Hands to Help Seniors

View From A Nonprofit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The new head of The Veterans Administration (VA), Secretary Robert McDonald, certainly has his work cut out for him and yesterday he came out with a concrete plan on how to fix the massive agency.  McDonald said he wants to create a corporate culture where whistle blowers feel safe to speak out and employees who contribute to delays are punished.  He has said he will be hiring thousands in new medical staff and streamlining bureaucracy to improve efficiency and went so far as to publicly giving out his personal cell phone number.  I am sure that will be ringing a lot!  Already, the VA has reached out to a massive 294,000 veterans who had been on long waiting lists to see a doctor.  Those who can't be seen are being sent to physicians outside of the VA system and the VA is paying for it.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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View From  Nonprofit Serving Senior Citizens In Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

There has been a wide debate about how fast the economy is growing.  However, the latest government data shows that reliance on food stamps is waning, which is a good thing.  May 2014 data shows that there were 47.8 million food stamp recipients (now called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP), down 1.6 million from the record of 47.8 million in December of 2012 (15.3% of the population, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture).  To qualify, you need to make 130% of the federal poverty level or less, $23,492 for a family of four.  To calculate income, you are allowed to deduct things like medical expenses for elderly family members and above average rent.  Although things are moving in the right direction, the bad news is that, looking at history, the numbers are still high. 14.8% of the population is now on SNAP versus a range of 8-11% before the financial crisis hit.  Hopefully we can get back to those levels.

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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View From A Nonprofit Serving Senior Citizens In Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

The Fort Ord veterans cemetery has moved one step closer to being a reality, with the state and federal Veterans Affairs departments concluding there is no significant impact to the environment from the building of the site.  This has been a long battle on many fronts, but following a 36-day comment period, the ruling was made official.  Environmental groups still have until September 14 to make a legal challenge to the ruling, but if that doesn't happen the application will be sent to the Veterans Affairs department in order to sign off on a grant.  Many veterans and their families will be relieved to see this issue put to rest.  

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands to Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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We are only one day away from our annual fundraiser at Carmel Valley Ranch.  We get most of our revenue from this event, so we appreciate your support.  At the event, we will have a harpist during the silent auction portion (from 5:00 to 6:30) where wine and appetizers will be served.  This will be followed by a dinner at 6:30, and dancing afterwards.  We have some great silent auction items including rooms at Bernardus Lodge, La Playa, Portola Plaza and dinner for four at Carmel Valley Ranch as well as more than a dozen other gift certificates at local restaurants.  To find our more information and to order tickets, please click here.

http://www.h2hs.org/Gala2014.html

Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of Hands To Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.

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View From A Nonprofit Serving Senior Citizens In Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

Dorothy's Place is asking for the public's help so that it can help the homeless which will be removed in a sweep that the Salinas Police Department is conducting next Thursday, August 28, in Chinatown.  At that time, the Public Works Department sanitation workers are going to go through with rakes and pitchforks and literally sweep all of the people's personal possessions into dump trucks.  How sad.  Dorothy's Place is helping the homeless people pack up their belongings and in order to do so they need heavy-duty industrial packaging tape, large permanent markers, ropes and bungee cords and plastic storage bins.  If you have any of this sitting idly in your garage, please drop it off Monday between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. at 30 Soledad Drive in Salinas.  Donations to the non-profit (which can be reached at 578-4198 or [email protected]) are tax deductible.  They do great work feeding and housing the homeless, many of whom, sadly, are senior women. 

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