Dear Veteran:

If you have not already heard, I am excited to announce that Governor Corzine has reappointed me as the Deputy Commissioner for Veterans Affairs. I am honored and grateful to be able to continue to serve New Jersey’s Veterans. I also want to thank you for the support you have given me over the past 18 months in taking care of our Veterans and for your personal support and many kindnesses. I pledge to each of you that I will do my very best to ensure that our Veterans receive the services and benefits that are due them.

Our Outreach Program continues to be a high priority for the entire Veterans Affairs Team. As you can see from Bill Devereaux’s information paper, we have been hitting the pavement hard. Please visit our kiosk when we are in a mall near you but more importantly tell a member or friend about the program. It is important that we ensure that each and every New Jersey Veteran know what benefits and services they earned through their service to the nation.

Frank Carlini’s update on the three Veterans’ homes highlights the open of the brand new Vineland Memorial home. We now can proudly state that we have three state of the art long-term Veteran nursing homes in New Jersey and with the addition of the Vineland home, the first home in the country designed with an independent (assisted) living wing. We hope that we will be able to dedicate the new facility around Memorial Day. We will notify you as soon as we have selected a date.

As Gary Englert states in his piece, the Korean War Memorial is now complete with the installation of our two interactive kiosks. NJN did a masterful job in telling the story of the war, New Jersey’s contribution, and the establishment of our NJ Korean War Memorial. If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to make a trip to Atlantic City. It is well worth the drive.

Kudos are also due to Mike Winnick, State Commander of the Jewish War Veterans, who was instrumental in gaining Veteran’s preference in his position on the Long Branch Housing Authority. The Authority will accept applications for their Public and Section 8 Housing Programs from March 1st to March 3rd; the Section 8 approvals are transferable to other communities. For more information, go to their website at www.lbhousing.org.

I have also included a “Contact Information” form for you to update. I have included a contact information release statement so that you may choose whether you will allow us to release your contact information to third parties or not.

Finally, I have enclosed a schedule of our Veterans Outreach Publications. Our goal is to publish either a Veterans Journal or one of these Updates every other month. Again I hope you find the information in our Journals and Updates useful and informative and I welcome your feedback.

Attachments:
- Veterans Contact Information Form (PDF)