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PACIFIC PALISADES LEGION GIVES $2 MILLION FOR
NEW
FISHER HOUSE IN WEST L.A. -- Will provide
accommodations
for family members while veterans or
active-duty service
personnel undergo long-term treatment at the
VA.
For more about Fisher House, use the VA
Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch
.php?q=fisher+house&op=ph
Story here...
http://www.palisadespost.
com/content/index.cfm?Story_ID=3076
Story below:
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Legion Grant Expedites Fisher House at VA
Libby Motika , Senior Editor
A generous $2-million grant from the Pacific Palisades American Legion
Post 283 has advanced the Fisher House Foundation's quest to build a
short-term resident facility for American servicemen and women, veterans
and their families on the grounds of the West. L. A. VA Health Center.
A groundbreaking ceremony took place last week with guest speakers L.A.
City Councilman Bill Rosendahl and Vietnam veteran Capt. Charlie Plumb.
Absent from the event was County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who along
with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Henry Waxman recognize the value of
a Fisher House, but declined a request to write letters of support. The
representatives have gone on record in support of a master plan for the
entire VA property instead of a piecemeal approach, which bypasses the
public approval and environmental impact process.
The $6-milliion Fisher House Brentwood, to be located adjacent to the
405 freeway at Sawtelle, will provide short-term lodging for family
members of disabled or ill soldiers who are being treated in the nearby
VA hospital.
One of 16 Fisher Houses in the United States, the facility will
accommodate 21 private bath suites, a common kitchen, laundry, dining
room, living room, family lounge area and library. The building will be
handicapped accessible and equipped with an elevator.
Although the residents will be responsible for basic housekeeping, the
West Los Angeles Health Center has volunteered housekeeping, simple
breakfast supplies, linens, utilities, management and maintenance.
The facilities will be free for families during the treatment period of
qualified patients.
Like the Ronald McDonald House, Fisher House will provide accommodations
for family members while veterans or active-duty service personnel
undergo long-term treatment at the VA hospital for everything from
military wounds and injuries to chronic illnesses.
Currently, the VA provides only small motel rooms for the patients
themselves, a few miles away from the hospital.
American Legion Post 283 unanimously approved the $2-million donation,
bringing the Post's total contribution to $2.15 million. The Fisher
House Foundation, a family foundation that has facilitated 16 similar
facilities will provide help, advice and up to half of the $6 million
needed.
'This comes at a crucial time when some members of the community are
concerned about the VA property only being used for the benefit of
veterans,' said Lou Cozolino, Post 283 commander. 'This Fisher House
project is 100 percent devoted to the veterans and their families. This
will make Post 283 and the American Legion a real credible organization
and show that we really are working for our veterans. In addition to the
California State Home for Veterans, the Fisher House is the only other
project being built on the West Los Angeles campus at this time.'
The California State Home for Veterans, under construction on a former
parking lot off Bringham, north of Wilshire, was approved in good faith
that the Veterans Affairs Department in Washington would go forward with
the VA master plan, according to Flora Krisiloff, senior field deputy
for Supervisor Yaroslavsky, and a member of the Federal Advisory
Committee which was established to review the VA's plans for the almost
400-acre property and given the authority to offer options to the
federal recommendations.
While the master plan has been stalled for the last 2' years, the State
Home facility went through the EIR process and addressed all the
concerns of the community, Krisiloff said.
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Larry Scott --
