Category CalVet Team

Iraq War veteran Christopher Adriano in helicopter.

Fair Enough: CalVet Loan Agent Finally Gets to Meet Veteran Who Was Among His First Clients

Associate Property Agent Christopher Adriano displayed his business cards among the brochures and other materials while representing CalVet’s Home Loans Division at the California State Fair last month. A woman, donning a United States Forest Service shirt, stopped by the booth, read the card, and said, “Are you Chris? You did our home loan.” That […]

Chaplain William T. Young and Joan Whitefield Smithey with text "Veterans Serving Veterans" and CalVet logo.

Barstow Chaplain Counts His Blessings as a Veteran Serving Veterans

As the Protestant chaplain at the Veterans Home of California—Barstow, U.S. Army veteran William T. Young sees serving veterans as his divine duty. “I joined the Army in 1983 to pay back my missionary ‘debt,’” Young said. He spent the next 32 years ministering to the spiritual needs of soldiers—from Fort Totten in New York; […]

CalVet logo with text "Veterans Serving Veterans" and image of Marine with President Ronald Reagan and wife Nancy Reagan.

Veterans Serving Veterans: Hand Caught in the Jelly Bean Jar

(This is the first in a series of CalVet Connect posts introducing you to CalVet employees who are veterans of the United States Armed Forces—thus Veterans Serving Veterans.) Long before Richard Blackford began protecting veterans at the Veterans Home of California-Redding, the Marine veteran was a lance corporal assigned to the security detail at the […]

CalVet logo and Julian Bond.

VENTURA HOME ADMINISTRATOR BOND MOVING ON AFTER FOUR IMPRESSIVE YEARS

Julian Bond made a big impact during his four years as the administrator of the Veterans Homes of California-Ventura. Appointed to the post by Governor Gavin Newsom in the summer of 2019, Bond is leaving CalVet to become inspector general of the California Military Department. “Julian truly embodies the qualities of a remarkable leader,” said CalVet […]

GI Film Festival booth in San Diego.

GI FILM FESTIVAL SAN DIEGO BRINGS WAR, ITS AFTERMATH, AND VETERANS INTO FOCUS

Films that depict heroism and sacrifice. Films about tragedy, redemption, forgiveness, and understanding. Films that address the mental health issues many veterans face daily. Films about veterans, many made by veterans, and told through the words of veterans. The 2023 GI Film Festival San Diego will offer all of the above when it begins its […]

A look down the entryway into the veterans new home.

CALVET SAVES VETERAN’S HOME DEAL BY APPROVING LOAN IN RECORD 48 HOURS

Veteran Julian Saenz waited for his commercial lender to fund his loan so that escrow could close and he could move his family into their new home in Riverside County. The seller, meanwhile, had scheduled movers to transport her possessions to her new home in another state. With their closing date of February 3 looming, […]

CalTAP staff gathered at CalVet Headquarters.

WEBINARS OF INTRIGUE: HOW CALTAP WENT VIRTUAL DURING THE PANDEMIC TO KEEP VETERANS CONNECTED

When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in early 2020 and shut many things down, CalVet stepped up. When other offices stopped answering their phones or were unable to reply, CalVet picked up. When military bases, college campuses, and other community-based points of connection closed, CalVet booted up and took vital information right into the veterans’ homes […]

Feature art for WordPress article, headshot of servicemember Kanwarpreet Singh.

WITH CALVET’S HELP, SIKH SOLDIER FINDS NATIONAL GUARD RELIGIOUSLY ACCOMMODATING

When Kanwarpreet Singh came to the United States from India four years ago, he knew he wanted to serve his new country. Military service, he said, is important to members of the Sikh faith no matter where they live. However, he would need some help to join any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and […]

Group shot of the Veterans Division team at the CalVet Leadership Summit 2022.

VETERANS DAY IN THE BOOKS? AT CALVET, EVERY DAY IS A NEW PAGE WHEN IT COMES TO SERVING THEM

The parades and picnics are over. Speeches made and proclamations read. The American flags that lined the streets throughout the country and California are neatly folded, stored until the next national holiday. Veterans Day – America’s annual day of thanking veterans for defending this country and the freedoms our Constitution guarantees – is in the […]

A photo of the award that Julian Bond received from CalPers.

CALVET’S VENTURA HOME ADMINISTRATOR BOND HONORED BY CALPERS WITH SPOTLIGHT ON EXCELLENCE AWARD

Julian Bond, administrator of CalVet’s Veterans Homes of California-Ventura, received the 2022 Spotlight on Excellence Award by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS). The annual award emphasizes the importance of public sector work. It is peer nominated, giving employees of CalPERS contracting agencies the chance to highlight those in their own agencies who go […]