Dan Rizzo's Pledge to Our Veterans
Dan Understands Their Sacrifice...As a Former Service Member and Parent
We all owe a debt of gratitude to our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers that serve or served in the armed services. Their continued commitment ensures our freedom and security. As a former member of the armed services, and proud father of a son who recently returned home from Iraq, I know first hand the sacrifice involved in military service.
I neither intended nor envisioned myself getting into politics. However, during my six years of active duty in the United States Navy, I became acutely interested and actively vocal about how fortunate we are as Americans, to live in such a land of opportunity and as part of a free and democratic society. These values and an inherent belief that holding a position in government really equates to providing a “public service”, gave me the strength and conviction to seek public office.
As an elected official, we must work to continue honoring our sons and daughters in the military as they return home through excellent services and support. We cannot put our heads in the sand and ignore the problems that many of our veterans face when coming home. These brave men and women need information on educational opportunities, job training, and other vital resources available to them. Working with our tremendous Veteran’s Affairs Office, we all must continue to make every effort to ensure we provide an adequate level of services to our veterans.
Veterans in Revere and Massachusetts
According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ last report, 350,000 to 650,000 veterans live in Massachusetts today. Suffolk County has 5,000 to 10,000 veterans and our neighboring Essex County has 25,000 to 50,000.
As you may know, in our neighboring community of Chelsea sits a large veterans housing complex called the Soldiers’ Homes. This facility, in addition to housing, provides a variety of services to veterans such as hospital care, long-term care, physical therapy, laboratory services, an outpatient department, and a social services department. We must make sure that our residents have access to the services the Soldiers’ Home provides and that we work diligently with our State Delegation to avoid and prevent any budget cuts that could adversely affect services.
Source: http://www.va.gov/vetdat
Fifty percent of veterans in Massachusetts are 65 years of age and older. We must make a concerted effort to continue and expand whenever possible, services to senior veterans. It is because of their service and sacrifice that we enjoy the standard of living we have today- it is our obligation to them and a promise of mine, that we will always protect these valuable and well-deserved veteran’s services.
Source: http://www.va.gov/vetdat
Services Already Available to Veterans
The State and Federal government have been making enormous strides as of late to provide quality services to our veterans. We must educate former service members on what is already at their finger tips and continue lobbying for as much local funding as possible to meet the needs of our community.
All of the following services and laws are in place to protect and improve the lives of our service members who are returning home.
Chapter 115
Chapter 115 of Massachusetts General Laws provides financial and medical assistance to veterans and their families. Veterans and their families get financial assistance for food, housing, clothing, and medical care according to their family size and wages. Eligible families of deceased veterans are provided the same benefits.
Source: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=veteranshomepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Eveterans
Veterans’ Employment and Training Services
The Veterans’ Employment and Training Services program provides grant funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. The grant allows the Division of Career Services to provide Disabled Veteran’s Outreach Program specialists and Local Veteran Employment Representatives
There are 32 One-Stop Career Centers located across Massachusetts. There are branch offices located around the state as well. While centers design services to meet local needs, there are core services that are similar across the statewide network.
Source: http://www.servicelocator.org/nearest_onestop.asp
Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
The Transitional Assistance Program is a course designed to assist the transition of veterans into civilian life. The workshops are facilitated regularly at Hanscom Air Force Base in Bedford, Fort Devens in Acton, and the U.S. Coast Guard Base in Boston. The program is available to military personnel who are within 12 to 24 from leaving the military, and extended to their family members.
Source: http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=veteranshomepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Eveterans
Recent Veterans Events in Massachusetts
Lots of local organization across Massachusetts continually hold events to educate and protect our veterans. One of the biggest issues facing veterans is homelessness. On August 26th and 27th IBEW Local 103 in Dorchester hosted an event called “Stand Down for Homeless Veterans.” Stand Down provides services to homeless veterans such as food, shelter, clothing, and health screenings.
Veterans in Revere
The Cities budget for Elder Affairs in 2010 was 184,823 dollars and its budget for Veterans Affairs was 79,436, with 957,149 dollars going to benefits. With increased economic development in a Rizzo administration, we will see to it that more dollars for training and educational programs are available. We must also continue to work to find grant dollars for increased services.
The Elder Affairs and Veterans departments must work together to increase programming.
A Veterans Advisory Committee
As Mayor I will get the best minds available from our community to help advise local officials, including the Mayor’s Office, on various programming. As a first step, I would propose to create a 6 member Veterans Advisory Committee. We would meet monthly and go over event planning, educational opportunities, and long term goal setting for our community of veterans.
The Committee would be voluntary and members would be appointed upon recommendations from community members. As a small business owner I understand the importance of collaboration and goal setting. A team of citizens committed to helping city government advocate for our veterans would be a great step towards creating informed programming.
I recognize and know first hand, the sacrifice so many of our community members have made while serving in the armed services. In fact, many of our Police Officers, Fire Fighters, and other municipal employees have at one time or another, been a part of our National Defense.
As Mayor I will work with State and federal authorities to educate and advocate for our veterans. There are a great resources already available to our men and women- it will be a priority for me to do all that I can to ensure that no veteran goes without food, clothing, or shelter. This is certainly a debt that we all collectively owe and should live up to.
