Veteran's Affairs Plus W/ David L. Washington

Wesley Knight 0:00
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Music 0:35
Come on, tell

Dave Washington 0:42
me what's going on. Great day. It's a great day. Las Vegas, it's a great day. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host. I'm going to, further than do my announcements like I normally do. I've had our guest online waiting for a few moments. Ronald, where so brother ware, how are you, sir?

Ronald Ware 1:10
I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on, Mr. Washington.

Dave Washington 1:13
Oh, and I appreciate you coming please. Are you a military veteran by chance, or I am What branch and how long

Ronald Ware 1:25
Army veteran. I did four years active duty in the army, primarily in Germany, Frankfurt, and I did six years in the reserve in San Francisco. And then later on, I got to be connected with the DA in 2011 after working in corporate America, Hewlett Packard as a regional manager, and that's when I found out about all the services available to veterans, and why, why? It's important to me to make sure every veteran knows about

Dave Washington 1:58
great, great so where are you from and raised?

Ronald Ware 2:01
I'm from San Francisco, raised in San Francisco,

Dave Washington 2:06
okay, up there in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Been up there a few times. In fact, a colleague man, he's a former fire chief, Robert, we call him Dutch chief Bob demmons, out of San Francisco, okay, actually, out of Oakland, but he actually took over the fire fire department over in San Francisco. In fact, you know Bob, when I went and visit him, he had in there, in in a home that's provided by the city for the fire chief. They had photographs of all the prior chiefs to the woman who was currently serving. So I took that idea, and if you ever go into the headquarters of Las Vegas Fire and Rescue, you will see pictures of the former fire chiefs to include myself. So I'm grateful that you're here, and I know you do a lot of work. In fact, when we first met, you were with another program. But at any rate, tell us a little bit about the program and what you do and why you do it, and it has a direct services, in many cases, to veterans, if you would

Ronald Ware 3:09
absolutely work there.

Dave Washington 3:15
Can you hear me? Okay, yeah, I can hear you now. You was breaking up for a second. Okay, go ahead. Okay,

Ronald Ware 3:20
compensated work, compensated work therapy, that's program that's available for all veterans. Who are veterans, who are in the service, have to be service connected to be in the program. And what the program offers you is for a lot of our veterans who've been homeless, or, let's say they've been unemployed for a period of time, and their skills are no longer very effective, or maybe outdated, obsolete skills. It allows you to work at one of the VAs across the nation, any other medical centers, and you can work various different departments. I currently work in an emergency. I'm a sanitation tech. Sanitize all the ID pumps for veterans. Allows you to gain technical and on real time skills. You can be a greeter at the hospital. You can work in is you can work in housekeeping. There's various departments you can work in. It gives you relevant skills where you can become re employable, either through the VA or even in the community.

Dave Washington 4:31
So you vet these people to come into the program the one that you're currently with.

Ronald Ware 4:36
Yes, okay, yes. Great.

Dave Washington 4:39
I mean, I know that we have a lot of veterans that are out there and people say, Oh, they need to get a job, or they need to do that, and they don't even understand some of the things that these individuals have gone through. You know, I'm a Vietnam, Vietnam era veteran, did not again, go into the war zone, and it, I think it makes a total difference in your mindset. Particularly as you go back into civilian life. So what you're doing, you and that organization is doing that is great work for our veterans, for sure, absolutely.

Ronald Ware 5:11
And it's a leg up, not a handout. It's a leg up, if you will, do the you come in and you, you know, you do what's asked of you. It's not You're not volunteering. You're actually getting paid. And after five and a half months spent, you're doing a great job. Oftentimes, you're offered an opportunity to work for the VA or, as I said, also, you can get employment in the community as well. So where,

Dave Washington 5:37
by the way, where's your actual office at? Where do you what do you function from?

Ronald Ware 5:41
So, I'm actually at the VA hospital here at 6900 North Pecos. Oh, okay. However, to be screened for this particular program. The screening takes place on Cheyenne at the office at 3525 West Cheyenne avenue, suite six, and you go through a screening process, make sure you know you have cognition aptitude to you know, do some of the functions once you get in. Then you report to the various locations. You could be at the North Pecos, where I'm at, or you could be at the Southwest or the Northwest clinics as well.

Dave Washington 6:21
So the eligibility or criteria or guidelines that one has to meet, particularly, number one, you got to be a veteran. And then beyond it is there any service ending dates that will that makes you eligible, is say, for example, like I'm a veteran again, in my service time was uh, 7070 what was I? 71 to 73 so I would still be eligible if I meet all of the criteria that you have for your particular guidelines,

Ronald Ware 6:56
absolutely. There's no particular Timeline as a guideline or to rule you out, the main, I guess, qualifying factor would be if, if you're in need of employment or needed work, there is a program in place compensated work therapy that allows you to get back into the workforce. Some of our veterans, as you know, because of PTSD brain trauma, various different situations that they might have encountered for the service, connections, issues. May not be able to gain employment or may not have been able to work over the last 567, years or less. This gives you a foot in the door to get back into gainful employment, and, more importantly, gets you back in the habit of reporting to someone having a responsibility that you're dependent upon to do and execute. And also gives you some self esteem so you can get you get back in process of, you know, a contributing citizen to

Dave Washington 7:57
society, right? Well, this being, we just had veterans day this week, and pleased I was able to get you on the show, because I think it's vitally important for us to at this particular time of the year and beyond, we must celebrate and give opportunity to our veterans who have served this country. I think it's very important. So the work that you're doing is absolutely essential to any possibility of success by for a veteran who's been injured mentally or physically. So this is, this is great work.

Ronald Ware 8:36
Thank you. And you know what? It's not me, it's, it's, it's, this was why it's important to me. These programs have been around for a long time. What is a lot of individuals like myself who've gone through these programs, maybe went through it and didn't tell it the next the next soldier, the next Marine, the next airman, their opportunity for you, I see what you're going through, there is the program that can get you back on your feet. So it's important for us, one to pass to communicate with other veterans and let them know that there is help and there are programs available. So that's why it's very important to me to do the work, because I want veterans to know this out there, but no one can find out about it. We all pass it on

Dave Washington 9:20
Absolutely, absolutely. So do you guys have any kind of website, and what are your office hours for at that other location where people can go and apply to get involved in the program?

Ronald Ware 9:33
Okay, I'm glad you asked. The office hours are Monday through Friday, 730 to four, Sunday and Sunday there, Saturday and Sunday to close, but Monday, Friday, 30 to four and once again, that's 525, West Cheyenne. You can also go online, and you can apply at compensated work therapy, veterans. Dot gov and look for compensated work therapy. Click the link and it will take you, you can fill out inquiry at that point, and they'll send a referral over to generally, you have to go through the mental health building and find out what's what's maybe been the reason why you haven't been able to find gainful employment, what type of mental or physical issues you may have, and then put you also interact with clinical social workers who can help you with that area as well, with your life as well.

Dave Washington 10:33
So it's man, that's really something that I think you're on point, and I'll let you know for sure anytime that you'd like to come on this show, because one of the points you made is that how important it is for us to get the word out. So individual note will know about this, this particular program, would you know offhand, how many may apply per month or for

Ronald Ware 10:57
I would say that, I would say there's probably the directors, Mr. James Edmonds, I would say in his Rolodex, I probably think he would have at least a running candidates of about least 100 individuals who are waiting, who are waiting for tunity. Once again, the positions that you get are generally five, five and a half months, okay? After which time, hopefully you gain employment. But as soon as that individual, she or he leaves, the next candidate up, is in place, and they get placed, and I would say there's probably, I'd say, somewhere between 15 to 30 in a given in a given month, depending on vacancies.

Dave Washington 11:41
Okay, so they're basically, you have a waiting list for vacancies in those positions where people who have been and you say they're employed for like five and a half months, and from there, they could possibly find long term employment, absolutely, either with you guys, or do you do placement as well for these individuals outside of the scope of the VA hospital or the VA locations,

Ronald Ware 12:07
great question. So I think in July or early August, we had an actual job fair here at North pickles. And actually it was a great turnout. It was a great turnout, not only from the employees at the VA, but also from the community, civilians who came in looking for opportunities that just took a job there, because it opened it up to various different entities such as goodwill and other companies who were there looking to hire individuals

Dave Washington 12:33
absolutely well in terms of closing remarks, if you would give the those addresses as well as Your website, again, that would be greatly appreciated. And again, I'm so honored to have you on the show. And I know that you were on here before when you had when you were running a different program, but this is really good. And again, always feel free if you got something special going on, if you see me at the local watering hole or wherever, at a restaurant, say, Hey, Dave, I need to get I need to get on Veterans Affairs, plus, because I got something I need to share with our general community, and particularly our veterans, and we certainly once again honor the veterans as we have Veterans Day this past week. Go ahead, Ron, sure

Ronald Ware 13:18
I'll be glad to closing remarks. Would say that I love to come back on again and talk about debt, courts, veterans, court. But as it pertains to this one, I would say the address, once again is located at 3525 West Cheyenne avenue, suite 106 consult at the VA and compensated work therapy. There is a main number, 702-791-9060,

Ronald Ware 13:52
the website, va.gov, compensated work therapy. Alright, we'll see. You can call me. My name is goldenware, and you can reach me at ink, where I N, K, ink, where, sorry, ink, where@yahoo.com, and you can reach me at my phone number directly if you like, 628204977,

Dave Washington 14:14
well, said, Well, we certainly appreciate it. And again, anytime rolling you have something you want to get out to the folks, contact me, you. And again, we do see each other out and about. So you're always welcome. And once again, thank you for the short notice, because the other person that I was trying to get on wasn't able to make it. And you feel the void very, very well, my brother. So thank you so much, and I trust that those out there listening will get a lot about a lot out of what you've shared.

Ronald Ware 14:43
So thank you so very much. Thank you for having me. And have a great rest of your day. All

Dave Washington 14:47
righty, this is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. Wes will get me back in on the other side. So thank you all so very much. Well, I'll give some announcements and talk about a few other things that are very important for me to share. Here with our listening audience.

Dave Washington 15:08
Once again, great day Las Vegas. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm pleased to be back in the seat. In fact, I must share with you, as in the going out show earlier this month, I think I mentioned that I had to go back down to MB Anderson in Houston for my final quarterly medical evaluation for 2025 everything is good. Thank God I'm still trying to get my weight back up to my 170 but hey, I'm still on the move, and thanks to Wes, I'm able to do the show, and I'll start this same regiment in 2026 going down quarterly. So once again, thanks everybody for your prayers, for your support and encouragement, because trust me, when you're going through something like this, those comments, texts, etc, phone calls are very, very important to one self esteem, and so anytime you got a friend or family member that's going through something from a medical standpoint, mental or physical, certainly, those types of calls and contacts are important to them, and I'm telling you from personal experience. So with that, I had I had Mr. Weir, who was on the first segment of the show. I had him online for a little bit, as I was dealing with the traffic to get here. So that being said, I did not do some of the things that I normally do, which is make some announcements on the front side. So with that, I'm going to cover birthdays. We had a number of birthdays that we had during the month of November, and I tell you, I am pleased to be able to say that there's a few more that I will that I will mention that my wife Marsha had sent to me, and important, because I think we all love to celebrate as God gives us more time on this thing called Earth. So with that, I'm going to share a few more birthdays. Ones. That I didn't share last on our last show, and that is, and I'm trying to get it where I can see it. Y'all ina Harris in November, our brother, Larry cooks, who is an ancestor now, Vera Sampson, good person. Been a long time community member, marnita Smith dent, a long time family friend, particularly here, her big sister, Brenda Smith, or William says her married name. In fact, her husband, Monroe, was one of my main mentors in the fire service. Tom Governor that's down in Cape Town, South Africa. Jimmy banks, longtime businessman here in our community. Michael Garrett, he is a he is an ancestor now. So we hope that God was pleased with the work that he did while he was here on this earth. So again, those are some birthdays that we are celebrating in the month of November. Condolences. Condolences to all those who have lost loved ones over the past month. And I got one that I need to report that is near and dear. It makes my heart ache. My best friend in life, Ray Feaster, transitioned just a few days ago, and I have been trying to get a hold of him, just to give him a report on me in what I had experienced while down in Houston, as well as leaving there and going to our EDI, our Carl Holmes executive development institute retreat that we hold annually in Oklahoma City, and I never heard back from him. So my wife got on my case, Marsha. She said, You need to go do a welfare check. So we did do that, and found that he had transitioned from this life. So condolences out to Regina and Anita, his two daughters, because I know they got there's a void in there, in spite of, you know, Ray was a tough guy. And Marsha said, Yeah, you guys are both equally the same. We're both Pisces. And she said, y'all get the cussing and fussing. And then next thing you down and having a beer. What's wrong with y'all? Just kind of crazy. But I love that brother. He knew it because I let him know that, and I told him I'd be with him until I'm gone or he's gone. And he is gone now, and once we get some information on services, we will. Inform the community, because Ray has been a long, long time a member of our community. In fact, I think Ray came here. His family came he was, he was a young buck from from someplace down in Arkansas. But again, rest well empower my brother and certainly going to miss you and your legacy will go on through the conversations that your friends will have about you, no doubt veterans. We had certainly acknowledged veterans earlier this week, and I can tell you, I'm gonna just run few of run through a few ancestors whom I didn't realize some of these folks were actually veterans. Sidney party a was was a veteran, of course, Harry Belafonte and these guys, of course, we know they went on to bigger and better things. James Earl Jones was a veteran. Richard Pryor doing what he did, he was a veteran. So and Barry Gordy, I didn't have no idea that Barry Gordy had been in the military as well, but those are some of the ancestors. And again, as I mentioned a couple of minutes ago, also joining them as an ancestor is Ray Feaster, who was a very successful businessman. He was a sheet metal man, as well as his air conditioning service business. So just wanted to acknowledge those veterans, because we are celebrating and acknowledging our veterans throughout this month, for sure, I think it's very, very important. I'm gonna take a short pause and have Wes to bring me back in on the other side, only because, for some kind of reason, I got a little frog in my throat. So we'll be back. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and

Dave Washington 21:48
once again, great day, great day. Las Vegas. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host. I appreciate my producer, director, Mr. West, for let me clear out my throat. I had that little frog there, but I'm good to go now. So once again, I just want to make a few more announcements. One, I hope that folks will consider supporting the Sierra snow gliders holiday party, which is on 12 six, December 6 at 6pm at West Side oasis. And let me tell you how important this is. As marsh and I were formerly members of this organization, it was only when we went to my godmother's services in Detroit, Michigan, where we both our feet got wet. I was sick for about two weeks, if my memory serves me correctly, Marsha was sick for about six weeks. I don't want to hear that song. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. No, I'm not. We were so sick we didn't want to see any more snow. So we were never skiers, but we always would support and go up and sit around the fireplace at the various functions that the Sierra snow gliders would have up at Mount Charles and Lee Canyon area in particular. But they do things with young folks. They're trying to get some of the young children from the neighborhood to be involved in the Winter Olympics. So it's a worthy cause to participate. My colleague, Eugene Campbell, Jean's wife, Deborah, also another colleague, the widow of my friend and dear friend to the community, brother, Leonard Ladd, his wife, Linda, she's out there is a big supporter as well. Also in terms of announcements, we're going to have a book signing at darla's Southern Cajun bistro chef Albert Washington. Yep, that's my cousin. He's a big time chef. But on November 29 from noon to three, we're going to have books there with some of the various authors that we know, as well as our own books. I've written one book, got a couple more in the Harper Angel April, both are authors. So please stop by once again, 1129, 25 from noon to three at Darla. So if you have an opportunity to stop by, we would appreciate it, because we we should read. And when you start looking at statistics, 40% or more people in the United States of America don't even think about picking up a book. But I've been a lover of reading and an advocate, particularly to not only to our own children, but to our grandchildren as well read. And I'm looking over here at West he's always reading something this, dude. He got so many books, man, but you know what? As I say, when you read, you put some fat on your head. I'm talking about you learn some things that you otherwise would know anything about. And he's giving me that sign of time we got. So I just want to say that, Hey, pick up a book, even if. And not these that that I'm going to tell you about one, they call me trustee. It is by Dudley bio. He is a he is an ancestor. Now. He worked with the San Jose fire department and his wife, Dr Linda, I know, completed and laid his book out because he had already had the draft put together before he transitioned to from this life. But it's an outstanding book. And all these books you can get on on amazon.com, another one, and we had this young lady on the show just last month, and she does an outstanding job with with with families within our community, and I'm telling you. Joyce eatman, she has a book, and it's called life's lessons and God's blessings. It's again available on Amazon. Another one, the fire within William Spike Jones, he's also an ancestor and a fire service colleague. His book is outstanding and just talks about some of the trials and tribulations that he went through as a firefighter in the St Louis fire department we had, as I mentioned earlier, as I left from Houston, I told Marsha I didn't want to come back into the Pacific Time Zone and go back into the Central Time Zone. Just float me from have my flight from Houston over to Oklahoma City, where we had an outstanding retreat. And let me say this, it was outstanding. And we talked about a number of things to include upcoming and you'll hear more about this in the near future. We will be celebrating our 35th year as an institute, the Carl Holmes executive development institute, and in January, we will be under the leadership of Eugene Campbell, fire chief, retired and current Chicago Fire Department Commissioner, Annette Nance, hope so we got tremendous leadership. And also our Executive Director, which was she was pointed appointed earlier this year, and that's Carla Holmes, outstanding individual who's doing such a great job and keeping us on track. So with that, Las Vegas, I want to say once again, we admire, we honor and we salute our veterans. For those who made the ultimate sacrifice and those who still have family members around when you see them, give them a handshake. Give them a good nod, give them a good smile. This is Veterans Affairs, plus on 91.5 jazz and more. I'm Dave Washington, your host, and I look Forward talking to you all next week. Ah,

Music 28:00
oh, all the smoke in the air, till the hate when they stare, all the pain that we bear.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai