Prospective attendees of the BVA 78th National Convention August 14-18 are encouraged to register with both BVA itself and the hotel to secure a reservation at the Marriott St. Louis Grand.  Individuals and families planning to attend this year’s activities—highlighted by educational sessions, an increasingly popular and busy Exhibit Hall, and official BVA business sessions—can now register online on BVA’s national convention webpage and link to a hotel reservation form that will allow them to […]

BVA’s long-tenured Kathern F. Gruber scholarship program will award five $2,000 tuition scholarships to spouses, dependent children, and grandchildren of blind and low vision veterans for the 2023-24 academic year. The deadline to submit applications for the scholarships is Friday, April 28.  The deadline for BVA’s awards program is also April 28. The awards honor each year the extraordinary professional achievements of a blind or low vision veteran, the outstanding level of service of a BVA […]

The Travis Manion Foundation (TMF) and Metrolina Association for the Blind (MAB) have announced a unique partnership to identify veterans with vision loss who could become youth mentors through the “Character Does Matter” program hosted by TMF.  Using a research-based curriculum designed specifically for youth audiences, the Character Does Matter program is founded on positive psychology and provides the framework for mentorship for youth and a renewed sense of purpose and camaraderie for veterans and […]

Join us this Wednesday, April 5, at 2:00pm Eastern Time as the VetTech team welcomes OrCam’s Joshua Rivera and Corinne Nero to its Weekly Wednesday Webinar. Joshua and Corinne will focus on the company’s dynamic customer support team, which seeks to help veterans take advantage of the award-winning Artificial Intelligence capabilities offered by the OrCam Read and the OrCam MyEye Pro.  Do not miss this VetTech session! Participants will learn:                                                                        Contact information for OrCam’s customer […]

In order to assist service members, veterans, family members, and caregivers in building strong financial foundations, VA’s Office of Outreach, Transition, and Economic Development is offering a Wellness Wednesday Educational Series beginning next week and continuing each Wednesday throughout the month in recognition of April’s Financial Literacy Month.  The series, consisting of four online classes, has been refined to address financial literacy gaps across the military and veteran community. Dates and titles of the classes […]

Southern California Regional Group president Ken Asam reports that despite a slow and late arrival of spring this year to the lower portion of the Golden State, his fellow veterans were motivated to “spring into action” this month with their own version of March Madness.  First, it was off to the Anaheim Marriott Hotel in their own backyard for the 38th Annual CSUN (California State University, Northridge) Assistive Technology Conference, held this year March 13-17. […]

BVA’s Emerald Coast Regional Group was recognized by WEAR-TV in Pensacola, Florida, for the group’s donation of a tactile Bronze Braille American Flag at the city’s Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Community-Based Outpatient Clinic. The donation was unveiled on March 28 as a recognition and celebration of National Blinded Veterans Day, designated as such 13 years ago through a congressional resolution and proclamation by President Barack Obama. The flag was installed onto a structural pillar […]

Today, March 29, we will remember with solemnity the sacrifices and selfless service of our Vietnam veterans and their families everywhere. Our thoughts are directed to all who served during that difficult conflict—the hundreds of thousands still with us and the many thousands who, sadly, are not. Many of the latter have left us much too soon. For the past six years, March 29 has been officially recognized as National Vietnam War Veterans Day by […]

The Annual Benefits Report of the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), updated last month, summarizes the benefit programs delivered by VBA during the past fiscal year (2022), identifying the current level of program participation and profiling the beneficiaries. The report is intended to 1) present a clear and data-driven picture of how veterans and their dependents use these benefits, and 2) provide insights into the nature of the benefit programs. Highlights of the benefits provided to […]

Prospective attendees of the BVA 78th National Convention August 14-18 are encouraged to register with both BVA itself and the hotel to secure a reservation at the Marriott St. Louis Grand. Individuals and families planning to attend this year’s activities—highlighted by educational sessions, an increasingly popular and busy Exhibit Hall, and official BVA business sessions—can now register online on BVA’s national convention webpage and link to a hotel reservation form that will allow them to […]