FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 2, 2009

CONTACT: Mark Daley (202) 615-7128

Innovative Long Beach Program to Help Paralyzed Veterans Secure Good Jobs and Careers in a Tough Economy

LONG BEACH, CA—With the national unemployment rate for veterans with severe disabilities at 85 percent, a unique Long Beach program aims to make a difference, helping those who wore the uniform and were seriously injured, get good jobs and careers in a tough economy.

Officially opening today, the Long Beach Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) Vocational Rehabilitation Office will empower 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.

“The new Long Beach Paralyzed Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation Office will change lives, bringing great employees and employers together to produce better outcomes for both,” said Al Kovach Jr. national vice 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 Long Beach VA Medical Center.  It is being established through an innovative public-private partnership between Paralyzed Veterans, The Kim and Harold Louie Family Foundation, QTC Management, Inc., and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Joining Kovach for the opening was former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Honorable Anthony Principi, who now serves as QTC’s Executive Chairman, and Betty B. Louie, President of The Kim and Harold Louie Family Foundation.  Speakers also included VA officials, local business leaders, paralyzed veterans from the Southern California area who are already enrolled in the Long Beach program. 

“Today, the Paralyzed Veterans, QTC, the Kim and Harold Louie Family Foundation and the United States Department of Veterans Affairs stand together in support of a magnificent vision,” Principi said. “Every American understands that men and women who have been seriously injured while defending our Nation’s freedom should have the same access to good jobs and careers as every other citizen.  And most agree that the sacrifices they have made for freedom should earn wounded veterans even greater opportunities.”

“Many of us have a personal connection with the military; it might be a sister, a father, or friend who served. For me, my father proudly served in this great Nation’s military,” said Betty B. Louie, President of The Kim and Harold Louie Family Foundation. “How we treat and help to empower our veterans is just as important today as it was when my dad served. Especially at a time when unemployment is high and sky-rocketing at 85% nationally for veterans with severe disabilities. The new Long Beach Paralyzed Veterans Vocational Rehabilitation Office will help to make this grim statistic a thing of the past. Veterans with disabilities will get good jobs and careers, and employers, in a very tough economy, will get great employees, with the skills, tenacity and team work they developed while serving our nation.”

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.