Community Partners

Veterans Service Organizations and Groups

Veterans Council – We are a participant in a local veterans council that meets monthly at the VFW Hall at 4^th & Olney in Bend, OR. The Veterans Council is a local consortium of representatives from veterans groups who meet to keep one another informed and advocate for veterans on various issues affecting veterans, such as housing, transportation and other services.

Disabled American Veterans Randy L. Newman Chapter 14, Bend, OR – Chapter 14 is a partner. Chapter 14 provides the telephone line that is located in our offices for the DAV Shuttle Van. We provide the staffing to answer the phone, make the reservations, coordinate with the Portland DAV representative and Portland VA Medical Center on coordinating appointments, coordinate with the local Bend CBOC outpatient clinic and work with the local veterans who are making reservations. The Shuttle Van Coordinator who is the primary person who staffs the reservation service is a disabled veteran.

Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 820, Bend, OR – In 2010 we received a $600 grant from our local Vietnam Veterans of America chapter in Bend for use in our outreach programs/projects. These funds have been received and expended. We partner with our local VVA chapter in participating in veterans events such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day functions. Chapter 820 meets the 4^th Tuesday of each month at 6 pm at the VFW Hall, 4^th & Olney, in Bend. www.vva.or-org.

Veterans of Foreign Wars and Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 821 LaPine, OR – We have been voted a $300 grant from the LaPine chapters of these two organizations who went together to provide us the grant. The funds have not been received and will be used toward engine repairs to get the donated medical van running. We partner with both these organizations in participating in veterans events such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day functions. The LaPine VVA meets at the LaPine VFW Hall, 16480 Finley Butte Road, LaPine, the 3^rd Wednesday of each month at 7 pm.

Band of Brothers – Veterans of every generation from WWII to the present meet every Monday morning at 11 am at Jake’s Diner, 2210 NE Highway 20, Bend, OR 97701.

LaPine Veterans Group – Veterans of every generation from the South County area meet every Wednesday morning at 9 am at Gordy’s Truck Stop, Wickiup Junction.

Central Oregon Military Officers Association, P.O. Box 7826, Bend, OR 97708. – Meets the 3^rd Sunday of each month at different locations around Central Oregon. A chapter of the national Retired Military Officer’s Association. http://www.comoaa.com

Veterans of Foreign Wars #1643, 1503 NE 4^th Street (4^th & Olney), Bend, OR 97701

Veterans of Foreign Wars, Deschutes Post #4108, 1836 SW Veterans Way, Redmond, OR 97756.

Veterans of Foreign Wars, Crook County, 405 N. Main Street, Prineville, OR 97754.

American Legion Stevens-Chute Post #4, P.O. Box 784, Bend, OR 97708

American Legion Ray Johnson Post #44, 704 S. 8^th Street, Redmond, OR 97756. Website is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

American Legion Crook County Post #29, 405 N. Main Street, Prineville, OR 97754.

American Legion Lee Morton Memorial Post #86, 520 E. Cascade Avenue, Sisters, OR 97759

American Legion John Sloss Post 125, 860 SW Madision Street, Madras, OR 97741

County Veterans Services Officers

Deschutes County – Keith McNamara and Trish White, 1130 NW Harriman Street, Bend, OR 97701. (541) 385-3214. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Jefferson County – Tom Weiss, email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . (541) 475-5228.

Crook County - Angie Gilley and Kim McKillum. (541)447-5304. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Other Community Partners

NeighborImpact - NeighborImpact is a regional community support organization that receives local, state and federal funding to assist at-risk populations. We are the recipient of an on-going $8,000 annual grant which is used to help us cover utility, maintenance and other costs associated with operating Home of the Brave, our transitional house for homeless veterans. NeighborImpact has donated us a van (which is not currently operable) that we will use for our program/project to take medical services out into the homeless camps. We also work with NeighborImpact in conducting an annual 1-Night Shelter Count of the homeless population of Central Oregon with our focus being on veterans in homeless camps.

Homeless Leadership Coalition -

Volunteers In Medicine – Volunteers in Medicine (VIM) is a local non-profit which provides medical care to low income residents of Central Oregon. VIM can provide no financial support but is partnering with us to help us develop 5 two-person teams of medical professionals to staff our medical van project to take medical services out to the homeless camps. VIM is also working with us to help identify the medical supplies we will need to support the medical van and will also allow us to keep the van parked at their location when it is not in use. We receive no funding from VIM.

Partnership to End Poverty – Partnership to End Poverty is a regional non-profit that sponsors various programs aimed at addressing poverty issues in Central Oregon. We are partnering with Partnership to End Poverty on two projects: Establishing a local Veterans Court and the medical van project. The Partnership is not supplying any funding but is providing staffing assistance and advice as we work to get these projects up and running. We receive no funding from the Partnership.

Bend’s Community Center – Bend’s Community Center (BCC) is a local non-profit that specializes in services to low income and homeless persons in Central Oregon. We have a sharing partnership with BCC. When we do not have items on hand for homeless veterans, we provide a voucher to BCC’s thrift store and when homeless veterans come to BCC, they are referred to us for services. BCC has agreed to provide warehouse space for us to store surplus DOD property that we dispense to homeless veterans at a much lower cost that what we have been paying to have the surplus property stored at a commercial storage facility. We receive no funding from BCC but we will pay BCC a small fee to store our DOD surplus property at their warehouse.

Bethlehem Inn – Bethlehem Inn is an area homeless shelter that provides shelter to single men, single women and families, including veterans. We have a reciprocal arrangement with Bethlehem Inn. When a new resident is identified who is a veteran, we are notified and we work with the veteran to get them into services. Bethlehem Inn allows us to refer veterans who first contact us for assistance and who are homeless. Bethlehem Inn provides us with some of the food we use to take out to the homeless camps.

Cascade Community Development – Cascade Community Development (CCD) is a partner. CCD is a community-based, non-profit organization whose purpose is to help Central Oregon communities develop affordable housing for special population groups, such as developmentally disabled persons, physically handicapped, seniors, etc. We are partnering with CCD in an initiative to seek funding that will allow us to renovate an old adult foster home into affordable independent living suites for elderly veterans.

HousingWorks – HousingWorks “HousingWorks” is the “doing business as” name for the Central Oregon Regional Housing Authority. We are using Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding we received to purchase a former public housing duplex from HousingWorks that we will use to provide affordable housing to female veterans and/or a veteran with a family. We are partnering with HousingWorks on the HUD-VASH program to help identify eligible veterans to receive vouchers and to advocate for them with the Veterans Administration.

Shepherd’s House -

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program
The Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program assists homeless veterans receive the services they need to re-enter the labor force and access the local job market to find long term employment. Once in a desirable job with livable wages, these veterans can reclaim a position that they have earned in American society.
HUD-VASH Advocacy Project
Housing Works featured on KTVZ - 4/5/2012

Central Oregon has been approved for 10 HUD-VASH vouchers.

VA case workers have been hired to do case management for the program. COVO will assist our local housing authority (Housing Works) and the VA case worker to identify eligible veterans and advocate for these veterans on an individual basis to help insure that the veterans who are most deserving receive the vouchers. Because of our close working relationship with homeless veterans in Central Oregon, our advocacy will be critical to assisting the most deserving veterans in getting one of the vouchers and in participating in the HUD-VASH program.
Veterans Court Project
We are working with local judges, the prosecuting attorney, defense attorneys, the local court administrator, the VA CBOC clinic mental health staff and other community mental health providers to establish a veterans court for veterans suffering from PTSD, TBI or other mental health issues that lead them to commit crimes.
Transitional Housing
Housing for Female Veterans, Female Veterans with Children and Veterans with Families – Beginning in the last quarter of 2010 we will be able to provide housing for single female veterans, female veterans with children and veterans with families. Currently we cannot house these veterans in Home of the Brave, which is for single men.
Medical Van
In January 2010 during a one-night homeless count we determined that there were approximately 240 homeless veterans in our 3-county Central Oregon area. A critical need that we found in the camps was for medical and dental care. In May 2010 a local community organization donated a van to COVO that does not run but can be repaired. We are partnering with volunteers from a local low-income medical clinic known as Volunteers in Medicine to establish five 2-person medical teams to go out into the homeless camps twice a month. We need financial support to help offset the cost of maintaining the van, purchasing fuel, obtaining medical supplies, covering insurance costs, etc. to operate the medical van project and we need volunteers to be drivers and to be part of the two-person medical teams.

More information to come...
Transportation Assistance
We provide daily bus passes for homeless veterans so they can use the local Bend Area Transit Service to get to work, to get to the VA clinic or to get to other social services. We provide monthly bus passes to the homeless veterans who reside at Home of the Brave, our transitional house.
Communications Assistance
We use our offices to provide a mail address for homeless veterans so they will have a fixed address to get identification cards, drivers licenses, birth certificates, medical records for disability claims, medications mailed from VA hospital pharmacies, etc. We hold mail for homeless veterans and we provide them envelopes and stamps. We provide copying and fax services for homeless veterans. We provide our phones to enable homeless veterans to make long distance calls to medical providers, relatives and for business reasons.
Other Benefits Assistance
We operate as a clearing house to provide assistance to veterans, particularly disabled veterans, in obtaining benefits from local, state, county and federal programs, such as Social Security disability, where veterans benefits are unavailable or have been denied.
Veterans Service Officer
A Veterans Service Officer is stationed at our office to provide assistance to veterans in filing disability claims, appealing denials of claims or seeking an increase in disability payments.
DAV Shuttle Reservation Service
The Disabled American Veterans operates a shuttle van between Bend and the Portland VA that operates Monday – Friday each week. We operate the telephone reservation service that schedules veterans for the shuttle.
Potable Water Project to Homeless Camps
We have begun a project to provide safe drinking water to veterans in homeless camps to keep them from having to drink from local rivers, streams and irrigation canals, which are polluted with animal waste and toxic chemicals from farm and ranch runoff. We have pre-positioning 5-6 gallon water containers in the camps or with specific campers and we will fill them from a 55-gallon drum that we take out to the camps on weekly water runs.
Homeless Outreach
We provide outreach (including food, clothing, camping supplies) to homeless veterans in Central Oregon. We have a storage room at our offices where we distribute these items to homeless veterans on the streets who come to our offices. In the first 6 months of 2010 we gave out:

Tents, Sleeping Bags, Camping Gear, Fuel                                                  171

Food, Comfort Items (Hygiene Kits), Dog/Cat Food                                    153

Clothing, Shoes                                                                                        140

Daily Bus Passes                                                                                      184

Monthly Bus Passes                                                                                   36

Bicycles                                                                                                     5

(This does not include the food and other items we take out to the camps and give out there.)

Christmas Day, 2010, Bend Bulletin Article about Homeless Outreach
Home of the Brave

“Home of the Brave” (HOB) Veteran’s Transitional Housing Program

Program Overview

Central Oregon Veterans Outreach, Inc. (COVO) operates a transitional housing program designed to provide homeless male veterans with an opportunity to reintegrate back into society and get their lives back on track through the development of skills, personal growth, recovery, self-reliance, productivity, community involvement and residential stability.

COVO owns a 6-bedroom house in a residential area of Bend, OR where the veterans live who are participating in the program.

The program is operated under a grant from the federal Department of Veterans Affairs and is managed under the Portland VA’s Regional Office. The funds provided by the VA do not cover all the expenses of operating the home and COVO relies on grants and donations to meet all other costs.

Description
- A 90-day program for homeless male veterans who have a strong desire to become self-sufficient as a productive member of society and develop the skills necessary to obtain stable and permanent housing.
- A participant who comes into the program develops a detailed Case Plan with the assistance and guidance of a dedicated Program Case Manager. The Case Manager is on site.
- A participant may submit requests for 90-day extensions in the program and based on the level of progress demonstrated, may remain enrolled for a maximum of 24 months.
- The home is in a residential area of Bend with easy access to the Bend Area Transit system, the Bend VA clinic and the Forum Shopping Center in Northeast Bend.
- Bedrooms are single occupancy. Each bedroom has a half-bath. Common areas include the kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry area, etc.
- The house is a clean and sober house. Participants may not use alcohol or other drugs on or off the premises, whether substance abuse has been a past issue or not. Visitors who have been drinking or who are under the influence of drugs are not allowed on the premises.
Eligibility
- Must not have been discharged from the US military with a Dishonorable Discharge. Participants with Honorable, General, Other than Honorable or (under certain circumstances) a Bad Conduct Discharge are eligible for the program.
- Currently homeless.
- High personal motivation to participate in achieving Program goals.
- Committed to maintaining a drug and alcohol free lifestyle
Program Goals
- Income Enhancement – Participants are required to look for work, get and keep a job and/or engage in schooling or training designed to enhance their ability to get and keep a good job. Participants are required to obtain and maintain a savings account and save at least ½ their net income while in the Program.
- Self-Determination – Participants are expected to take steps to resolve past life issues that contributed to their homelessness. These include steps to remove barriers such as resolving past or current legal issues, paying taxes, child support, engaging in counseling or alcohol or other drug treatment (if applicable) and/or taking necessary steps to maintain a clean and sober lifestyle. Participants are also expected to provide community service as part of giving back to the community.
- Permanent Housing – Participants are expected to take steps to work toward obtaining permanent housing upon completion of the Home of the Brave program. These steps include taking classes such as Ready to Rent, resolving past evictions, if possible, and saving toward funds needed to obtain permanent and stable housing upon completion of the program.

Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program

HUD-VASH Advocacy Project

Veterans Court Project

Transitional Housing

Medical Van

Transportation Assistance

Communications Assistance

Other Benefits Assistance

Veterans Service Officer

DAV Shuttle Reservation Service

Potable Water Project to Homeless Camps

Homeless Outreach

Home of the Brave