Announcements
Honor Flight, the Movie
Honor Flight is a heartwarming documentary about four living World War II veterans and a Midwest community coming together to give them the trip of a lifetime. Volunteers race against the clock to fly thousands of WWII veterans to Washington, DC to see the memorial constructed for them in 2004, nearly 60 years after their epic struggle.
WHV Partners can host a screening of the movie in your community to raise awareness and support for your program, Honor Flight and We Honor Veterans. For more information about hosting a screening click here!
National Call Center for Homeless Veterans
The National Call Center for Homeless Veterans is an initiative directed by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The National Call Center seeks to end rampant homelessness among Veterans by providing those Veterans with job training, housing, health care, and education.
Make the call at 1-877-424-3838 or visit the website.
Vet Center
The Vet Center provides readjustment services for Veterans and their family members in and near their communities. The Vet Center acts as a facilitator between Veterans and other services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as providing professional counseling services and outreach to community agencies.
Find out more about the Vet Center here.
We Honor Veterans Program Highlighted
On Friday, March 30, 2012, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, the National Hospice Foundation hosted its 8th Annual Gala. The theme of the evening was: “Celebrating the Women of Hospice A Salute to Heroines and Humanitarians”
We Honor Veterans was highlighted with a focus on women Veterans. Read more and watch the video.
New Resources
We Honor Veterans State Survey Results Posted!
In the Fall of 2011, We Honor Veterans program, in collaboration with VA’s Hospice and Palliative Care program, offered community-based hospice providers the opportunity to participate in a national online We Honor Veterans state-specific survey to characterize and benchmark the business relationships between community hospices and VA medical centers.
Review the National and State-Specific Results.
Hospice and VA Working Together: Relationship Building Suggestions
Many We Honor Veterans Recruits and Partners have asked for ways to progress from Level One through Level Four. A key component of all Levels is to promote, encourage and support successful and sustainable VA-hospice relationships through the development of Hospice-Veteran Partnerships (HVP).
This new resource provides suggestions that can help build relationships between hospices and VA facilities, and increase VA staff confidence when making referrals to community providers. The two-page document describes what “working together” means and why it is important. A chart lists activity Level requirements, side-by-side with what hospice staff and VA staff can do to enhance their ability to provide quality end-of-life care and services for Veterans.
The document has been reviewed with VA’s Hospice and Palliative Care Leadership, and is being distributed to their staff throughout VA, with the goal of ensuring hospices and VA have complementary need a word here.
Review and download your copy of the Relationship Building Suggestions here.
Press Releases
For Immediate Release:
November 8, 2012
National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization Collaborates with Dignity Memorial® to Expand Reach to Veterans
Dignity Memorial Will Provide Care and Support to Grieving Families Through its Network of Funeral Homes
(Alexandria, Va) – Today, one in four dying Americans is a Veteran. These men and women often carry experiences from their military service that present unique challenges at the end of life. Across America, hospice professionals are enhancing their skills to meet these needs through “We Honor Veterans” (WHV), a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, originally developed in partnership with the Departments of Veterans Affairs..
“We Honor Veterans” is expanding to reach more Veterans through a new collaboration between Dignity Memorial (a network of funeral homes) and NHPCO. The resources and tools have been enhanced to support the education and training available to funeral home professionals across the country.
As the founding WHV Community Partner, Dignity Memorial is the first corporate collaborator to join NHPCO to build on the success of the We Honor Veterans program. This partnership is designated solely for non-hospice organizations that understand the importance of serving Veterans based on their preferences for care and services.
As the nation prepares to honor our nation’s heroes on Veterans Day, November 11, attention to the many needs of Veterans throughout their lives is emphasized.
“Dignity Memorial providers have always been focused on serving our veterans with respect, integrity and dignity. Through the We Honor Veterans program, we hope to assure that every veteran receives such care no matter the service provider they choose. We are honored to be a part of such an incredible and innovative program,” said Diana Vazquez, Director of Hospice and Community Relations for the Dignity Memorial network.
In collaboration with NHPCO, Dignity Memorial will develop four levels of distinction based on the facilities’ involvement with Veteran education and interaction with Veterans and their family members. These levels will ensure that the very best care is being provided to those who have served our country.
“In developing We Honor Veterans, we have learned so much about what makes the end of life so unique for each veteran. Reaching out to those outside of the hospice community means that we can share all that we have learned about how to meet those needs in a supportive, meaningful and respectful way. We’re so pleased that Dignity Memorial has joined us in that pursuit,” said J. Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of NHPCO.
