hernandez said Monday. Alcohol isn't allowed at
meetings and members could socially distance, he said. Last month's meeting was
held via Zoom, but, he said, that doesn't provide the kind of access to
services available at in-person meetings.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, he added, the AMVETS Express,
which shuttles veterans from the desert to the VA hospital in Loma Linda, has
had to reduce its service. It is now operating with two fewer drivers than
usual and, due to social distancing requirements, can only transport three
passengers at a time instead of its typical nine.
"Because our posts aren’t having face-to-face meetings,
veterans aren’t getting the help they need," Swann Hernandez said.
Disabled American Veterans (DAV) offices have also been
closed since the start of the pandemic.
USA Today, November 9, 2020
In California: State sees jump in COVID cases and
election parties aren't helping (*excerpt)
By Winston Gieseke
Veterans ask Newsom to reopen vet posts
The California State Commanders Veterans Council (CSCVC), a
statewide coalition of veterans organizations, are calling upon Newsom to
reopen California’s veterans’ halls and posts, which have been closed since
March because of what they say is a mistaken categorization during the
coronavirus pandemic.
The CSCVC sent Newsom a letter last week saying that
veterans' posts provide necessary services to veterans, such as processing
claims for healthcare and disability benefits.
However, these important services have been denied to
veterans, according to the organization, because several posts hold a
restrictive, membership-only veterans’ liquor license and as a result have been
unfairly placed in the same reopening limbo as bars.
"California’s veterans’ posts play a critical role in
connecting our state’s veterans with the benefits and services they need,"
said Ed Grimsley, state commander of the American Legion's Department of
California.
"They also aid homeless veterans, connect veterans
dealing with depression and PTSD to counseling, and provide meals for disabled
and homebound veterans," Grimsley said. "The closure of our posts has
had a direct and negative impact on the ability of veterans’ service officers
to help our veterans."
The CSCVC is asking that halls in all counties be allowed to
reopen so long as they comply with the California Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control and county health restrictions.
So far, there has been no response from Newsom.
KNX-AM1070 Radio Los Angeles, November 9, 2020
Coverage(*click to listen)