If you’ve ever walked down the street and seen a person curled up on a pile of cardboard or passed a row of makeshift tents, you may have thought, “How does this happen? What life did this person live before I saw them on the street? I want to help, but I don’t know how.”…

As natural disaster season approaches, now is the time to prepare for evacuations, financial challenges, an increase in scams and impacts to mental or physical health services. While it may feel overwhelming, VA wants Veterans to be prepared to navigate the challenges resulting from extreme weather. Disaster preparedness Experiencing a natural disaster is stressful, but…

Thanks to the writer, Rachel Martin, for introducing me, through this excellent article, to Edna Cummings. I join with Rachel Martin in honoring Edna Cummings for her service. I’m inspired by her work and achievements. Author: Marcia M Ensley

Thank you for reviewing The Conversation Project. It sounds like a good place to explore the issues that have been arising in my 85-year-old brain. One needs a sounding board. I already participate in the VA’s Move, which is great for day-to-day living. The Conversation Project looks like a good complement. I am also interested…

This is just one big bloody lie! I am the one and only veteran being treated at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, CO for cancer of the spinal cord. In addition I was born with Poland’s Syndrome which I inherited from my father who was a Navy WW2 vet exposed to…

Right now Im trying to find out why the Gulf war records at NARA were not announced. IOD Military 2017 pdf suggest they were available as early as 2017. The true release dates would have been lat 2020 to early 2021. 30 years after the war. Here it is 2025 and I just found them.…

Having a successful interview is an important step in landing your dream job at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA uses a structured method known as Performance-Based Interviewing (PBI) to help find the best fit for its mission-driven roles. So, how can you stand out? By learning how PBI works and mastering the storytelling…

The sharing of any non-VA information does not constitute an endorsement of products and services on the part of VA. Veterans should verify the information with the organization offering. You’ve made tough calls, led through uncertain moments, cared for the important people in your life and stepped up when it mattered most. But there’s one…

What is it that makes the Mediterranean diet so healthy? In the 1950s, scientist Ancel Keys famously observed that rates of heart disease in the United States were much higher than in Crete, an island region of Greece. For islanders in Crete, the Mediterranean “diet” is a way of life.  Slow meals are shared with family…

A VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System surgeon received the highest honor for VA health services researchers from VA health care leaders during the 2025 National VA Research Week Kick Off Awards ceremony. Dr. Daniel Hall accepted the Under Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Systems Research on behalf of his team for their work developing…

One winter Friday night, the atmosphere at the CrossFit Hydro in Omaha, Nebraska, was electric. Its “Friday Night Lights” is a weekly event where local CrossFitters participate in the worldwide CrossFit Open. It was supposed to be just another night of pushing limits and cheering, but for Peter Soby, it became the night he got…

Thanks to his new glasses from VA, Korean War Navy Veteran Walter Crites can have interesting conversations once again. About 25 years ago, Crites, a 91-year-old patient at Northern Arizona VA Health Care System (NAVAHCS), lost almost all his hearing after complications from multiple surgeries.  He received a cochlear implant, an electronic device that allows…