Best of 2017: A Year Serving Those Who’ve Served
The New York City Department of Veterans’ Services made notable accomplishments in its’ first full year of operation, fostering purpose-driven lives for NYC service members, veterans, and their families.
By Alexis Wichowski, Senior Advisor for Communications
Housing and Support Services
According the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2017 report, New York State has seen the largest decrease in the number of homeless veterans in the country from 2011–2017. While veteran homelessness has increased slightly nation-wide — up 2% — in New York City, the rate of veteran homelessness continues to decrease: by 4% this past year.
DVS is proud to report that by using three innovative approaches to veteran homelessness, we have made tremendous gains on the Mission Home initiative:
- Peer support: An innovative peer-to-peer, housing-only and housing-first approach — with only 4 Veteran Peer Coordinators on staff — we successfully housed between 200–250 homeless veterans in the past calendar year.
- Aftercare: Our Aftercare Coordinator then ensures that the veterans we house stay housed, providing post-housing support for 182 veterans this past year and preventing imminent eviction for 18 of them.
- Landlord coordination: Finally, our Housing Coordination Center — a one-stop placement service for affordable housing owners — ensures quality placements and expedited rent-ups.
While even one homeless veteran is too many, DVS firmly believes that the systems we’ve created to help get homeless veterans in New York City from shelter to permanent housing will continue to reduce the rate of homelessness as we move forward.
Whole Health & Community Resilience
As part of the First Lady of New York Chirlane McCray’s ThriveNYC initiative, DVS has launched its veteran and family-member focused program, VetsThriveNYC. This program consists of two components: (1) the Whole Health & Community Resilience (WHCR) Outreach Team, and (2) The Core4 Whole Health Model.
In 2017, DVS moved VetsThriveNYC from conceptualization to implementation, in three key ways:
- Peer support: The WHCR Outreach Team worked across the five boroughs with an initial goal to engage with 2,000 veterans and family members in its first year of operation. We are proud to report that WHCR’s Outreach Team far exceeded that goal, engaging with over 7,100 veterans and family members to increase help-seeking behaviors in the context of a peer-support model.
- Mental Health First Aid: DVS certified 6 of its staff members to be trainers for a veteran-focused Mental Health First Aid Training program. In 2017, our staff have conducted veteran-focused Mental Health First Aid Training for 160 members of the New York City community who work with veterans and their families.
- Culture & Community: Through DVS’s Public Artist in Residence, Bryan Doerries, and his Theater of War project, DVS has staffed and provided mental health resources at 16 free performances and community discussions across the five boroughs, reaching over 2,200 veterans, family members and civilian allies.
City Employment, Education, Entrepreneurship, Engagement & Events
When DVS was established in 2016, we committed to establishing outreach sites in each of the five boroughs. Working in partnership with the Borough Presidents, DVS is proud to report that we now have satellite sites in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and two sites in Staten Island (one at the Borough President’s office and one at the College of Staten Island).
The addresses for each of the satellite sites can be found in our monthly newsletter (which you can subscribe to here) or on our website.
In addition to holding regular office hours at the satellite sites, CE5 staff attend events in the community across the City to provide information and resources to veterans and their families. In 2017, the CE5 team participated in over 300 community events, and provided one-on-one assistance to over 2,300 veterans and family members.
2017 Highlights & Milestones
January
- Building relationships with legislators: DVS started off the New Year by hosting a Meet and Greet with New York City Committee on Veterans’ Council Members
- Housing vulnerable veterans: DVS signed an MOU with NYCHA to help house homeless veterans with less than honorable discharge status, creating opportunities for a whole new cohort of veterans to find permanent housing
February
- DVS as a national model: Commissioner Sutton engaged in a discussion with Mayor’s Offices of Veteran’s Affairs from 8 other cities who sought to learn from New York City’s example and to share best practices and common concerns
- Honoring the team: Three members of Team DVS — Commissioner Loree Sutton, Ines Adan and Latisha Russaw — were honored by Bronx Community Board 7 for their tireless efforts on behalf of New York City veterans and their families
March
- Healing through the arts: DVS officially launched its two-year Public Artist in Residence (PAIR) Bryan Doerries and his Theater of War project as part of its VetsThriveNYC mental health initiative. The PAIR includes 65 free performances / community discussions geared toward addressing the challenges of war and mental health issues for veterans and civilian community members
- Sharing updates with the community: DVS presented testimony at the New York City Committee on Veterans on the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2018 budget
April
- Honoring World War I veterans: Commissioner Sutton represented New York City at the French Institute / Alliance Française for the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the US entry into WWI
- Establishing City-wide presence: DVS officially established satellite sites in each of the five boroughs, ensuring access to veteran outreach staff close to home for hundreds of thousands of NYC veterans and family members
- Establishing mentoring consortium: DVS gathered over together over 25 veteran mentoring organizations based in New York City to share best practices and consolidate efforts in ensuring any veteran in New York City who wants access to a mentor is matched with an appropriate mentor
May
- Honoring military families: DVS celebrated “Military Family Appreciation Month” with a film screening and panel discussion of “American Veteran” at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, as part of the Senator Elizabeth Dole Foundation’s “Hidden Heroes” Initiative
- Engaging with student veterans: Fleet Week celebrations included a Mayor’s Breakfast for Fleet Week Leadership at which he announced two new DVS initiatives, Veterans on Campus and Mentor a Vet NYC.
- Recognizing DVS achievements: The New York Times wrote profiles on two DVS initiatives: its final funeral honors program in “For Forgotten Veterans, a Dignified End” and PAIR Bryan Doerries’ Theater of War program in “US Veterans Use Greek Tragedy to Tell Us About War”
June
- Promoting tax breaks for veterans: New York City veterans became eligible for the “Veteran Homeowners Expanded Property Tax Exemption”
- Informing New Yorkers about GI Bill and housing: DVS and the NYC Commission on Human Rights co-drafted a fact sheet for landlords and renters detailing how the GI Bill must be accepted as income for housing
- Highlighting veterans employment opportunities: DVS presented testimony at the New York City Council hearing on outreach strategies for veterans employment in conjunction with Small Business Services
July
- Celebrating veterans as protected class: New York City veterans celebrated the passage of Int. 1259, adding veterans and uniformed service members as a protected class to the City’s human rights law
- Honoring World War I and World War II veterans: Commissioner Sutton represented the City at a French Legion of Honor ceremony posthumously honoring a WWI American veteran and several American WWII veterans
- Recognizing women veterans: DVS held its first major event honoring women veterans in partnership with Women Veterans Interactive, an organization that aims to empower female veterans through advocacy, education, and wellness programs
August
- Celebrating military families: DVS joined the Blue Star Mothers of America at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum to honor the service and sacrifice of military families
- Promoting peer support: DVS participated in the New York City delegation for SAMSHA’s “Suicide Prevention Through Peer Intervention” Academy
- Tackling treatment of veterans in the justice system: Commissioner Sutton participated in a discussion at the annual American Bar Association conference to discuss “Veterans in the Court System”
- “Sacred work” luncheon: DVS hosts luncheon celebrating our funeral honors partners including funeral homes, VSOs, and other organizations dedicated to ensuring NYC’s most vulnerable veterans receive the final honors they earned
September
- Launching Veterans on Campus initiative: Columbia University hosted a Veterans on Campus kick-off luncheon for over 30 New York City colleges and universities to discuss the ramifications of the Forever GI bill
- Promoting culture as policy tool: DVS became one of a dozen agencies to participate in the City’s inaugural Culture Cabinet meeting, discussing ways to leverage arts and culture to achieve agency missions
- Building a strong foundation: DVS engaged with Gartner Consultants to strengthen its operational foundation and establish business capabilities models
October
- Inviting community engagement: DVS kicked off its new “Office Hours” initiative at Civic Hall to hear the thoughts and concerns of the veteran community in New York City
- Seeking feedback from student veterans: DVS representatives kicked off a months-long “Listening Tour,” visiting the NYC colleges and universities with the highest population of student veterans in order to learn about best practices and identify challenges
- Honoring military caregivers: Commissioner Sutton participated in the inaugural meeting of the Secretary of the VA’s Veterans’ Family, Caregiver, and Survivor Advisory Committee in Washington, DC
November
- Honoring CUNY student veterans: Commissioner Sutton presented awards to academically-high achieving student veterans at CUNY’s Fifth Annual Veteran Academic Awards Breakfast
- Fighting the stigma of mental illness: DVS hosted a major event to combat the stigma of mental illness with a film screening, hosted by Lifetime A&E Networks, and panel discussion
- Capturing award-winning data: CIO Venkat Motupalli won the “Best of New York City Award in Data Analytics” for his work in determining the origin of incoming veterans to New York City and their dispersion throughout the boroughs
- Celebrating Veterans Day: DVS honored Veterans Day with a Mayor’s Breakfast at Gracie Mansion, by leading the UWVC’s America’s Parade, and participating in commemorative events throughout the city
December
- Mapping NYC’s veterans: DVS rolled out interactive visualizations of the New York City veterans population on its website, enabling users to find veterans by district according to age, gender, era of service and several other variables
