by admin | Mar 25, 2020 | Giving Back, Home
Governor Greg Abbott today announced that Texas has received a $16.2 million grant from the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Community Living (ACL) to help communities provide meals for older adults.
The grant was part of a $250 million dollar outlay authorized by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, signed into law by President Trump on March 18, 2020. Originally created by the Older Americans Act (OAA) of 1965, these programs provide meals to more than 2.4 million older adults nationwide each year, both through home delivery and in places like community centers.
“This grant is especially timely given the disproportionately high toll that COVID-19 has been taking on seniors around the world,” said Governor Abbott. “As social distancing measures increasingly and appropriately limit people’s social mobility, it is imperative that alternate means for feeding our state’s elderly like Meals on Wheels receive additional resources to handle the growing need.”
Texas will receive its proportional grant, $16,205,796, second only to California ($25 million) and Florida ($18 million) this week for further distribution to local meal providers.
Older adults who need assistance can contact the Eldercare Locator to find services available in their community. The Eldercare Locator can be reached at 1-800-677-1116 or https://eldercare.acl.gov/.
For more information about the Texas response to COVID-19, please visit https://texas.gov/#covid19/.
For more information about the Older Americans Act nutrition programs, please visit https://ACL.gov.
Original article here.
by admin | Mar 25, 2020 | Health
President Donald Trump on March 21 signed a bill into law that will ensure GI Bill benefits aren’t suspended for college programs forced to switch to distance learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Without the bill, tuition, housing, and subsistence allowances might have had to be suspended when schools switch from classroom to distance learning formats.
The Air Force Association joined a coalition of organizations that signed a March 17 letter to the leaders House and Senate Veterans Affairs committees urging quick action. With well over 100 educational institutions shuttered and transitioning to online coursework due to the virus, a rapid fix was necessary, they wrote.
“While all students are affected by these course changes, many military-connected students face urgent and unique impacts regarding receipt of GI Bill benefits that are tied to specific types of course approval,” the letter said.
Read the whole article here.
by admin | Mar 24, 2020 | Veteran Services
The nature of the coronavirus pandemic is unprecedented in our lifetimes and we must be alert about protecting and caring for our members. With this in mind, we are canceling our Membership Meeting for April 13 and will evaluate future meetings in late April.
We will rely on telephone, email and social media to communicate with our members since person-to-person contact is not the safest option. Our Membership Committee, Out Reach Committee and others will be calling our members at random to check on their welfare. We encourage you to reply to this message if you are needing help. Information concerning the corona virus and recommendations from the Center for Disease Control can be found at www.coronavirus.com.
We thank you for your patience, resilience and continued service to our great organization and country. Please be safe and practice the recommendations to protect yourself.
