Manistee news advocate website calls the UP vets home, the Jacob Eddy home.

Wow, someone needs to do a little proof reading.

"Thunder at the River is our big fundraiser for the year, and the funds we get from that we donate roughly about $10,000 per year to the Manistee County endowment fund for veterans, Grand Rapids home for veterans, the Jacob Eddy home in Marquette, and then we save a portion of that to buy gifts for our vets," Stocki said.


https://www.manisteenews.com/briefs/article/Rolling-Thunder-spreads-holiday-cheer-to-area-14938578.php

Grand Rapids DAV Chapter 2.

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 2, Grand Rapids Michigan..

Can anyone tell me what they are doing for the veterans at the home.

I am NOT talking about the DAV Chapter 2 Auxiliary.  I mean the main chapter. The group that is supposed to be running things, (and NOT into the ground either).

We are getting conflicting reports that this chapter may soon be closing. I have asked the people that I know who are involved with this and they have not heard anything, but I have had several calls from folks asking me why they were closing. It appears that someone has started a very vicious rumor. And that is not nice at all.

Food or no food, which is it?

Getting reports here that the hospital chair people from the various Veterans groups have been told that they could no longer serve food or snacks at bingos. 

Yet here we have proof that for some people, it must be ok to do so.    More proof of the continual double standard being applied by this administration? 

I guarantee you the Home is not providing that pizza, nor the money for the bingo prizes.

Old VA clinic now a church?

I was using google earth today to look at some areas, and I found some markers that were wrong in my version. It still showed the VA clinic next to the Vets home.

So I decided to view it in Google maps.. and look what came up.  Google maps is now showing the old VA Clinic to be some kind of community church.

Anyone know anything about that?

4 years, 2 administrations since Sara Dunne left and double standards are still the norm at Grand Rapids Vets Home.

Wow.. 2 different administrations since Sara Dunne left, and double standards seem to still be the norm at Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

I am getting reports that SOMEONE in the administration, has decided that there will be no food served at events at the home. In other words, no food or snacks at bingo or other such functions.

Yet there seems to be a double standard. Some groups apparently get away with doing it.  Some groups are allowed to give out food/snacks, while others are not. Why this double standard?

Have you been to the home lately? You have to go in thru the main entrance and sign in as a guest. That is you do unless you too are the exemption to the rule and yet another double standard.

Got reports of people from the Riverbank run being allowed into the home at the smoking area entrance without checking into the main area. I am told one resident was stationed there to let them into the building thru the secured doors.

So much for security, eh?

Yep. 4 years later, 2 different administrations and double standards are still being applied at the Vets home.  Shame on the administration.  Sorry Tracy, but you are the administrator and this one is on you.

Wood TV does update on the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/veterans-voices/changes-made-more-coming-at-gr-home-for-veterans/?fbclid=IwAR1LAUb_JxEnd_Ma8kLPKYuWVyeXkOsq7g5PB1N3Yk5dPPp_pjmgopA8xx0

November Events in history

2010 November, Sara Dunn is made acting administrator until further notice. Michigan law says they have 6 months to replace her. She does not have license, nor qualifications to hold the job.

2012 November, administration starts harassing residents with threats of having vehicles towed away, showing graph of a tow truck with a car attached.

2013 November. Received notification that the claims “ A member of Jim Dunn's staff informed me several months ago that the qualifications for the job "Administrator" was recently altered and amended.  By doing this, it gave Sara the qualifications to be Administrator. A member of our State Legislature informed several people that over 80 people had applied for this position. All of them were more qualified than Sara.  So why hire Sara?  This just gave residents even more reason to distrust Jim Dunn, a figure who many think was the center of all the problems at the home between 2010 and 2017.

2014 November  17 of the privatized  J2S care givers quit in one week protesting the working conditions at the home. Noted was excessive mandatory over time, lack of support by staff of J2S and lack of support by GRH4V administration.

2016  Residents and some advocates are angry about Jerry L being kicked out of the home for stopping a fight between 2 residents which probably saved the life of one of the 2 men. 

Construction and update

Well, I am told that when the new home is compete, the Board of managers will dissolve its authority, giving it to the new homes authority board.

Rumor going around that the home is going to segregate and put smokers into one unit and no smokers into other units. Isn't that a form of discrimination?

The big american flag was taken down this year without a ceremony of any kind. There has always been a ceremony for the raising and lowering of that flag..

500 Veterans or Fake news?

Mlive recently posted an article about a Veteran business owner who is raising donations for the veterans at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. The article says the items help support about 500 veterans.

Just one problem with that. There are only about 200 or so veterans still in residence at this location. And the Home in the UP has an additional 125 or so at most. 

So the article is a little misleading.. but here is the link to it anyways.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/10/former-army-ranger-pulls-businesses-together-to-collect-essentials-for-veterans.html

DAV chapter 2, stealing credit for what others have done?

Wow. Talk about getting your ear talked off. Been on the phone today with several people.
Not happy with what I am being told.

Recently we posted the picture of the new VA shuttle bus, whose funding was done by our local DAV chapter 2 AUXILIARY UNIT.   The main chapter had nothing to do with raising the money for this vehicle.

Yet I am being told that they are taking credit for purchasing the vehicle. And that is NOT right.

The DAV Chapter 2, Grand Rapids, Michigan has problems of its own to deal with. It does not need to add more to it by taking credit for doing what others have done.

We are still failing our veterans.

Since we have closed down the Face Book page, I have started going thru the archives here and the notes I have kept over the years.

Oh my gowd.. I started having nightmares about that place. The things I witnessed happening. The changes that are taking place. How things are changing yet still staying the same.

The issues the advocates fought, the veterans we fought for, did it even matter?

I read about JL's discharge and how he was targeted for removal when he finally broke and was so angry he became unstable (or so it seemed to administration). How he was kicked to the street that day. And how his rights to fair and due process were violate, as well as his personal belongings and his privacy rights were trampled by the administration.

How others were targeted for discharge. How lower people on the staff were targeted for prosecution yet not one administrator or supervisor was held to the same standard.  - go for the easy conviction, for the one who will cave in first. That seemed to be a Scheutte AG standard.

Stupid decisions still being made about the care of our veterans, I see as history repeating itself.

The criminal acts of administration that have gone unaccounted for. Yet residents were kicked to the street with nothing but what they could carry.

Some things have improved, others are the same ole same ole.

My conclusion: Michigan is still failing to properly care for its veterans. And I do not think the new homes are going to change that fact.

New shuttle van donated to VA by DAV Auxiliary Unit #2

Sad the VA can't even provide a shuttle between the GR clinic and the Battle Creek VA hospital and Ann Arbor hospital, seeing how BC cannot serve half the Vets assigned to it. They have to go to Ann Arbor.

For those without tranportation, it means taking this shuttle from the GR clinic, to Battle Creek, spending the night at BC, then going on to Ann Arbor. Then if they can catch it going back the same day, the same thing in reverse.. so a 1 hour appointment takes them 3 to 4 days. 

And the Van has to be donated.

So our local DAV Auxiliary Unit #2 stepped up and bought the new van.

10 Care givers, may be up for charges again.

Wow, so now the state is looking to see if 10 care givers can be prosecuted for claiming they did work they did not do.

Well, what do you expect with privatization?  Apparently it now hinges on if they they knew the sheets were medical records or if they did not. So how well did J2S train its people? I would say rather poorly.



https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2019/10/home-for-veterans-workers-cleared-in-2015-wrongdoing-may-be-on-hook-again.html

Face book page closed, we are back here now.

Ok, the administrators have decided that Face book policies are creating too many conflicts with the abilities of the admins to run that page on face book any longer.

Face books policies on postings are so messed up, that our admins find themselves in face book jail constantly for one reason or another and it is usually because some snowflake got offended. This and constant harassment by Facebook to boost our posts, to advertise,  and about 50 other things they constantly send us that the viewers never see. It has just become too much of a hassle to continue on Face book.

And this time, their actions have prevented the admins from commenting on posts on the page itself. They can post main articles but no comments. That was the final straw.

Sorry, but that is the way it is.   At least now, if one of the admins gets put in to face book jail again, they can still publish news here.

No more snacks during bingo for veterans at the GR Vets home.

I am really bothered by what I was told today at the Vets Home by residents.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. I keep seeing things happening that happened under the SD administration, that I hoped and thought would never happen again. However there are still a few holdouts in that administration and I think they are at the focal point of most of these situations that keep reoccurring.

First, bad news. Governor Whitmer is cutting the homes Budget. Over 2 million has been cut. Didn't Snyder try that game and it turned out to be a disaster?

Second, apparently Food and Drinks (snacks) will no longer be allowed to be served at Bingos held in the main Dining room.

What?!!! No munchies? yep. And I am told by staff that the members voted on it. Yet when I talked to Members, not one of them can remember voting on it. This same thing happened before. Slowly things are being taken away from our veterans. Things that make living at that place, bearable. NOT GOOD.

Latest Construction Pic's

Wow, construction is moving slowly, but as you can see, the buildings are starting to take shape.

Part of one of the new parking areas was recently opened up to provide more parking space up by the main entrance.

2nd Vets home of 5, under construction in Chesterfield Township

Here is news about the 2nd new Michigan Veterans home, in Chesterfield township. It has 5 pictures of the progress they are making.   Click below to open a new browser window and see the article.

To see the article, click here

Construction Continues

More construction at the G.R.  Home for Vets.  Walls starting to go up, drive ways being readied.  Slowly we can start to see what the finished product will look like.

Different view of New Vets Home construction in Grand Rapids, Mi

This view sure looks strange, not seeing the Chapel tower, and Rankin building.
Taken from the Vets Cemetery side of the Duck Pond.

Safety issue at Grand Rapids Home for Veterans need to be addressed.

While construction at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans continues, a safety issue has come up that has a few people wondering why the issue has not yet been resolved.

As part of the construction of the new home, the Front parking lot of the older facility had to be expanded and new lighting put in.

The problem is, the new lighting has not been put in yet, and the parking lot has been finished for a number of weeks.

The Base for the new lights have been in place, but where are the lights?  A recent visitor came to the home after 9pm and found the area to be extremely dark and was hard to see people and things.  "The sidewalk lighting is not enough" the visitor told me. "they need to put in the parking area lights".

The question now is, when are the new lights going to be installed?

GRH4V construction Update

Ok folks.. got some new pictures of the construction of the new Veterans homes, at the Grand Rapids location. Pictures of where the old Rankin building once stood, where the old picnic area was, and where the old back parking lot was..  They are putting in the footings for the new buildings now. Everything humming right along..  First pic shows the area between the Grotto and the Main entrance building where Rankin once was. Second pic is the area where the Rankin "duck pond landing" smoking area, and horse shoe pits were.. 4th pic shows the old rear parking lots, and the last pic with the 2 red lines added, show where Rankin building once stood.

Construction along with destruction

Look carefully. You can see on the first pic, where they are already laying the foundations of one of the buildings over by the old VA clinic. Middle pic is more clean up of the Rankin building area, and the last pic is some of the underground sewer pipes and stuff being put in where the picnic area and bandstand once was.

Good bye Rankin

Well, the De-struction is almost complete. Here is what is left of the Rankin building. A building built in the shape of a V for Veteran.  First photo is the pile of rubble that was once home to over 400 people, taken from the front main entrance area. The second photo shows the area where the APR room, Kozy Corners and the pavilion used to be. In upper left corner is where the horse shoe pits used to be just outside the duckpond landing. Pic was taken from McKleish 3rd floor (dom unit) laundry room.  Notice the train station is still standing! It will not be touched as it is a historical building.

Took a bike ride.

Went over to the home today and took a bike ride with charlie around riverside park. Afterwards I went around the place and took some pictures of the demolition going on behind the buildings.

Wow. The picnic area is gone.
The pavilion is gone. The grill area, Kozy Corners, the APR room, all a pile of rubble.  Think they are going to work on the chapel next, then maybe the last of the court yard.  THEN the big project, the old Rankin building.

Took a few pictures. Enjoy.

New Front parking lot almost done

Was over at the vets home today and low and behold, the new front parking lot is almost done.

As the picture shows, it is almost ready. I asked around. Everyone said it was supposed to be done by memorial day, but they expect it to open soon..

Mean while destruction crews are now working on tearing out the old buildings. Kozy corners is gone, the APR room is gone, part of the court yard is gone.. I expect them to start taking out the Rankin building once they finish these areas..

Taps for another Veteran and Friend.

It is my duty to report for those who cared, that our Veteran Friend,

A Former GRH4V domiciliary unit resident who got kicked out of the home for being one of the 3 guys who were selling un-taxed (by the state of Michigan) cigarettes that one of the 3 guys bought from another person who went out of state to buy them in bulk,

Who was then homeless for a short period of time, that I helped get him into safe secure housing near the Battle Creek VA, 

Today I went down there to check on him. The first time I have been able to in over a year due to medical issues. I did not find his name on the register at the place he was living at.  So I called the VA Battle Creek and learned that he,

Passed away last year. 16 September 2018 at the Battle Creek VA hospital Tony Moore was 52. I have no other information available at this time.

Ground breaking Ceremony for new vets home.

For your information. There is going to be a groundbreaking ceremony at 1:00 pm on the 17^th of May, at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

Not sure where on the grounds. For more info, contact the Vets home.

OK quick update

Ok, Sorry we haven't been posting much here.

None of our admins have been over to the home recently. But I will be going there for a visit soon and will be taking pictures..

As you know the Site is now under a demolition/construction zone. Fences have gone up around various areas in preparation to remove the Rankin building.

They have already cut down numerous trees.

More to come in the next few days, I hope.