Not every Veterans Services article needs to involve a VA form, a claim, or a deadline. Sometimes the most useful thing I can do is help connect our community with an opportunity to serve.
Marie Kessler, Volunteer Coordinator with Minnesota’s Office of Ombudsman for Long-Term Care (OOLTC), contacted our office while searching for a Certified Ombudsman Volunteer (COV) to serve at the Minnesota Veterans Home – Silver Bay. We did not have a list of potential volunteers to provide—and, as readers of this column know, Veterans Services cannot simply share client information—but I offered to help spread the word.
A Certified Ombudsman Volunteer works with a Regional Ombudsman and maintains a regular presence in an assigned long-term care community. Volunteers visit residents, provide information about resident rights, attend resident and family council meetings, and support residents who have questions, concerns, or complaints about their care or quality of life.
OOLTC is particularly interested in Veterans and family members of Veterans who may want to continue a tradition of service in a different way. Familiarity with military service may help a volunteer relate to Veterans living in long-term care, but the heart of the role is much broader: listening, learning, building trust, and helping residents make their own voices heard.
This is also a meaningful commitment. OOLTC currently requires initial training before certification, continuing education, regular visits to the assigned facility, and a commitment of at least one year.
To be clear, this is not a Lake County or Veterans Services program, and sharing this opportunity should not be interpreted as an endorsement. What Veterans Services can certainly support is the basic mission behind the work: empowering, educating, and advocating alongside Minnesotans receiving long-term care services so their rights are upheld.
That mission extends beyond Veterans. OOLTC, a service of the Minnesota Board on Aging, assists people receiving long-term care services throughout Minnesota. Sometimes having another person in your corner—or simply someone willing to listen—can make an important difference.
If this sounds like a good fit for you, or perhaps for a Veteran or family member you know, contact Marie Kessler at marie.l.kessler@state.mn.us or (651) 890-6308. Additional information about becoming a Certified Ombudsman Volunteer is available at mn.gov/ooltc/volunteerwithus.
For questions or concerns involving long-term care resident rights, visit mn.gov/ooltc or call 651-431-2555.
Programming note: Lake County and Cook County Veterans Services will be closed September 14 – 18 for required certification/ accreditation training.
Brad Anderson and Melissa Crandall are the Lake County Veterans Service Officers and can be reached at 218.834.8326 or Vets@LakeCountyMN.gov
Karen Christianson is the Cook County Veterans Service Officer and can be reached at 218.387.3639, or karen.christianson@cookcountymn.gov
