Keys to Ending Homelessness Conference Series

UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, 50 Warren Street, Lowell – March 30, 2012

Conference #6: Veterans

Sponsors:

City of Lowell: Keys to Ending Homelessness Conference 6: Veterans
University of Massachusetts Lowell Inn& Conference Center – March 30, 2012
FRIDAY, March 30, 2012
8:30 –9:00 AM / Registration and Continental Breakfast / Conference Entrance
9:00 – 10-45 / Welcome and Opening Remarks
·  Robert Page, Greater Lowell Veterans Council: Posting the Colors, Pledge Allegiance
·  Patricia Jussaume and the Butler School Chorus
·  Bernard F. Lynch, City Manager
·  In process / TBD
Keynote Speech
·  Coleman Nee, Secretary, Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services / Main Ballroom
Panel Discussion: Veterans Peer Group
§  Moderator: Kevin M. Lambert, Director of Special Populations and Services, MA Department of Veterans Services
10:45 – 11-45 Concurrent Workshops “A”
A-1. Veterans Benefits 101: U.S. Veterans Administration and Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services
o  Kevin Casey, Coordinator Homeless Network, VISN 1 Healthcare for Homeless Veterans
o  / TBD
A-2. Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital/ Home Base Program: Post Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury
o  Nicholas Dutter, Veteran Outreach Coordinator, Home Base Program
o  Rebecca Weomtraib Bremdess. MD, JD, Clinical Director, Home Base Program / TBD
A-3. Panel Discussion Outreach to Homeless Veterans Resistant to Housing and Services Assistance
o  MA Department of Veterans Services (Pending)
o  James Chaplin, LICSW, Coordinator Bedford VA Hospital’s Safe Haven / TBD
A-4. Customizing Services forDifferent Cultures, Genders and Generations of Veterans
o  MA Department of Veterans Services (Pending)
o  Elizabeth Price, LICSW, Program Manager for Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom Returning Veterans, Bedford VA Hospital / TBD
11:45 – 12:45 Concurrent Workshops “B”
B-1 Veterans Benefits 101: U.S. Veterans Administration and Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services
o  Kevin Casey, Coordinator Homeless Network, VISN 1 Healthcare for Homeless Veterans
o  Kevin M. Lambert, Director of Special Populations and Services, MA Department of Veterans Services / TBD
City of Lowell: Keys to Ending Homelessness Conference 6: Veterans
University of Massachusetts Lowell Inn& Conference Center – March 30, 2012
B-2. Panel Discussion on Various Issues Relating to Surviving Spouses and Family Members
o  MA Department of Veterans Services
o  US Veterans Administration / TBD
B-3. Panel Discussion: Treating veterans with co-morbid complex needs including mental illness and substance within the community
o  John Ratka, Executive Director, Northeast Veterans Outreach Center
o  Dr. Jacob M. Romo, Team Leader, Lowell Vet Center (Pending) / TBD
B-4. Panel Discussion: Education, Employment and Business Incentives and Training
o  Bryan Bishop, Deputy Director, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Veterans Services
o  Jerry Pinsky, MSW, CPRP, Director of Self Employment Services, Bedford VA Hospital
o  Richard Banks, Director, Veterans Network:, General Electric Corporation Transition to Work
o  VOW Act / TBD
1:00 – 2:00 Luncheon Panel Discussion
Panel Discussion with Four Homeless or Formerly Homeless Veterans / TBD
2:00 Closing Remarks
Conference 6: Sponsors

City of Lowell, Massachusetts

Greater Lowell Veterans Advisory Council

Massachusetts Department of Veterans Services

Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance

Paul and Phyllis Fireman Foundation

University of Massachusetts Lowell

Conference Participants & Founding Partners

Butler Middle School

City of Lowell 10 Year Plan

Comfort Home Care

Community Teamwork, Inc.

Career Center of Lowell

Dynamics Research Corporation

Edith Norse Rogers, Bedford VA Hospital

General Electric Corporation

Lowell Vet Center

Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance

Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office

Merrimack Valley Regional Network

Northeast Veterans Outreach Center

Office of Congresswoman Niki Tsongas

Red Sox Foundation/Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program

The Princeton House – Veterans Housing

University of Massachusetts Lowell, Department of Veterans Services

Veterans Administration Self Employment Services

Upcoming Conferences in the Series

Ñ  Conference #7 Food Security 2012

Ñ  Conference #8: Seniors 2012