The Once & Always Chicago Marines presents the 78th Remembrance of the attack on Pearl Harbor memorial program. Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 1pm at the American Legion & Sal located at 1824 W. Cortland St., Chicago IL 60622.

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The Cook County Clerk’s Office
and the Italian American Veterans Museum
are proud to present their first annual

Veterans Resource Fair

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. • Saturday, January 11, 2020

Third Floor • Casa Italia Office Center
3800 Division St. • Stone Park, IL 60165

Introductory Presentations at 11 a.m.

Meet representatives from:
Cook County Clerk’s Office • Cook County Assessor’s Office •
Cook County Recorder of Deeds’ Office •
Cook County Department of Veterans Affairs •
Illinois Armed Forces Legal Aid Network •
Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs • Hines V.A. Hospital •
U.S. Census Bureau • ComEd • T-Mobile • Veterans Smile •
Rush University Medical Center Road Home Program •
And Others!

Find out about:
A wide range of veteran discounts
Property tax exemptions
Wellness and fitness programs
Need-based legal aid and dental care
Part-time employment opportunities
Voter registration and the 2020 census
And SO much more!

Please help us spread the word!

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

We’re back! And the next CVO Meeting is at 7 PM on Wednesday, January 15th at the Jesse Brown VA in the 2nd Floor Conference Room. The presentation will be about Native American Veterans. The presenter will be Joseph Podlasek. Mr. Podlasek is a citizen of the LCO Ojibwe Tribe in Northern WI and is of Polish descent. After 14 years of leadership services to the Native and cultural communities in Chicago and at national levels, his focus is on creating awareness and cultural education through education programs in the, arts, veterans and fatherhood services. Be sure to come out and learn about the Native American veteran heroes!

Of course, refreshments will be served and parking in the garage will be validated. Be sure to get your validation at the front desk as you arrive.

Other agenda items will include the struggle for Dental Care for Veterans, CVO business and future plans.

See you there!

The Student Veterans Center at Prairie State College (PSC) is hosting a Veterans Resources Fair from 10a.m. to 2 p.m., March 4, in the Prairie Center gym of the college’s main campus, located at 202 S. Halsted St. in Chicago Heights.

This event features free health screenings community as well as housing, legal, employment and educational information, and much more. All veterans, current service members and their families are welcome to attend.

For more information about the fair, contact Sanon at (708) 709-3567 or email gsanon@prairestate.edu.

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Reminder: The next meeting of CVO will be on Zoom at 7 PM on THIS Wednesday, May 20th.

CVO is online! CVO – like all organizations should – is protecting its members in this period of home sheltering and social distancing. We will continue to meet and work for veterans and their families! We are doing this by continuing to meet in ways that utilize the technology available to carry out the CVO mission: The Coalition of Veterans Organizations is a group of individuals and member organizations whose purpose is to advocate for and educate veterans and the public on issues that impact veterans and their families.

We hope you will take the time to attend this meeting. There are no transportation difficulties, so the time for the meeting is only the time you will be online. Seeing each other face to face using the video feature gives the meeting a personal feel and makes what we’re doing real. Please give it a shot.

The agenda will include a presentation and discussion of our ongoing homeless work. Board Members LaTanya Gamblin and Cmdr. Frank Thompson have been visiting homeless encampments and providing food, masks and gloves.

We will also have nominations for the CVO Executive Committee. Elections will be held at the June meeting (Wednesday, June 17th). The current Executive Committee will recommend nominations and nominations from the floor will be accepted.

Needless to say, we won’t have refreshments at the meeting, but the good news is you can bring your own! Enjoy the comfort of your home while meeting with CVO!!

Here’s the information on Zoom:

For new users, Zoom is a video-conferencing software that is easy to use and very reliable. Members can also call in from their phones without video. We are aware of the recent security concerns and have taken steps to ensure the security of the meeting, including implementation of a password to enter the meeting and having a trained host for the meeting that can enforce appropriate standards of conduct for all attendees.

To join, just click on the following on your computer, your smart phone or your tablet. All you need is an Internet connection:

Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/6857448800?pwd=K1V6eHRha2R4Y25rbXBybzl2MlNOdz09

The first time, it will ask you to download Zoom. Allow this or join on your browser. Join with video.

If you prefer to only use the telephone, call one of these numbers and when asked, put in the Meeting ID and password followed by the #.

1-312-626-6799 or 1-346-248-7799 Meeting ID: 685 744 8800 Password: 357489

If you want to use the Zoom App, you can download it from www.zoom.us on your computer or from the App Store on your phone or tablet. To join the meeting, select “Join” and put in the Meeting ID and password above.

See you on Wednesday, May 20th at 7!! Be well and be safe!!

Reminder: The next meeting of CVO will be on Zoom at 7 PM on THIS Wednesday, May 20th.

CVO is online! CVO – like all organizations should – is protecting its members in this period of home sheltering and social distancing. We will continue to meet and work for veterans and their families! We are doing this by continuing to meet in ways that utilize the technology available to carry out the CVO mission: The Coalition of Veterans Organizations is a group of individuals and member organizations whose purpose is to advocate for and educate veterans and the public on issues that impact veterans and their families.

We hope you will take the time to attend this meeting. There are no transportation difficulties, so the time for the meeting is only the time you will be online. Seeing each other face to face using the video feature gives the meeting a personal feel and makes what we’re doing real. Please give it a shot.

The agenda will include a presentation and discussion of our ongoing homeless work. Board Members LaTanya Gamblin and Cmdr. Frank Thompson have been visiting homeless encampments and providing food, masks and gloves.

We will also have nominations for the CVO Executive Committee. Elections will be held at the June meeting (Wednesday, June 17th). The current Executive Committee will recommend nominations and nominations from the floor will be accepted.

Needless to say, we won’t have refreshments at the meeting, but the good news is you can bring your own! Enjoy the comfort of your home while meeting with CVO!!

Here’s the information on Zoom:

For new users, Zoom is a video-conferencing software that is easy to use and very reliable. Members can also call in from their phones without video. We are aware of the recent security concerns and have taken steps to ensure the security of the meeting, including implementation of a password to enter the meeting and having a trained host for the meeting that can enforce appropriate standards of conduct for all attendees.

To join, just click on the following on your computer, your smart phone or your tablet. All you need is an Internet connection:

Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/6857448800?pwd=K1V6eHRha2R4Y25rbXBybzl2MlNOdz09

The first time, it will ask you to download Zoom. Allow this or join on your browser. Join with video.

If you prefer to only use the telephone, call one of these numbers and when asked, put in the Meeting ID and password followed by the #.

1-312-626-6799 or 1-346-248-7799 Meeting ID: 685 744 8800 Password: 357489

If you want to use the Zoom App, you can download it from www.zoom.us on your computer or from the App Store on your phone or tablet. To join the meeting, select “Join” and put in the Meeting ID and password above.

See you on Wednesday, May 20th at 7!! Be well and be safe!!

The next meeting of CVO will be on Zoom on this coming Wednesday, June 17th at 7 PM. Information for connecting on Zoom is below.

This is the election meeting! We will hold elections for the CVO Executive Committee.

We will also have a discussion and presentation of Illinois Joining Forces, an important veterans coalition in Illinois that CVO is a member of. In a related discussion, we will discuss recruiting volunteers for our CVO Committees.

Additionally, we will soon be facing the possibility that the Jesse Brown VA will allow us to have face-to-face (f2f) meetings in the not-too-distant future. If so, we will discuss how we might go to hybrid meetings that will allow people to show up at the VA or connect and participate via Zoom.

Getting into Zoom: To join, just click on the following on your computer, your smart phone or your tablet. All you need is an Internet connection:

Join URL: https://zoom.us/j/6857448800?pwd=K1V6eHRha2R4Y25rbXBybzl2MlNOdz09

The first time, it will ask you to download Zoom. Allow this or join on your browser. Join with video.

If you prefer to only use the telephone, call one of these numbers and when asked, put in the Meeting ID and password followed by the #.

1-312-626-6799 or 1-346-248-7799
Meeting ID: 685 744 8800
Password: 357489

If you want to use the Zoom App, you can download it from www.zoom.us on your computer or from the App Store on your phone or tablet. To join the meeting, select “Join” and put in the Meeting ID and password above.

See you on Wednesday, June 17th at 7!! Be well and be safe!!

New Date! October 24

Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the date of the VFW Benefits workshop was changed to Saturday, October 24.

• When Saturday, October 24, 2020, 0900-1500 Sign in Breakfast 0800-0900
• Where VFW Post 1197 645 S. River St., Batavia, IL 60510
• Cost Registration $20 Includes Continental Breakfast & Lunch

Pay by Mail?
Make Check to VFW Post 1337
PO Box 24
Mount Prospect, IL 60056

Limited seating
please register early at http://www.vetworkshop.org/register.html

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Start: Monday, January 25, 2021 4:00 PM Central Standard Time (US & Canada) GMT-06:00)

This Meeting is on Zoom

Town Hall Meeting with Suzanne Gordon, author of Wounds of War: How the VA Delivers Health, Healing, and Hope and The Battle for Veterans’ Healthcare: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Policy Making and Patient Care and Senior Policy Analyst, Veterans Healthcare Policy Institute.

How to Push the Biden Administration to Reverse VA Privatization and Move Forward on Strengthening the VA for all Veterans and Their Families and Communities.

Suzanne will discuss the effort to undermine the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) by outsourcing patient care to the private sector. She will discuss the impact this will have on VHA as an integrated healthcare system. This will include a brief discussion of current and future legislation. The danger this poses to veterans and the need to mobilize against it will be emphasized.

Suzanne will discuss the most effective ways for veterans and their supporters to mobilize to reverse the privatization of the VHA, improve and strengthen it, and how to lobby for expanded services offered to veterans and their families, including the issue of “bad paper” discharges. VHA’s Fourth Mission (as a backup to the Public Health Care System) will also be discussed.

The session is scheduled for approximately one hour and there will be a question and answer period.

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