BRS Program Office Wellness Check Article Ella Hart, VA Blind Rehabilitation Service National Program Consultant, describes an important VA initiative with a human touch designed to check on our veterans with vision loss during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Ella is both a Certified Low Vision Therapist and a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist. Read Ella’s article, which includes BVA Executive Director Donald Overton’s personal experience with the initiative.  READ MORE

BVA Continues To Urge House Vote on H.R. 3504 Together with support from Representative Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), and other Veterans Service Organizations, the Blinded Veterans Association again today expressed support for passage of critical legislation that would assist blinded veterans and other service-connected veterans in adapting their homes for greater independence in daily life. Read more, including a comment from […]

Important Adaptive Housing Grant Bill Stalled in House BVA has joined with other Veterans Service Organizations in calling on Congress to pass a bill that will expand grants available to blinded veterans and their families to modify their homes to better meet their needs . Read Executive Director Donald Overton’s quote and more in a July 1 Stars and Stripes article. 

VA Rolls Out Simplified Travel Reimbursement System for Veterans, Beneficiaries  The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is beginning a roll-out of an innovative new system beginning July 1 for veterans and eligible beneficiaries to submit and track transportation reimbursement claims. The process will use VA’s secure, web-based portal, Access VA. It will be accessible 24/7, 365 days a year. Implementation will run across Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs) in phases from July until November. Read […]

BVA’s Resilient Wellness Project Blinded Veteran Brothers and Sisters: When I became legally blind about ten years ago, I began asking if the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) had anything written about coping skills that would help blinded veterans. When I received no answer for five years, I began to believe that if there were to be anything like that, maybe we should be the ones to create a guidebook. It took me several years […]