Latest / Conversations with Mark / Conversations with Michigan Veteran Homes
Transcript
- Mark Huizenga: Well, hey everybody, this is another podcast, Conversations with Mark. Today we're excited to be here with Ryan Engel. He's the Director of Development and Strategic Engagement at the Michigan Veterans Home in Grand Rapids. That's a long title, ⁓ but it sounds all encompassing. What you do here is incredible. I just want to start off with just a little bit of background. Back the days when I was mayor, I used to come here to the old building. We'd come for different events for veterans and things like that. You've transitioned now from the old, which is vacant, to this new single floor platform, which is completely different, but completely amazing. Tell me a little bit about what that meant for the members to come here and how you engage with them. Yes, Senator. mean, thank you for this opportunity to chat with us. But this has been a journey, a journey. I started with the Veterans Homes about 10 years ago. And at the time, we had a really challenging audit that identified a lot of opportunities. And where we're sitting today is kind of a culmination of action on those opportunities, action and investment. So we've really transitioned from a model of care that felt more like being in a hospital for veterans that were at times three, four, five to a room even, ⁓ now a single story home-like environment ⁓ exceptional care and the accompanying quality of life in ⁓ a facility that veterans earned and deserve. Well, and if you think about it, this is how homes for elderly are anyways, single floor. A lot of people are in wheelchair, have some abilities to ambulate and to get around, wheelchairs, walkers and things like that. So really smart that you did that. Some people might lament the fact that there's an old building here. ⁓ took a couple of pictures earlier today about the building coming down and although people might say, that's, it's unfortunate you lose that institution. You've created here something that's absolutely incredible. So people who haven't been here, I mean, you made the comment earlier that people call this the country club now, I'm sure they didn't call the old building the country club. What you guys do for veterans is not just give a landing zone or a place here. You give them my words, and a place be integrated and to be cared for. ⁓ We were here couple of weeks ago. We did bingo. We've done it ⁓ quite a few And it's always one of my favorite things to go and see the camaraderie, competition, but you guys do a lot more than just that. What else, what else do you guys do for your members? It is. mean, while we are a skilled nursing facility for veterans, you know, always say, I think the thing that makes us different and better ⁓ is the amount of community support and generosity and all the people, you know, surrounding our veterans outside in the community that want to make a difference. And, you know, through that generosity and those folks that to impact our veterans lives. the quality of life experiences, the activities, the outings, all of the amazing things we're able to do, it makes a huge difference in the lives of veterans. So yes, we're providing that care, but it's also an exceptional quality of life for veterans when they move in here. ⁓ You said you've been here about 10 years. How long has the home, I when did it here? Yeah, the history of our homes here in Michigan and really state veteran homes across the country date to the post-Civil War era. when you know the federal government did not have the footprint they do today in veteran care and states saw these destitute veterans on the streets of their communities needing care and really stood up as state governments and said hey this isn't right we should do something about this and they started popping up across the country and this opened in 1886 in Grand Rapids. 1886. I'll bet a lot of people don't even know it exists but I'll bet the people that have driven on 96 eastbound or westbound they see the veterans cemetery you've got a great monarchy that monarch that talks about what, where it is and people have seen it. One of my favorite things to do the reefs across America. And when I first started doing this, maybe 15 years ago, it was a smaller group. They're trying to really work hard to raise money and really work hard to have people to come out and do it. And now they do the reefs across America, it's, in the, it's in the fall. There's always snow on the ground. ⁓ when they that, ⁓ There's always more volunteers, it seems like, than even Reese. It's almost impossible. But the passion that people have for veterans today is so much different than it was 30 years ago. Embracing and taking care of those who served. I think of my own grandfather who served in the United States Navy. He's passed now. I think of my father who was the Marine Corps. And I think of my own son who's currently serving in the Marine Corps. And knowing that people stand behind those that stand for freedom, that give us protection. Those are all the things that you guys stand for here to make sure that they have the care they need, they're here with dignity, and they can have a life that's probably a lot better than they would have had in the situations they're in. Tell me a little bit about ⁓ what of things people probably don't know about what this facility does. You know, ⁓ I guess to your point, Senator, too, I mean, I'm a veteran. So yes, this is my job and my work, but it's also my life passion. And I get to be a part of making a difference in the lives of veterans. And you talked about the, you know, the passion and care that community has and the respect for service they have today that maybe wasn't the same decades ago. You know, the majority of our population we care for here are Vietnam veterans who, as we all know, we did not bring them home right from that Vietnam War. And so being able to be a part of that now, and you know, we can't right all past wrongs, but to be a part of making a difference in their lives and knowing their service was valued and to have, as you mentioned, this great community here in West Michigan and across the state, but that really comes out for our veterans. you know, serves them with the respect and dignity they deserve. It's special to me to be able to do that. But we have lots of opportunities, you know, as you mentioned, Wreaths Across America, here in a few weeks in late May, we'll ⁓ scouts come out and we'll all, you know, community members will plant flags at the headstones of all those veterans and turn it out on our cemetery. It's just a special, special hallowed ground place. You we have veterans in that cemetery, Medal of Honor recipient. We have African-American veterans that served for the Union in the Civil War. We have veterans from every conflict dating back to the Mexican War, before the Civil War, buried out there. And so, to be in such a special place and provide care and for veterans to know that, you know, they're here and we are a grateful nation, that's pretty important. I think a lot of times people don't know their history very well. It's one of those things where... ⁓ when I've done the Reese across America or even just walking through the cemetery to see the age of some of the vets that died in service and going way back to like the 1800s and thinking about what this area must have been like. It's pretty incredible. Tell me about the other homes like this that we have across the state of Michigan. Yeah. So here in Michigan, we have three state veteran homes. Here in Grand Rapids, we've been on these grounds, as I mentioned, 1886. So this is, I would say, our flagship campus, certainly. And then in 1981, so almost a century later, the Jacob Eddy home opened up in Marquette and we're currently replacing. That's in an old hospital-like building, like we were here for many years in Grand Rapids. We're currently under construction replacing that. And then in 2021, we opened a brand new facility, our first state veterans home in Southeast Michigan. at Chesterfield Township in Macomb County. So we currently have three, who knows what the future will hold, but we're grateful to be able to provide the care we can. With the do-over of the Jacob Eddy. Is it going to be similar to this where it's going to be on one floor or are you reusing buildings or what does that look like? you know? will be very similar to the infrastructure here in Grand Rapids in this new building and the new one we built in Chesterfield Township. So all private bed, private bathrooms with a large community center, a single story, but really state of the art facility to provide veterans, you know, the care they deserve and in an environment worthy of their service. How does a veteran actually find out about the home ⁓ that's here ⁓ and get involved or when the time needs it, they need the care. How do they find out about engaging to this? It's, you know, a lot of times we talk about this podcast and I tell people like, this is really about demystifying things that are a little bit mysterious. How do people know how, what, what they qualify for and what kind of things that they, they could have for them that are rightfully theirs. Yeah, so mean, there's you we try to do as the veteran homes, you know, our role is skilled nursing care and the you know, the long array of veteran services, but we try to do outreach so folks know that we're a resource out there. Now, a veteran, you know, in the various stages of their life not be might not be thinking, hey, I'm ready for a nursing home. But we always encourage, you know, veterans to seek out the, you know, the health care benefits through the VA that they earned in service, because when if and when that time comes that they need nursing home care, you know, maybe they've heard of us, they don't know exactly what we do, you know, hope they do. But once you're connected to your veteran benefits, it makes that time come, you know easier when you need nursing home care the admissions process is much easier a good point because I think people always think about the VA ⁓ as the place to go to that's maybe the clearinghouse for it But this is the VA. This is the state of Michigan. We give the appropriations to and operate these How do you guys coordinate activities with VA facilities ⁓ and I'm sure it's collaborative, it's just a different branch of government, state government versus federal government, but there has to be a lot of crossover, I would think. We do. mean, a lot of our veterans that reside here 24-7, you know, go to doctor's appointments at the federal VA clinics or medical centers or get, you know, other health care services there. ⁓ so we coordinate, you know, with them. the homes here in Michigan and state veteran homes across the country have a special and historic with the federal VA. So it's really ⁓ you know, a state federal partnership that goes back 150 or 60 years. in caring for those men and women who've served our state and served our nation. yeah. I guess the thing I like about that best is that federal and state governments working to take care of veterans. That makes it pretty special just on its own to me. How do you approach the community engaging and connecting with veterans? What kind of things do you guys do to make this? And I've been here for a lot of different things over the years, whether it's a run, ⁓ or with the scouts or like I said the wreaths across America, but how do you guys connect with community organizations? ⁓ Well, and as you well know senator our mission and the impact we're able to have here is just remarkable and and obviously I'm a little biased as a veteran and one who loves my work, but ⁓ you know we in addition to our you know providing our care and ⁓ those activities and quality of life experiences for our veterans. We try to create those opportunities throughout the year. ⁓ to invite community into this work. So if you're not maybe familiar with nursing homes or have never been to the veteran home campus, but you see that, there's this planting opportunity at a veteran cemetery, or there's this Reads Across America event, or there's this car show. We try to create those opportunities to bring community members that might not be familiar ⁓ our work and to connect with our veterans. And really, ⁓ had a lot of success with that, where people get tied in and they're like, this is amazing. I wanna be a part of this, because something special is going on here. And they turn into. ⁓ long-time volunteers or donors or sometimes employees and it's special. know, Ryan, one of my strongest memories of facility is the POW day. It's a solemn event. It's every year. People have come for decades to this and the people that stand for PWMI really special. And it's one of those events where a lot of times I think people don't recognize that that still exists, but the tenacity to care for those who are still missing is incredible. You probably have a lot of great stories about people here. Do you have a story about any one individual that you'd say? mean, every vet I'm sure here is really special to you, but any stories here that make it extra special? So, you you brought up POW, MIA day and that ceremony. I used to be the administrator at our home in Marquette. And a story that just kind of comes to mind as you brought that up is, you know, I would facilitate the ceremony up there every day or every year on a, you know, very similar to here where we'd have a lot of local leadership. and state leadership and community members come out and really honor our veterans. And in my remarks as the administrator every year, I would say, know, if you are a former prisoner of war, I invite you to stand and be recognized. And for the years I was living up there and was the administrator, we had a Korean war prisoner of war. His name was Will Remus. He was from Clarkston, Michigan down here in the lower peninsula. But he was a non-ambulatory or in a wheelchair, but he would muster the strength every year to stand up and be recognized with. tears in his eyes and it would make me cry and I start to tear up thinking about it. But I was just so, you know, that moment itself just summed up to me the privilege I and we have in doing the work we do and the importance of that work and the incredible people were privileged to make a difference in their lives. So. Well, and the freedoms we have in this country, ⁓ I think are probably underestimated. Our freedom of the press, maybe people don't like politics. A lot of times people don't. ⁓ but the system we have is still the best one in the country, best one in the world. it's because of those who've served, those who've kept us safe, those who have honored and respected our freedoms and have sometimes gone through horrific things to stand up for our freedom. So thank you, Ryan, for the work that you guys do here. and I just want to say thank to all the vets who've been, been part of keeping our country free and, ⁓ honor you for the work that you do. Thank you so much for being on our podcast today. Thanks for having me, Senator. Appreciate it.