Paralyzed Veterans Of America

National Veterans Wheelchair Games Outreach Brings in 113 PAVE Members

The Paralyzed Veterans of America Veterans Benefits staff recently enlisted 113 new members in Operation PAVE (Paving Access for Veterans Employment) at the 311st National Veterans Wheelchair Games (Games) in Pittsburgh.

"Our Vocational Rehabilitation Program originally began as an effort to find meaningful employment for our members, but the scope of our mission has broadened, as has the problem of veterans being unable to enter the workforce for a variety of reasons," said Sherman Gillums, associate executive director of Veterans Benefits. "Our program aims to eliminate as many barriers to employment as possible for all veterans. Those barriers range from employer misperceptions about veterans and/or disabled persons to veterans' lowered expectations when faced with profound disability challenges to a fragmented network of resources that don't do a good enough job of closing many of the gaps through which too many veterans fall after service."

Founded in 2007, Operation PAVE is a public-private partnership to help veterans gain the skills they need to enter good jobs and develop careers and to match them with employers with vacancies.

Gillums and his colleagues-including vocational rehabilitation counselors-set up a booth at the opening Games Expo in August to outreach to veterans and inform them of the program's available services. "We also set up a benefits counseling station at our booth, which was unprecedented," he said.

"I attribute much of [the outreach effort's] success to the fact that wheelchair sports are a great gateway to getting into a meaningful career," Gillums said. "An athlete who can test the limits of his or her endurance on the slalom course or rise to the occasion after falling during a quad rugby game is likely to thrive in an environment where structural barriers and stigmas give way to a mind determined to overcome them. It is my hope that the athletes we reached that day see, or will someday see, the potential we saw in each of them."

Through Operation PAVE, veterans, their families and caregivers gain access to a certified vocational rehabilitation counselor who can help them develop a résumé, prepare for job interviews, introduce them to educational resources and provide ongoing case management.

"This means the job does not stop once placement is achieved. Sometimes a job may prove unfitting for a veteran or spouse over time, and the job search must continue. Unlike most other programs, we measure our success by the quality of life our clients achieve, not simply how many we place in jobs," Gillums said.

"Other veterans should become involved in Operation PAVE because we acutely focus on providing an enduring solution to the problem of rampant veteran unemployment," he added. "Our counselors understand veterans, disability and employer attitudes, and embrace the challenge of finding a formula that represents a win-win for all involved." Julie Britt is a freelance writer & editor in the Washington, D.C., area.