Category Employment

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 […]

Boxer entering a ring, ready for a fight.

PASSION, DUTY, AND A LABOR OF LOVE: HELPING VETERANS AT CALVET IS ALL OF THE ABOVE

For those of us who work at the California Department of Veterans Affairs, however, every day is Veterans Day. It is our passion, our duty, and a labor of love to help veterans in all ways within our means. Many who work for CalVet are veterans themselves — veterans serving veterans. You, too, can make […]

ANSWERS TO VETERANS’ BENEFITS QUESTIONS JUST A CLICK AWAY WITH CALVET’S UPDATED RESOURCE BOOK

Are you a service member or among the nearly 1.6 million veterans living in California? Do you want to buy a home? Do you want to return to school or find a new career in the civilian world? Do you need help navigating the VA’s medical system, or need information about any of your other […]

CALVET’S WEBINARS KEEP INFORMATION FLOWING DESPITE COVID-19 CLOSURES

Over six years ago, CalVet began offering a series of webinars to provide information important to California veterans and their families. While important then, they are even more vital today. Consequently, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and effectively shut down in-person outreach and veterans events, CalVet already had the experience, technology, and audience to expand […]

WOMEN VETERANS GETTING HELP FROM A VET WHO KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT MINEFIELDS IN TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN LIFE

For a significant portion of her career in the U.S. Marine Corps, Jodie Grenier collected and used information about enemy threats in order to minimize the danger to her fellow troops in Iraq. That included knowing whether and where minefields and weapon systems existed. “My job, essentially, was to collect information to mitigate threats to […]

EDD’s Veterans Day campaign showcases how employment services help veterans find jobs

Unemployment among California veterans dropped to 3.2 percent over the past two years – down 2.6 percentage points since August 2019 – according to the state Employment Development Department. And among the 735,700 employed veterans across California, 1 in 10 held a job in management, earning $138,000 annually compared to the statewide average of $60,485. […]

‘You’re out of uniform!’ And that’s a good thing at Operation Dress Code, where women veterans can dress for success

SAN DIEGO – Five years after leaving the U.S. Coast Guard, Franchesca Avila emerged from Central Arkansas University with a degree in family and consumer science. Then came time to get a job as a civilian. The tight budget of a new graduate didn’t leave much extra cash for the attire she needed to interview […]

Veterans faring well in California’s longest job growth streak in decades

Labor Day – the day America celebrates its workers – offers an opportunity to see how our military veterans are doing in the California labor market. The answer? Quite well, it seems. The number of unemployed veterans in California declined from 65,200 to 20,800 between October 2015 and October 2018. The labor force, whether for […]

Disabled veteran and small business owners lose longtime advocate Angel Carrera

Disabled veterans and other small business owners lost a great friend when Angel Carrera died suddenly on August 14. Carrera, 67, spent four decades working for the state of California, administering the Small Business and Disabled Business Enterprise programs for the California Lottery and then for the Department of Transportation. He also worked as an […]

Military veterans, chefs mobilize for CalVet’s 7th Annual MRE Cooking Challenge

Can military sustenance become scrumptious? Can drab be transformed into delectable? See for yourself at CalVet’s 7th Annual MRE Cooking Challenge, Thursday July 18 at the California State Fair, an event that promises to be tastefully done. The Challenge pairs military veterans and noted local chefs as they look to impress a panel of culinary […]