Vets home needs volunteers to help clean up the cemetery.

https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/grand-rapids/effort-to-clean-up-veterans-cemetery-needs-volunteers

By: Zac Harmon  Fox 17 news

Posted at 8:56 AM, Jun 19, 2020

 

and last updated 8:56 AM, Jun 19, 2020

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — An Army  Veteran needs help to honor some of Michigan's fallen soldiers.
Jim Burke wants to help keep the Veteran's Cemetery at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans looking respectable.
Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, the two groundskeepers are only working part time. With the rest of the campus to take care of, they cannot keep up with the mowing and grass trimming needed in the cemetery.
Burke says he noticed the grass growing over the headstones in the past weeks, and he wanted to do something about it.
With permission from the groundskeepers, he is organizing a group to assemble on Wednesday mornings to help get the grounds back in order. The first work day is planned for June 24, and will repeat every week.

More than 5 thousand people are buried at the cemetery, dating back to the Civil War. It's a job that Burke says could use lots of people.
"I don’t know if there will be three people there, or a couple hundred. I would hope for a couple hundred."
If you are interested in helping out, Burke says any volunteer will need to bring their own weed wacker, fuel, rake, eye protection, and water. He plans to start work in the East-most section of the cemetery, and go until noon.
For more information, or to volunteer, call Jim Burke at (616) 481-8101.

Used without permission, just passing on the info! 

Killing off our Veterans at the Vets home, slowly with diabetes.

I have been saying this since 2010. The meals at the Grand Rapids home for veterans are killing the residents due to high amounts of carbohydrate and sugars. This leads to diabetes Type 2 in many otherwise healthy people.

Even when I lived at the home, we usually had those Gowd awful instant mashed potatoes (very high starch, aka sugars) once a day in either lunch or supper meals. If not we had some kind of pasta (noodle) or some kind of high starch item in the meals.  Noodles AND instant mashed potatoes were a double whammy. 

So here is what happens. You go to the home, and move in. You become less active, burning fewer calories, and they begin stuffing you with starches which are in basic forms, sugars.  When your body reaches the point where you are taking in more than you are burning, it starts to store the stuff as body fat. And when your body tank gets full, you end up with insulin resistance, and high sugars in blood. This is Type 2 diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association says the way to treat this is to inject more insulin. Insulin which your body is already reacting to, by either not making it, or not not making enough of it. OR, your body is not reacting to the insulin which helps keep your sugars down.  In other words, these medical genius are trying to force your body to store even more sugar in a body that is already reached its full mark and is saturated with it.

Sounds kinda stupid to me, how about you? But this is what they do, and the Vets home follows the ADA guidelines.  Insulin is not cheap. It also does other things which results in other medical complications. 

Is it possible to reverse the Type 2 condition? Yes. But the home will not and does not treat the problem using the method necessary. And what is that method? Reduce carb/sugar intake to below what the person burns each day. They need to burn off that stored energy from their "full tank" before the Type 2 insulin resistance will reverse itself. 

Think of it like this.. The body is resistant to insulin because there is no place to put the extra sugars because the body's tank is already full. However once you empty the tank, even a little below full, the body then has a place to put extra energy and it will then use the insulin to do so.  Thus insulin resistance is returned to normal.  

The home MUST stop feeding the residents these high amounts of carbs and sugars,  or many more and future residents will continue to develop and die of Type 2 diabetes complications.  Something that can be avoided with a proper diet based on calories being burned, and how much exercise the residents are getting. 

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.

New Vets home on hold?

Where is the smart leadership at GRH4V?

Well, thanks to major budget problems with the new Michigan governor and legislature, the matching funding for the new veterans homes may not be available.

Now add the Federal VA politics to the mix and we find the planned 5 smaller veterans homes planned to replace the existing Veterans home model for Michigan may be stopped dead in its tracts due to lack of funding.

Apparently Michigan has NOT released its matching funds, nor has the VA released the money for the construction of the new homes for GR and Detroit areas. 

To understand this, you have to go back to the time Sara Dunne was running GRH4V. At the same time she was running the home as a prison, other states were also having problems with their veterans homes, and the Fed VA got tired of it.

So the question was asked, why not allow vets to go to what ever retirement place they want? We just pay the place for it. That way we don’t have to have our own buildings, our own staffing and save money to be used to help more veterans.

There is a Bill before the federal congress to do just that. If it passes, it will eliminate the need for the 5 Michigan Veterans homes.

Now with that in mind, keep in mind that in Grand Rapids, the Rankin building still needs to be removed. HOWEVER;

Kozy corners and the APR room do NOT NEED TO BE SHUT DOWN..

I wonder if they have already trashed the furniture that was in Kozy?

There is no real reason why the residents should not be able to use these 2 rooms at this time, seeing how construction of the new homes is on hold..

And heaven forbid they start cutting down trees in the picnic area, only later on to find out the new home has been canceled.

Once again I see GRH4V being mismanaged at the expense of our veterans

Billing problems still at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

Michigan has a legal obligation from the US Constitution to take care of its wounded veterans. I think It is doing a dismal job of it. It was bad enough over the last 2 decades, at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans and thanks to the efforts of many people who put in hundreds of hours of their time, and several Veteran organizations such as the VFW, Am Legion, AmVets, DAV and others who showed that they cared about our veterans we finally got the legislature involved and some much needed changes took place. Not all of them worked out, but many did, and it put us on what many hope is the right path for the future care of our Veterans.

But now once again another skeleton has popped up out of the dark closet where it was hidden for many years. This is one of many problems that have to be properly dealt with, if we are to improve the States dismal performance of caring for our veterans. I am told that Michigan once again is ranked 53 out of 53 veteran zones. The US Territories Guam and Puerto Rico apparently take better care of their veterans than Michigan does. And we have over 600 thousand in Michigan.

In past articles on our blogspot.com page, I have talked about the cost of care for veterans and how much it cost each veteran depending on what unit they were in. I also talked about the hidden costs that many of us were not informed of, and which many residents and past residents are STILL NOT aware of.

As the Home moves towards Medicare/Medicaid compliancy, we have to look at this subject again as billing is going to change. Medicare does not pay on a 30 day basis like residents are currently being charged. Medicare pays on a daily basis.

So how is a veteran going to be charged for cost of care? Will the home charge the VA, then try to get Medicare/Medicaid to pay the remaining balance? How exactly is this going to work?

Currently veterans are charged a set fee for their cost of care. This cost of care does not necessarily reflect the actual cost that the veteran claims it costs to have a veteran living there. A veteran is responsible for all of that amount minus $100 per month. A veteran with no income is allowed to stay at the home and receives five dollars a week for personal use. What is not told to the veterans is that the amount of their cost of care is being kept on financial statements and a lean on all their future earnings and or property has been placed on it by the state of Michigan, so I have been told in the past.

For example when I lived in the domiciliary unit, we were told that the cost of care was $2100 a month, yet the home claimed (at a board of mangers meeting that I attended) that it cost nearly $5000 a month for us to be there. So if we could only pay $300 a month toward their cost of care, the amount of $4700 was added to an account state that we would be liable for if we ever had any assets that the state could take.

Now for some veterans their source of revenue was either VA disability or social security disability or in some cases private business insurance, like a pension or something like that. I know for a fact that at that time, Social Security only paid about 1100 a month and the VA pensions were about 875 a month. Well below poverty line. Currently SS pays about 1300 a month, still well below the 2000 a month poverty line for Kent County for a single person with no dependents. 

As the home switches over to Medicare compliance, how are they going to handle this billing? I know that when I am sent to the local hospital and the local hospital bills Medicare, I end up with a co-pay that I have to pay out of my pocket. Will the veterans at the veterans home, have to pay co-pays if Medicare is billed for their cost of care and where will the money come from? Will it come out of the veterans pockets? And will they still have to pay until they only have $100 of their revenue per month? Or will they be allowed to keep their revenue? And what if the VA is billed, how will that work?

Will the veterans under the new billing system, be left with unpaid bills for amounts that they have not been made aware of, as they have in the past?

In past years I witnessed how the Grand Rapids Veterans home stripped a veteran of every asset that the veteran had. Even at the cost of taking the family home and throwing the wife of the veteran to the street. In past generations where the man ran the home and provided everything for the family, and where the wife was a housewife and raised the children and never worked outside of the home, the wife had no paper work with her name on it such as on the family home mortgage. This generation typically left the home to the surviving spouse. But what a veteran was involved in the state imposed a guardian or a conservator on the veteran, for whatever reason, in many cases the conservator would end up liquidating all the assets of the veteran to pay for the veterans cost of care at GRH4V. The spouse the veteran having never worked, did not qualify for Social Security benefits until after her spouse passed away. This means if a conservator liquidated the family assets, the spouse could end up homeless and penniless with nowhere to go and nowhere to live. I saw this happen several times to veterans who were placed at GRH4V. 

I cannot help but wonder as the home transitions to the Medicare Medicaid compliancy will that practice continue?

As I stated before Michigan has an obligation to take care of its wounded warriors per the US Constitution. I believe this means they should do so without cost to the veteran. What is clear to me that over the last few years the home use the veterans as a source of revenue for the State of Michigan.

I am offended by the fact that the home claimed that it cost over $5000 a month in Domiciliary unit to house one veteran in a four man rooms where he had an 8’ x 10' living area for a bed and chest of drawers, and a small table, then had to share all the other areas with other veterans. For $5000 a month I could've lived like a King in the outside. And I was told that the other units at the veterans facility costs anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000 a month, depending on how much nursing care the veteran needed. This makes me wonder how much they're going to charge a veterans to live at the new home once it gets built.

The new home is supposed to be a nursing home with a few beds reserved for the domiciliary unit. Now I am told this too has changed, and there will be no Domiciliary beds in the new unit, but instead the Domiciliary unit will be kept going in the McKlesh building (main building) at the home. I have no idea if it will still be available for homeless and penniless (no income) veterans, as it once was.

Recently just before Thanksgiving, a series of 3 “town hall meetings” took place, and residents were informed of the new billing procedures. 

I am concerned about the fact that people who have an income, but not enough to pay off their cost of care, are expected to use part of their 100 a month stipend to repay the past amount due, or face eviction from the home. 100 a month is nothing, if one is paying for a cell phone, or car insurance and upkeep or have other expenses. 

And keep in mind 100 bucks hardly pays for a good pair of shoes, or a pair of jeans if you are a larger sized guy. Clothing is expensive, if you want to buy your own, so the home depends on hand me downs, donations to a clothing room were residents can get clothing. They should not have to do that. I think it is shameful that our veterans have to beg for such donations.

100 a month is about 3 dollars a day. If you have no other expenses, and you want to use that money for a snack or munchies out of the vending machines at the home, at 2 dollars a 20 ounce soda pop, you won’t even be able to get a pop and a bag of chips which cost 1.25 in the machine, that you can get for 50 cents at Walmart or Meijers 

And keep in mind that the State is required to care for our veterans, so why is it costing them anything if they are combat wounded? AKA service connected? A lot is not being said about this new billing system. 

New system will allow the home to take money from the VA, from Medicare, from Social security, and from private pensions leaving the people left with 100 a month to live on.

Seems to me that the new home is being set up as a for profit institution, just like the current one is, instead of our state meeting its Constitutional obligation to care for our veterans. 

They say they want to model the new homes after the ones in Tennessee, well, if you do, then make them NON PROFIT!!

Also, one of those handouts at the town hall meeting says that if a repayment agreement is not kept, they can discharge the resident, yet another one clearly shows the debt is NON ENFORCEABLE.. So how can they kick the veteran out? They say one thing then say the exact opposite.  No wonder people are confused.

This is sounding like the same ole crap from years ago, just different people running it. Nothing has changed but the names.

MVAA doesn't even have OK for new vets home, costing taxpayers millions.

Shaking my head over this one. I just got back from the meeting about the new vets home NEW possible location.

Apparently no one knew the area containing the nature trail was a wetland. And no government had documented it. Or so we were told.

Well now they know and now they cannot build the new home there. So they need a different location.

The next site, will require a 150+ year old building to be moved - the Civil war train station where the current NCO club (that is not used by residents), the clothing room and fishing/bait shop is.

And they are not even sure they can do that yet.

So here we are. Federal money in hand and they don't even know if they can build the new home.
DUH.. How much tax money is being wasted by incompetent MVAA people on this?

In order to build the new home, the picnic area, band stand, Ranking building, Chapel, Pavilion where the winter smoking tent is put up, The picnic rest rooms, the building where the train club/bike shop is located will all have to be removed, and of course, the train station historical building moved.

The new home will stretch from the old clinic parking lot all the way down to Monroe Avenue on the north end of the complex.  And that is IF they can do it there. They don't even know if they can.

Some of the same ole questions that are asked at every meeting were asked again, some by residents some by visitors.

Cathrine Kooyers (spelling?) was there. She didn't even say hello to me.  I didn't expect her to after she burned her bridge with me, but she did ask a question that we all now know the answer to.
She asked about the mini kitchens in each of the housing units, if members were going to be allowed to use them. Using Kozy Corners as example, the answer was, "only under supervision" but who would be qualified to be "supervisor" was not made clear. In Kozy, it has to be a paid staff member, not qualified volunteers.

Someone else asked about residents traveling from the new home to the current one. On the map there is an open area, and in winter it means crossing a parking lot. Not good.

So I left with the feeling that the MVAA yet again does not have approval for this latest attempt, and will soon be forced to give the federal money back due to their failure to have a shovel ready plan in place that is approved but just waiting for funding.

Time for them to look to put the home elsewhere. I don't think the new proposed location is a good idea either.

Plans for New Vets home made public, People getting sticker shock at the price.

 Drawings of a new Grand Rapids Home for Veterans campus have been revealed. 
State Rep. Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, shared the renderings on her Facebook page Dec. 28.
"Thank you to the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency and Creston Neighborhood Association for sharing these drawings with my office and constituents," Brinks wrote.
The drawings show a seven-building complex at the corner of Monroe Avenue and Three Mile Road, just south of the existing veterans home facility.
Four of the buildings are residential, and surround a central community center.
As opposed to the existing facility, which has a more institutional layout, drawings of the new campus show sprawling, single-story residential buildings more like long term nursing care facilities.
The new facility will cost approximately $49.9 million. It will have 120 to 150 beds -- 205 to 235 fewer than the current veterans home provides.

The cost for this new facility is extremely high, given how much it costs per foot of space, compared to other commercial construction

Follow the money!  These numbers aren't making sense - spend $50,000,000.00 to go from 355 beds to 128 at $1960 ser sq.ft . Why not just buy Bridgewater and give it to the vets.

The thing that is really making me sick about the City of Grand Rapids complete lack of Transparency - you would have to some third world country to find a government that is so determined to keep facts from the public in the age of the internet and social media - lets start out with who is making the loot off the existing buildings and why is the cost of construction more than ten times more than the private sector ?

Government shrink the available beds and jack up the price 13%? perfect..

So $49 million to build 25,000 sq, ft equals $1960 per sq.ft.
Michigan homebuilders average cost per square foot is $150
So 13 times more expensive to build then average?
Must be the extra landscaping and hand greasing costs right?

 A 1500 square foot house in the suburbs costs much less than the $383,000 cost per 400 square foot apartment.

Vets selling smokes at the vets home - the real story.

Selling smokes at Grand Rapids Home for Veterans - the real story.

Ok this is what we know happened at the home.

VA employee whose name I think is Tom Harrisson, went to NY to get non taxes smokes, and brought them back to Michigan. Some were given to contacts at other locations, some to Contact at GRHFV, Ken.

Ken ran the “store” from the smoking location outside of Kozy Corners. As expected, Ken being in a powered wheel chair, had to “run up” to his unit from time to time to get med’s and use the restroom.

Jeff, was a veteran who spent a lot of time sitting out in the smoking area. Ken got Jeff to “watch the store” while Ken was off running to use the can or get his meds. After a while Ken showed Jeff how to do things and paid him a small fee to sell smokes if someone wanted a pack or so, while Ken was out doing his thing.

John was also brought into it to further sell smokes.

Tony, whose medication put him on 12 hours different schedule, slept during the day and was up most of the night. In the morning hours he would sit out in the smoking area, and eventually ken got him to watch the store in the morning when ken had to make a meds run or bathroom run.

I do not believe Jeff or Tony were actively selling smokes outside the designated smoking area. John I am told, was selling to guys on his unit, who could not get down to that smoking area, due to its location at the far end of the complex.

After a while, something happened and Ken told everyone he had to keep things close, and not do it so openly. Apparently this is when Ken got written warning to stop selling smokes from the administration.

He did not tell the others that he got that warning. Nor has anyone shown me that they got the paperwork telling them to stop. So when the home reports that “they were told to stop”, I question, WHO was told to stop? Ken, or all 4 of them or who exactly. I think this is a misrepresentation by the home when they claim that all of them were informed.

Now I see this as 2 groups of people involved. The Administrators, and the workers. Tom and Ken were the administrators, who violated the law. The 3 helpers were just that. Helpers. They got brought into it.

In Michigan, it's illegal to sell a tobacco product to another person for resale without being licensed. And many of us did not know this until that was posed as part of a WZZM-13 news article on 19 Dec 2017.

Now understand most people do not know or believe that it is unlawful to sell a pack of smokes. To them it is no different than selling an apple, a pencil, a bottle of soda pop, or anything that is personal property; and they see the pack of smokes as personal property as they paid for them. 

We had guys “rolling” their own smokes, and then selling packs of 20 of them in little plastic baggies. Is that unlawful to do too? If so the AG could potentially have over 30 more cases just like this one.

Also, if the assistant AG Joel Froeleich knew everything that was going on at the home as he many times claimed, why didn’t he speak up and put a stop to this years ago? Understand this went on for about many years.

Now Ken was keeping books and records of who bought what, and how much they owed him, to keep track of the money. Proceeds went to paying for wireless internet because the home after all these years had little or no internet access for residents.

Also, Ken allowed guys to get smokes on credit, and they would pay him each month when they got their disability checks. A significant number of these veterans died owing Ken, and he wrote their bills off as a loss. He still made money just not very much of it.

Now the homes administration knew this was going on for months and did nothing. Then all of a sudden they decided to do something? Why? Policy change?

This whole thing is about a guy bringing in cheap smokes to a bunch of broken veterans, who had little or no money who wanted to have a smoke. Yes Harrison violated the law, and yes Ken may have knowingly violated the law, but those two are a separate issue. They knew what they were doing.  

The other 3 helpers, John, Jeff, Tony, were not involved in that decision and were brought into it later to help Ken. They have been punished by being discharged from the home, out to the street, (except for John who is still there) and advocates for the veterans had to help them find permanent safe housing. We just got the last one into proper housing on 15 Dec 2017.

So why this now? The veterans were under the understanding that their fate was left to the homes administration, who then proceeded to discharge them. They were also told if they ever did that again they would be prosecuted.

Now without warning, they are being prosecuted. Many believe this is because the Attorney General Bill Shuette has had several cases thrown out of court. His record at the Vets home is dismal. So far only 1 successful prosecution and that was because a news reporter found a video of a nurses aid shoving a veteran into a desk. If not for the news reporter, that conviction would have never happened.

Score ½ for the AG.

Several other cases covering improper reporting of bed checks at the home were thrown out of court by judges. 8 cases, 6 thrown out, 2 about to be thrown out.

So far, the AG’s office has failed to prosecute or even bring charges against any of the senior or top administrators of the Sara Dunne administration for the abuses can crimes they committed upon veterans at the home.

Some people think the AG is doing this to save face and for political reasons because he is running for the office of governor in the 2018 election and to get this victory at the start of the year would give his campaign a much needed push and feel publicity. 

State Lies, moves to prosecute Former Residents of Vets home.

NEWS FLASH

State of Michigan goes back on its word, notifies veterans of prosecution for income tax evasion.

19 Dec 2017. Earlier this year 4 veterans at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans were discharged (kicked out) of the home for selling non taxed cigarettes at the home to fellow veterans. These smokes were obtained from Native American Reservations by a VA employee, and brought to the home to a specific veteran who then sold them to others. 3 other veterans helped him by “watching the store” when the 1^st veteran had to go get his meds, or use the rest room, or something like that.

State of Michigan got involved in the case and decided to let the veterans home decide the fate of the 4.

Now 3 of the 4 have left the home, the 4^th being in hospice due to medical issues. 2 of the others, one of whom was the contact person, require nursing care, only 1 can live independently. All 3 had to move out of Kent county to find living accommodations. We just got the last one situated in permanent housing this last Friday.  

None has personal transportation, and all must appear in State court, Grand Rapids Michigan in January. How the state expect them to get there, I have no idea. 2 are scared to death that they will end up in the county jail for months, losing their recently obtain living quarters, effectively putting them on the street yet again.

WHY? Haven’t these people been thru enough already? Who decided to do this? IS this more of the Atty Generals failure to protect veterans? All we know right now is that members of congress have been notified, news media has been notified and many, many people are angry that this is happening just before Christmas. Many think its just a political stunt so that the AG can get a victory under his belt, after so many failures at the Vets home. 

2nd top administrator leaves GRHFV in less than a year - Scott is out.

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/investigations/13-on-your-side/watchdog/grand-rapids-home-for-veterans-administrator-resigns-after-less-than-a-year/467657043

Yes Scott has decided to leave. His reason: Same one Leslie gave us - family time.

Mmmm.. makes you wonder what the real reason is. 

But we know it. It is the MVAA, and the Snyder governments corruption.

Not unlawful to trade or sell a pack of smokes.

The fact of the matter is this: it is not unlawful to sell a pack of smokes. A pack of "rollies", or even a professional made pack, you as a citizen have the right to trade them, sell them, what ever you want to call it.

What we have at the Vets home, is an administration that wants the entire grounds to be non smoking. And they are doing this to force a reduction in the number of guys smoking, thinking that if they cannot afford them, they will quit smoking. Stupid if you ask me. Guys will just pay more for them, and we will have people digging thru the ash cans again.

A non smoking facility, including grounds, will be all but impossible to achieve until the new home is built.

In the case of the 4. We don't even know what crime they could be charged with. So lets see what they could be.

1. tax evasion, via the USE tax.
2. tax evasion - Tobacco stamp tax act.
3. what else? a possible distribution charge?

Now these guys did not go out and get those smokes. They were brought in. What they did was distribute them. This is like them buying 3 cartons, then trading at cost one of them to a friend. Nothing wrong with that. And most people see nothing wrong with that. And most people do not see anything wrong with going out of state to get lower costs smokes. That 2 dollar tax on each pack is not being used for heath care, it gets dumped into the general fund and wasted with all of our other tax money. So why even have it? Most folks see that as another money grab by the state, which has miss managed our states treasury and budget for over 3 decades.

What the home sees as an issue, is these are Manufactured smokes that do not have Michigan tobacco stamp on them. This is like you or I going out of state, and buying a bunch of smokes that cost less than if you got them here and bringing them home. And the administration thinks that is wrong.
Under Michigan law, (and i think this is TOTALLY unconstitutional), the USE tax kicks in when you buy something out of state. You are supposed to report it on your MI 1040 income tax form and pay the Michigan sales tax on the item. Doesn't matter if you paid another states sales tax. And I think that is wrong, but it is the law. I see this as being no different than if i buy something on line and don't have to pay Michigan sales tax. With Amazon, we do pay sales tax because Amazon has a warehouse in Michigan. But other shopping sites do not and when we order thru them, we do not pay Michigan sales tax. That is when the USE tax law goes into effect and it is the most violated tax law we have, and not much is done about it because the state cannot to much about it.
The state could push this as an issue.

2nd, the tobacco stamp tax act.. Since these are in fact, manufactured smokes, I believe the law says they have to have a Michigan tobacco stamp on them.

However, since these smokes were NOT sold at a retail level in Michigan, how does one get that stamp to put on them?

Again this comes down to personal trading, unless the state can prove that these 4 guys were selling them at a profit.

The MVAA, and the home had to act. They had no choice, IF the law was violated. However, this is a minor issue if it is because of the way it was done by these 4 guys.

The man who BROUGHT the smokes to the home is the one who is in real serious trouble.
The MVAA has been criticized for not enforcing policy. Well they are now. And its on 4 guys who are easy targets. That is what is upsetting so many people.

No matter what the MVAA and the administration does, it will look like they are bullying the veterans. Doing this will not help their reputation, which is already sour in the eyes of many people, especially after the bad audit which resulted in Sara Dunne's removal, and the latest fiasco from the MI AG office of charging 11 low level workers with criminal charges, while the AG office still has not held one upper management person accountable for the numerous crimes committed against residents under the previous administration.

Bottom line here.. What we are seeing is just another example from the old administration: Once a veteran is targeted for removal, (discharge) the home finds a way to do it, and these 4 were targeted long ago. After all, this administration under Scott has to get the population down to about 100 before the new home will be built. And this is one way to do it.

We can only hope that they find a safe place to go to.

Lack of Accountability, not Privatization caused the mess at GRHFV.

The privatization experiment should be ended. We now know that  privatization requires extra vigilance and oversight, for it to work properly and Michigan did not provide that oversight at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans.

The fiasco at this location was due to economics and again, poor oversight of the Michigan government.  Gov'r Rick Snyder inherited a broken economy, with low revenue streams and lots of welfare bills.  And a dismal veterans care system. We were in last place.

His solution was to create Michigans own version of the VA. MVAA or Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency was created to get Michigan qualified to obtain Federal money which would be used for caring for the vets.

Then the MVAA, state congress, or who ever, decided to skip the rules, ignore the regulations and when the Administrator at the home retired or was ousted (depending on your point of view),  Sara Dunn was pulled out of the kitchens and made top administrator. Kinda stupid, but that's what they did. It was her administration that is the focus of that really bad VA audit, and the group that advocates wanted to see Atty General Bill Scheutte go after, (which he did not)..

Now Gov' Snyder had a juggling act, with the states budget.. The Granholm administration left it in a total mess.

Part of Snyders idea was to run the home as a for profit business. and you cannot do that. It has been a failure.. And the seeds of that failure have been planted into the new authority for the new vets home model. Not a good idea..  This combined with lack of accountability, is what lead to the problems at the vets home. Accountability that is STILL MISSING as the AG office clearly refuses to impose it.


Recently Atty General Bill Scheutte announced criminal charges on some low level employees. Not one higher up administration person has been charged, even when evidence of their wrong doing was given to the AG office which now claims they don't have.

Higher administration officials let things happen at the home and some of them did the atrocities.


Again this page will name names, call for charges, demand justice for our veterans.

MI Atty General Bill Schuette Dishonors Veterans - Again.

On Monday,, 24 July 2017, Michigans Attorney General Bill Schuette announced criminal charges against 11 former workers at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, relating to the previous administration.

These are middle management people, and are being used as scapegoats, nothing more.

This poor performance of the AG's office is an insult to the justice demanded by the victims of the Sara Dunne administration.


Given Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette and his team took so long to announce charges relative to abuses at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans, I truly expected to see substantial, meaningful criminal charges filed.  I believe anyone abusing our veterans should be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible.

In that regard, everyone should support the filing of charges of the individuals named today.

However, activists for the veterans are extremely disappointed that after all this time none of those charged included some of the worst offenders:  Michigan Attorney General Schuette's own team member (who was the Assistant Attorney General who guided past Admin. while atrocities were ongoing - the same one who advised us Schuette and Governor Snyder were told "everything" as early as 2014); the past administrators and Home leaders who not only shut a blind eye to horrific abuses, but who should be directly accountable for many abuses they made  themselves; those who are accountable for the still missing millions of dollars; as well as certain previously identified Board of Manager members who threatened and intimidated those who spoke out about abuses or asked for change.

Until that happens, Any action taken by the Attorney generals office, is inadequate for the justice demanded, and deserved by those victimized by the previous administration.

Schuttee made his position on veterans clear years ago when he said " they don't have to live there", showing complete disrespect to those for which that veterans home is the only place they have other than the street. And todays action by Schuttee is a furthering of that previous idea.

In other words, he could care less.

Schutte claims that people did not provide him with names, locations, and specifics.. To this I claim BULL!  I personally did video interviews of fellow residents, and took those videos and paperwork to both local media and Sent copies to the AG's office.  NOTHING was done. No one stood up for the veterans.  The AG office has that information. 

There is no excuse for this poor performance of the AG's office. 

It is clear that its position is one of protecting the Governor Rick Snyder Administration and its followers.  Schuette should wear a bag over his head in public to hide his shame.

Conversation about GR Vets home between 2 admins

A1 = There was a man, homeless, standing at the entrance to Walmart by me. I was in my car.

I lowered my window and he told me he was a veteran. He had a wife who was going to have a baby in the next month or so

She was living with her parents but he wasn't allowed to be with her as his inlaws didn't like him.

I made some calls and got him a ride to the GRHV where he stayed for about a year.

He is now gainfully employed at Home Depot. They have an adorable little boy

The Home was an essential part of his recovery.

We cannot forget the purpose of the Home. Yes, it is in bad shape now

BUT it has helped many in many ways, it helped you too

                

A2 = It won't be in the future. And it is not now.

A1 = I know it’s not now

A2 = Dom unit was, and I think still is needed, but its no longer functional.

A1 = I have been working on some things here. Who, in your opinion, should be held accountable?

A2 = Poor administrating from MVAA DOWN, they lost focus of what the Dom unit was for and did nothing when the feds changed the "homeless" rule.

A1 = Homeless Rule???

A2 = Yes. When I first arrived, vets in Dom were classified as homeless, qualifying them for HUD-VASH section 8 vouchers.. then in 2011, the Feds changed that rule, saying since we had a roof over our heads, beds to sleep in, and being fed 3 hots a day, we were no longer "homeless" per definition and thus no longer qualified to apply for hud-vash. Hud-vash was part of the transitory program at the home.

Without it, it is difficult if not impossible for a veteran to transition out of the place.

A1 = Here me out on this.

The Dom unit is the worst place for a healthy man, capable of contributing to society in meaningful employment.

I think of J who you and I both agree became institutionalized

J was working after his discharge from the Navy. Correct?

Steelcase closed up shop and he became a displaced worker

J had many options at that time and did not take advantage of any of them. Why?

A2 = First there needs to be employment available. . 2nd, age discrimination kicks in for most of the guys at Dom since their age is usually over 45 or older. 3rd, the ones there with drug and alchaol problems, and 4th no job resume/interview training. . but by 45 they should already know how to do that kind of thing.  . As for J, No idea what he did after Navy.  . think steelcase, yes.  .

A1 = Instead, he applied to the Home and was accepted.

A2 = J has mental issues - course we all do.. but that’s beside the point You have to remember, to even qualify to go to Dom at the time you had to be penny less, and “worthless” I.E. Have no assets. A man going from the position of being a productive member of society who takes care of himself, needing no help, to lose everything and end up a penny less homeless person is quite a mental shock for most people. This is why guys in Dom need that “time out” to get their minds back to normal. The stress and emotional roller coaster ride these guys go thru is just unbelievable. I see now why so many turn to drinking or worse, suicide.

A1 = In J’s case I agree. When did the mental issues occur?

A2 = No idea.. I can only guess at the time when he realized that once again the US government sold out the American people with NAFT and Generation X (which we are both part of) was about to get F’ed over yet again.

For example, I knew it was over when the economy collapsed in 2004-2008. It finally caught up with me in 2008, but I saw it coming and had no options at all. In fact, I am surprised I am alive now. In 2008 I was wondering if I would be alive at the end of the year, let alone 10 years later (which next year will be 10 years). And it has been a very, very, ruff road to travel.

At the time of the Eco crash, I was working 50-60 hours a week just to survive, trying to get student loans out of default, keep a roof over my head, and my car kept up. The Eco crash put an end to all of that.

And I think the stress of the fear that the home could have become a financial prison for me, contributed to my having that major heart attack which resulted in my becoming 100 percent disabled.

I just did not want to spend the rest of my life living like that. 

My future did a 180 degree flip-flop with no hope for recovery. I still have student loans haunting me and I am now 150 percent disabled, gearing up for a 6^th heart attack, and I no longer give a sh*it about Student loans or much of anything else.

I mean what can they do to me now? I am damn near dead. But that was part of the roller coaster mental stuff that I went through, and other guys went thru a lot more with child support problems, VA disability claims, and other things. This is why we needed a “safe place”, a “time out” to sort things out and get things together so we could return to the ‘real world’.    

A1 = Jobs are now available for anybody who wants to work  Why aren't they being filled?

Chassix in Montague has openings for over 200 people. It is not a glory job where a suit and tie is worn. It does have a starting pay at $15 per hour.

A2 = A few jobs now, for too many people out of work, that have no benefits. 12 an hr is not enough to survive on let alone live on here. And guys at the home, remember most have already lost EVERYTHHING including their cars, savings, transportation, everything. Some places do not accept the bus lines as an acceptable form of transportation, and the busses don't always go where the jobs are.

Also remember, Montague and Chassix is in the middle of nowhere..why would someone from GR want to go there???

A=1 For a job

A2= 15 an hour? I was making 18 in 2008... 15 for starters isn't bad.. but after 90 needs to go a wee bit higher, like 18 to 20

A1 = What does GR have to offer if you don't have a job?

A2 = What good is Montiegue if ya can't even get there? And where they gonna live? These people can’t just pack up and relocate 100 miles away overnight. What is the housing situation there? What is the transportation situation there? If these people don’t have vehicles, how are they going to get to work?

Remember, current population of Dom unit is 25 percent capacity. Average age is 55 there now. So this really is a nowhere discussion as it will never apply to those who are left.

Dom unit today is a pre-morgueatorium.  These people are just waiting to die.

A1 = Those that are left are at the end of the line so to speak. The damage done to them is extensive

A2 = Correct

A1 = aAnd it never should have happened to them

A2 = I dare say out of 30, only about 7 could make it on the outside - and all 7 would need help

A1 = Sadly, I know

A2 = Out of sight, out of mind. Problem solved. let them rot is the mentality for the most part. No one is addressing the quality of daily life at the place. They are all focused on the future instead of dealing with the harsh reality of today at the place.

A1 = well, we are trying to change that mentality

A2 = Dom unit; if it still exists in the new place will probably be less than 5 beds. I dare say 10 at most.

A1 = A Home for veterans must be that. A Home. You cannot mix a Home with a hospital or nursing facility

A2 = well its not going to be a home,, it never was a HOME except in its name... This is clear by countless documents we have obtained. NO one recognizes the location as a place of residency. Post office, UPS, State and Federal governments, nothing. No one is acknowledging that people actually LIVE there. It’s like area 51, you can see it, you know it’s there but no one admits it’s really there.  Again, denial, and out of sight, out of mind, let em rot mentality.

A1 = If they take the facility on Monroe and turn it into a Home where those who reside there are educated and taught how to fit into society again, it would work.

A2 = Maybe before 1980 it was a home, but not since then.

Doing that now will cost too much - and the legislatures are making it clear, they want solutions that use federal money not state money.

A1 = The Republicans and Democrats in Lansing have one goal. Protect Snyder's backside

A2 = Not sure about the democrats... LOL But yeah, I think a lot of what we have seen is about protecting Snyder, because the MVAA is his baby. He inherited Flint and Detroit, and part even the veterans problems, but he created MVAA and its been the focus point of a lot of the stuff going on at the veterans place in G.R. Snyder cannot escape the fact that if it becomes a political quagmire, it will land square on his lap and there is no way he can brush it off or blame anyone else for it.