FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 1, 2009

CONTACT: Mark Daley (202) 615-7128

Governor Pawlenty Urges Business Leaders to Help Paralyzed Veterans Secure Good Jobs and Careers Through Innovative Program

Minneapolis, MN—With the national unemployment rate for veterans with severe disabilities at 85 percent, a unique Minneapolis program is making a difference, helping those who wore the uniform and were seriously injured, get good jobs and careers in a tough economy. And the Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty is urging more businesses to hire more veterans with disabilities.

“What can we all do to play our part in helping those who have served and sacrificed? Especially at a time when unemployment is high and sky-rocketing at 85% nationally for veterans with severe disabilities,” said Governor Pawlenty. “The Paralyzed Veterans of America Vocational Rehabilitation Office is all about changing this grim statistic through empowering our heroes. Veterans with disabilities get good jobs and careers, and employers get great employees, with the skills, tenacity and team work they developed while serving our nation.”

Since April 2008, the Minneapolis-based Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) Vocational Rehabilitation Office has been empowering veterans with disabilities with the services and tools they need to reintegrate into the job market—while matching them with businesses and organizations with career positions.

Governor Pawlenty, joined the national president of Paralyzed Veterans Gene A. Crayton and the vice president of TriWest Healthcare Alliance Scott Celley for a celebration of the program’s successes and to encourage more businesses to get involved. Speakers also included: business leaders, VA officials, and paralyzed veterans seeking good jobs and careers through the program.

“The Minneapolis Paralyzed Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation program is changing lives, bringing great employees and employers together to produce better outcomes for both,” said Gene A. Crayton, national president of Paralyzed Veterans. “As we grow the program, we look forward to more paralyzed veterans achieving their career dreams, and more employers strengthening their workforce by hiring excellent employees who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms.”

The office, part of an emerging network, is based at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. It was established through an innovative public-private partnership between Paralyzed Veterans of America, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“As the Minneapolis Paralyzed Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation Office celebrates over a year helping veterans with disabilities reenter the job market, I strongly encourage other business leaders to help fund the expansion of the program and, more importantly, to hire wounded veterans who have already proven themselves to be dedicated and valuable employees,” said Scott Celley, vice president of TriWest Healthcare Alliance.

ENDS

Note to editors:

Sixty-three years ago, Paralyzed Veterans of America was founded by a band of spinal cord injured service members who returned home from World War II to a grateful nation, but also to a world with few solutions to the challenges they faced. These veterans from the “Greatest Generation” made a decision not just to live, but to live with dignity as contributors to society. They created an organization, dedicated to veterans service, medical research and civil rights for people with disabilities. And for more than six decades, Paralyzed Veterans of America and its 34 chapters have been working to create an America where all veterans, and people with disabilities, and their families, have everything they need to thrive.