CalVet News - 11/15/13

[boardman]

Camarillo woman appointed administrator of veterans home in Ventura
Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed a Camarillo woman to be administrator of the California Department of Veterans Affairs veterans home in Ventura.
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/nov/08/ ... r-of-home/

Hotel idea floated as revenue option for Veterans Home
YOUNTVILLE ­ A state-commissioned report outlining plans to modernize the Veterans Home of California suggests that the state Department of Veterans Affairs look into pacts with private contractors for on-site revenue generators such as an inn ­ a step some veterans called unlikely but still worrying to other residents.
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/loca ... f887a.html

Plan aims to modernize, reshape Veterans Home
YOUNTVILLE ­ The landscaped grounds and Mission Revival architecture of the Veterans Home of California have made it a landmark of the Napa Valley for more than a century. But a study commissioned by the state Department of Veterans Affairs points to aging and obsolescent facilities at the nation’s oldest, largest retirement community, and calls for an extensive overhaul that could last up to three decades.
http://napavalleyregister.com/plan-aims ... f887a.html

Saturday: USO Show to Celebrate SCV Veterans Housing Project
USO Greater Los Angeles Area and Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valleys are breaking ground on a new Habitat Enriched Neighborhood and memorial for veterans in Santa Clarita. To celebrate the groundbreaking, the two organizations are throwing a large-scale festival and fundraiser in celebration of Veteran’s Day on Nov. 9. Built in collaboration with the California Department of Veteran Affairs, the Enriched Neighborhood™ provides no-cost social and educational services, including financial education, health information, dental hygiene, veteran assistance, homeowner education classes and children’s programs such as after-school tutoring.
http://scvnews.com/2013/11/08/saturday- ... ak-ground/

Housing market another battlefield for U.S. Vets
What do Veterans come home to when they leave active duty and come back to the United States? In most cases, not to a home they own. According to data released by CENTURY 21 this Veteran’s Day, “only 18 percent of veterans return to a home they already own at the end of their service and only one-third of military families report actually looking for a home within a year of return from active duty.” Why so few? The answer, according to this survey, has nothing to do with not valuing or desiring homeownership and everything to do with being unable to achieve it.
http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/ ... -u-s-vets/

Here's Why You Should Hire Military Veterans
Leaders do more than point. They are as much a part of the journey as are the men and women entrusted to their care. Followers do more than obey. Their ability to improvise keeps projects (and missions) on target and on budget. Teams are more than a group of people with a label. Teammates instinctively understand that success is assured when they are able to rely upon each other.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/xerox/2013/ ... -veterans/

Obama: US Owes Military Veterans Its Gratitude
President Barack Obama has joined millions of Americans on Veterans Day in a salute to the men and women who have served in the country's armed forces.
http://www.voanews.com/content/obama-us ... 87989.html

AMVETS Names Muratsuchi 2013 California Legislator of the Year (AB639)
SACRAMENTO ­ Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) has been named 2013 California Legislator of the Year by AMVETS, a national organization established to enhance and safeguard the entitlements for all American veterans who have served honorably and to improve the quality of life for them, their families, and the communities where they live.
http://www.rafu.com/2013/11/amvets-name ... -the-year/

Housing Affordability in California Takes a Hit
Housing affordability fell for the sixth consecutive quarter -- July through September -- in response to rising home prices and interest rates, a trade group said Thursday.
http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/11 ... akes_a.htm

Veterans Day ceremonies to include dedication of park banners
Veterans will be honored at various events throughout Napa County on Monday, Veterans Day. The 45-minute ceremony includes the national anthem, a bagpipe and speakers, including Mayor Jill Techel, public safety chaplain Lee Shaw, and the Rev. Marlowe Link, former chaplain at the Veterans Home of California at Yountville.
http://napavalleyregister.com/news/loca ... 963f4.html

More Homeowners Receiving Principal Reductions Under HAMP
As of September, more than 1.2 million homeowners have received a permanent modification through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), according to Treasury.
http://www.dsnews.com/articles/more-hom ... 2013-11-11

Protecting Our Service Members and Veterans From Abusive Financial Practices at Home
On Veterans' Day, we pay particularly close attention to the men and women who make extraordinary sacrifices to defend our nation. We honor their service to our country and remember those no longer with us. But on every other day of the year, service members face the same financial decisions that other consumers face. They purchase homes, finance cars, and take out lines of credit to buy computers and other things for their families.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-jay-r ... 54937.html

Greater Partnerships With Universities, Other Community Resources Needed to Help Veterans
Exactly 50 years ago this autumn, just weeks before John F. Kennedy was tragically taken from us, one of his final acts as president was signing the Community Mental Health Act into law. This landmark legislation sought a comprehensive, community-based approach to helping those with mental illness, freeing them from institutions so they could benefit from community-based facilities.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-patri ... 54982.html

To Honor Veterans, Help Those Fighting the Invisible War
It's Veterans Day 2013 -- a time to honor our veterans -- and to help those among them fighting the invisible war of military sexual assault.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine ... 56425.html

Combat Veterans May Have the Antidote to What Ails Us
An icon of the music industry had just died and a 22-year Army veteran with five combat deployments sat in my office crying. His sorrow was not for the departed celebrity. He was grieving for U.S. fallen soldiers, and for the irony that so many of us were mourning the diva's death while so few of us knew the name of one soldier or Marine cut down in Iraq or Afghanistan. This man's grief lay in the chasm between a world view forged in battle and the norms of mainstream American culture. In the words of psychiatrist Jonathan Shay, soldiers realize that they have made the ultimate sacrifice to a country in which they feel they no longer belong.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-yeo ... 18014.html

Is This How to Salute a Veteran?
Today we celebrate Veterans Day. Let's take this opportunity to honor the men and women who have served our nation to protect and defend the freedoms we all enjoy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-t ... 42441.html

On Veterans Day, Please Don't Tell Me 'Thank You'
About a week after 9/11, it was pretty clear our training in California was to be uninterrupted. We continued as we would have otherwise, albeit with a few more base restrictions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jarrod-s- ... 48623.html

Veterans Day, 95 Years On
In a country that uses every possible occasion to celebrate its “warriors,” many have forgotten that today’s holiday originally marked a peace agreement. Veterans Day in the United States originally was called Armistice Day and commemorated the ceasefire which, at 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, ended the First World War.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-hoch ... 54533.html

Mortgage Delinquencies Decline in 3rd Quarter -- TransUnion
U.S. mortgage delinquency rates declined in the third quarter, coming in lower for the seventh period in a row, according to data from TransUnion. The credit-information company said that mortgage delinquencies of at least 60 days were down at 4.09% at quarter's end, compared with 5.33% a year earlier and 4.32% for the second quarter.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-201 ... html?dsk=y

Jaime A. Arteaga
Public Information Officer | CalVet Home Loans
California Department of Veterans Affairs
1227 O Street, Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95814
916-657-9329