VCC Magazine Summer 2020

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S ummer 2020 23 When I was appointed by Governor Northam as Commissioner of theVirginia Department of Veterans Services (VDVS) in February, I looked forward to traveling throughout the state to visit our local offices and facilities, seeing our many dedicated employees, and meeting with the veterans and families we serve. Then the COVID-19 pandemic arrived. Almost immediately, our leadership team realized we had to take strong actions to protect the health and safety of those we serve, while finding new ways to continue our mission of serving Virginia’s veterans, transitioning service members, and their families. We knew that the needs of veterans and their families would not go away, and in many cases those needs were compounded because of the pandemic. We worked closely with Secretary of Veterans and Defense Affairs Carlos Hopkins, the Virginia Department of Health, and many other partners to follow directives that would reduce the spread of COVID-19. We suspended in-person services at our 34 Benefits Services offices and 27Virginia Veteran and Family Support (VVFS) program operating locations. Additionally, we followed new rules and guidelines for our veterans care centers in Richmond and Roanoke, our veterans cemeteries in Amelia, Dublin and Suffolk, and for the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond. Our staff immediately began conducting business by email, telephone, and teleconferencing. Our care centers implemented stringent policies to prevent COVID-19 infections among their residents. Virginia’s three state veteran cemeteries put in place procedures to allow us to continue to provide an honorable final resting place for our veterans and their families. The interior portion of the Virginia War Memorial had to be closed, but we ensured that family members, veterans, and citizens could still visit the Shrine of Memory to honor those brave Virginians who made the ultimate sacrifice. The Virginia War Memorial has a dual mission to honor and to educate, and the Memorial team launched an extensive online series of webinars and talks designed to keep Virginians connected to their Memorial. I am extremely proud of how we remained determined to reach veterans. We called veterans to check on them and to create “word of mouth” communication that we were still open for business, just in a different way. We also found innovative ways to accomplish our mission. For example, we learned how to effectively put together virtual online events such as the Commonwealth’s Memorial Day Ceremony, our HIRE VETS NOW job fairs and 2020 Virginia Women Veterans Summit. More than 37,000 citizens across the Commonwealth watched the 2020 Commonwealth of Virginia Memorial Day ceremony, livestreamed from the Virginia War Memorial on social media and broadcast television—many, many more than would have been able to attend in person. Hundreds of transitioning service members and potential employers from Virginia and around the U.S. participated in the HIRE VETS NOW virtual events, produced by our Virginia Transition Assistance Program (VTAP) team in partnership with The Virginia Chamber Foundation. The 2020 Virginia Women Veterans Summit in June was our seventh annual event specifically targeted at our women veterans. Virginia has over 108,000 women veterans, the largest percentage per population of women veterans of any state. The 2020 Summit, held as a virtual event because of the pandemic, was an outstanding success with an amazing program featuring 91 speakers and more than 1,300 active participants watching and relaying online questions and comments. As I write this, the Commonwealth has entered Phase Three of its reopening process. We have reopened the majority of our VDVS local offices for in-person visits by appointment. Visitors to the Virginia War Memorial are now permitted to tour the interior portions of the facility, and memorial services and funeral honors are now again offered at our state veterans cemeteries. All of our offices and facilities have policies and procedures in place to protect the health and safety of visitors and staff members. Moving forward, we expect continued reliance on electronic communications to serve veterans and their families. Remote work will persist, for both safety and service reasons. Our operating procedures will reflect this change as we adopt a hybrid operating model combining remote operations with an in-person office environment. We also see this as an effective way to improve outreach while promoting safe infection control practices. While COVID-19 has changed the world in which we live, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services has strengthened its commitment to meeting the needs of Virginia’s veterans and families. The turmoil created by the pandemic means that veterans and their families will continue to need the programs and services provided by VDVS, perhaps now more than ever. We will continue to find new and innovative ways to serve. We will continue to work harder every day to ensure that Virginia remains the #1 state for veterans in America. Virginia’s veterans deserve nothing less. John Maxwell was appointed Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services in February 2020. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, earned an MBA from Auburn University, and served 28 years on active duty with the U.S. Navy retiring with the rank of Captain. He can be contacted at john.maxwell@dvs.virginia.gov . And then along came COVID: Serving Veterans By John Maxwell B ERNIE H ENDERSON President Emeritus Funeral Celebrant Phone: (804) 840-8586 Bernard.L.Henderson@gmail.com V