Tag Archives: Veterans
Brothers of Band: Chula Vista Home Veterans Played for and with the Best
Whenever the mood strikes him, the sweet sounds of Raymond Robbins’ clarinet waft out into the hallways of the Veterans Home of California-Chula Vista. Next door, Oliver Luck listens in appreciation. These two veterans share more than just a common wall as neighbors at the Chula Vista Home. They share the bonds of military service […]
During Older Californians Month, CalVet Focuses on Specialized Services for Senior Veterans
Caring for the elderly is in CalVet’s DNA. It can be traced back to the opening of the Veterans Home of California-Yountville in 1884; and is flourishing today at all eight Veterans Homes located across California. The quality care that is provided to senior veterans at Yountville — which is slated to open a new […]
CalVet’s Dual Approach to Veteran Mental Health: Tradition and Innovation
Providing access to mental healthcare services and benefits is a key element in CalVet’s vision of ensuring California’s veterans are connected, protected, and respected. The month of May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, presenting a prime opportunity to highlight the statewide programs and initiatives designed to reach and help veterans in need. Focusing on […]
Marine Veteran’s Final Mission: Helping Comrade’s Family Understand Their Loved One’s Supreme Sacrifice
Marine veteran Albert Bonin had one last hill to take — one last mission to carry out — as his health began to fail in 2008. This one involved memories and words instead of bullets, mortars, and grenades. The Irvine resident, then in his late 80s, deemed it nearly as important as what he and […]
Yountville’s Chief Doctor Can Attest: Servicemembers’ Fighting Spirit Doesn’t End with Separation from the Armed Forces
Dr. Julie Fields will tell you that once a soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman—always a soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman. “Our veterans, like the active duty sailors and Marines I served, tend to be extremely resilient and sometimes downright stubborn,” said Fields.
Climbing the Ladder of Volunteering Success at Chula Vista Veterans Home
Several winters ago, Lois Cornish says she met a real Grinch: a notoriously cantankerous veteran who lived at the Veterans Home of California-Chula Vista. In our ongoing “Volunteers Serving Veterans” series, CalVet highlights Cornish, who began volunteering at the Chula Vista Home when it opened in 2000. She soon started recruiting some of her American […]
Redding Home Veterans Always Know What Volunteer Has in Store for Them
Whenever Dorothy Lipps volunteers to work in the tiny store inside the Veterans Home of California-Redding, she comes dressed for the part. “I’m very patriotic,” said Lipps, who began helping out at the Home seven years ago. “I always wear red, white, and blue. My two sisters and I always have done that, even when […]
Veterans’ Best Friend Proved to be the Volunteer of a Lifetime at Fresno Home
Shortly after the Veterans Home of California-Fresno opened in October 2013, Gladys Garza-Brown took her former husband, an ailing veteran, there to scout it out as a place where he might live. She also brought along her Border Collie, Chase. The moment they walked through the doors, staff immediately began recruiting her and Chase to […]
Too Early to Deploy, Redding Home Vet Found Herself Swamped with Paperwork
As the Korean War raged in 1951, Lois Sweeney decided to become one of “The few. The proud. The Marines.” She enlisted and soon found herself at Parris Island, South Carolina — one of the 138,000 recruits who trained there throughout the war. “I was in the swamp,” the 92-year-old resident of the Veterans Home […]
With Pandemic Restrictions Eased, CalVet Homes are Eager to Rebuild Volunteer Ranks
Arlene Kepplin loved volunteering so much at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville that she did so for more than two decades. Her remarkable span began in 1998; she kept going strong until the pandemic in 2020 severely limited all volunteerism at Yountville—and at all other seven Veterans Homes. The majority of Kepplin’s volunteerism was at […]
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