The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) recently received the Abraham Lincoln “Pillars of Excellence Award” from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in recognition of its veteran homelessness initiatives.
MDVA was the sole winner in the category of “Eliminating Veteran Homelessness” this year in recognition of three new homeless veteran initiatives: Operation OVER (Opening Veterans to Every Resource), Minnesota’s Veterans Entering Stable Tenancy (MNVEST) and Veteran Supportive Housing Opportunities (VSHO).
“This is the highest honor our department can receive,” said MDVA Deputy Commissioner Brad Lindsay. “It is a credit to the fine staff on our Veteran Homelessness team who have worked tirelessly on new initiatives to eliminate Veteran homelessness in Minnesota.”
This award recognizes outstanding state programs that support Veterans within their states. The 2022 awards were presented by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough at the mid-winter conference of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs.
This is MDVA’s fourth Pillars of Excellence award since 2018. Previous awards have included the creation of a database of secure military discharge documents in 2018, Veterans Application Tracking System that streamlines the process of Veterans and their families receiving the educational benefits granted by the Minnesota GI Bill in 2020, and the delivery of services to Tribal Governments serving Native American Veterans in 2021.
The “Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence” Award was established in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recognize best practices from the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs members that have developed effective programs to address what are the current five top-line issues:
· Customer Experience with VA Benefits and Services
· Eliminating the Claims and Appeals Backlog
· Eliminating Veterans Homelessness
· Delivery of services to Tribal governments serving Native American veterans
· Suicide Awareness and Prevention and Innovative State Programs