Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/761484
Decembersatelliteof- fice schedule changes will include a change of day to the Corn- ing satel- lite office the week of Dec. 19. Beverly Holden will be in Corn- ing Dec. 22 instead of Dec. 20. No satellite services are avail- able the week of Dec. 26, 2016. All VSO offices will be closed on Dec. 23-26. We are blessed to have a VSO team. We are still limited to one full-time VSO, Kelly Osborne, and one part-time VSR, Beverly Holden. Beverly and I are accredited with CalVet and the Veterans Administra- tion and are the only two VSO and VSRs authorized to submit claims to the VA. Here is how we are orga- nized: I am a Coast Guard retired veteran and I re- port to Bill Goodwin and our Board of Supervisors, who provide great support to our veterans. My pri- mary responsibility is as- sisting veterans and their families with VA bene- fits. VA benefits include service-connected compen- sation, pensions, outreach, widow pensions, depen- dent college fee waivers, aid and attendance, etc. I track our pending claims with the VA database bi- weekly and ensure our claims are "being worked" by the VA. With our new staff we have new train- ing requirements to ensure we're assisting veterans to the best of our ability. As VSO, I also write our grants, bring new veteran initiatives on line and in- crease, maintain and man- age our CalVet subvention funding. The more fund- ing we bring in, the more VSR staff we will have to support our veterans. With partnerships and commu- nity support, we have done very well in expanding our Veteran services the past two years. Our progress is wonderful, but please keep in mind there are thou- sands of Tehama County veterans who need assis- tance with VA benefits. We have more than 6,500 vet- erans, not including their family members, residing in Tehama County. Beverly Holden is our part-time Prop. 63 VSR. She handles outreach at our satellite offices in Los Molinos and Corning and visits housebound veter- ans. She also helps in our Red Bluff office. Beverly works Monday morning in Los Molinos satellite office, Tuesday morning Corn- ing satellite office, Tues- day afternoon Red Bluff of- fice, off Wednesday, all day Thursday Red Bluff office and off on Friday. Kersti Hemming is our part-time administra- tive assistant. Kersti be- gan working in our office in September and works 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Kersti is a huge help to our vet- erans and our office. She is very professional and compassionate. She does a great job running the of- fice while I see clients. She helps us fax claims to VA and scan and upload all the documents into our CalVet database. We are so blessed to have Kersti with our team. Joel Johnson is one of our part-time VA funded work study interns. Joel is a Navy veteran. With Jo- el's experience and future plans after college, I have him focusing on veteran friendly business and com- munity outreach. Joel has done a wonderful job going out to solicit businesses to participate in our Tehama County Veteran ID Card Program. He has signed up 98 Tehama County busi- nesses in the past two months. He also helps with greeting clients and set- ting up VSO appointments. His college classes are the higher priority and then assisting our office. Andrew Norwood is one of our part-time VA funded work study interns too. Andrew has extensive Army Scout combat vet- eran experience in Afghan- istan. He hit the ground running and he's already assisting me with claims and assisting our combat Veterans. With Andrew's experience and future plans after college, I have him focusing on shadow- ing me with compensation claims and learning the VSR role. He will be our point of contact for Prop. 63 veterans in transition, incarcerated veterans and PTSD/Traumatic Brain In- jury expert. His college classes are the higher pri- ority and then assisting our office. December and January I will be very busy assist- ing clients, writing another Prop. 63 grant, complet- ing the semi-annual CalVet VSO audit and our upcom- ing VSO office move. We are likely moving into a re- ally nice and roomy space. More on the office move in a future VSO news article. We are beginning our second year with Michele Fox from the Redding Vet- erans Resource Center be- ing co-located with the VSO office twice a month. This partnership has been very successful in assist- ing Tehama County home- less and very low income veterans. Michele will be at the Red Bluff VSO of- fice 1:30-4 p.m. Dec. 8 and 15. The VRC assists qual- ified homeless veterans with transitional hous- ing. Please call the VRC di- rectly at 223-3211. Free yearly TRAX bus passes are available for qualified Veterans at the VSO offices. We will is- sue the bus passes at the Red Bluff office and at our satellite offices in Corn- ing and Los Molinos. This wonderful opportunity will be available until the end of June. Please see the VSO office schedules below. Dependent College Fee Waivers can be submit- ted to or make an appoint- ment with Beverly Holden at our office after April 15, 2017. Documentation nec- essary prior to the ap- pointment are the veter- an's DD-214 and VA rating disability letter and IRS or Franchise Tax Board 2016 income verification for the dependent. The Col- lege Fee Waiver packages will be reviewed by the VSO on administrative Fri- days. Please plan ahead on these packages as the VSO will not be able to approve these packages on the same day as the appoint- ment. Thank you for your support. There are many state and federal benefits and programs available to vet- erans and their depen- dents. To find out if you are eligible for any of these benefits, call the Tehama County Veterans Service Office at 529-3664. The VSO address is the Bank of America Building, 955 Main St., Ste. C, in Red Bluff. Office appointment hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, closed from noon to 1 p.m. for lunch. The Red Bluff of- fice VSO is by appointment only. Corning VSO walk- ins are at the Veterans Memorial Hall 9-11 a.m. the every Tuesday of the month. Los Molinos walk- ins are at the Public Li- brary 9:30-11:30 a.m. Mon- days. DMV forms for "Vet- eran" designated on your driver's license are availa- ble at all VSO offices. The Tehama County ID card is available in the Red Bluff VSO office. Incarcerated and Probation Veteran ap- pointments are Thursday mornings. Friday's we are closed for administration and outreach. We are look- ing forward to meeting you or seeing you again on your return visit. KellyOsborne,retired U.S. Coast Guard, is the Veterans Service Officer for Tehama County. VSONEWS StaffingandschedulechangesforDecember Kelly Osborne Local Special Olym- pics Bowlers traveled to Oroville Saturday, Dec. 3, for the Northern Cali- fornia Special Olympics Regional Bowling Tour- nament at Tyme to Bowl Lanes. More than 60 athletes competed for medals in their average division. The athletes completed six weeks of practice bowl- ing during their Monday Bowling League at Lariat Bowl in Red Bluff. Eleven Tehama County Special Olympics Bowlers brought home seven gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The local bowlers who competed were Jill Raw- son, Justin Bandy, Marty Akins, Larry Turner, Jr., Jennifer Lankford and Don Colby, Jr., Ritchie Hulsey, Jarod Anderson, Jeremiah Brown, Patty Wathen and Albert Paoli. SPECIAL OLYMPICS Sun Country Quilters Guild will be holding its Christmas party and meet- ing 5-9 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12 at the Community Cen- ter, 1500 S. Jackson St. in Red Bluff. Members are to bring a side dish for the Mexican fi- esta and plenty of canned goods. Each donation of a non-perishable food item will earn a raffle ticket for a prize. Guests are welcome to join in the fun for $5. More information is available by writing Sun Country Quilters, PO Box 771, Red Bluff, 9080, or at suncountryquilters. SUN COUNTRY Quilters guild to hold annual Christmas party CONTRIBUTEDPHOTO Pictured, from le , back row, are Jill Rawson, Justin Bandy, Marty Akins, Larry Turner, Jr., Jennifer Lankford and Don Colby, Jr. Front row, Ritchie Hulsey, Jarod Anderson, Jeremiah Brown, Patty Wathen and Albert Paoli. 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