ORD Community Outreach Program Update

The ORD Community Outreach program for the month of October 2009 included providing informational booths at Veteran Service Organizations'(VSO) and Community events. This included the following:

• The Veterans Entrepreneurship Task Force (VET-Force), is held monthly in Washington, DC. VA ORD Community Outreach provides informational materials to the many different Veteran organizations that attend this meeting. VET-Force is made up of Veteran Business Owners, Veteran Service Organizations, Veterans and others who want to ensure that our veterans are afforded fair and equal access to Procurement Opportunities and Employment in both the Federal Marketplace and the Private Business Sector such that they, their families, and our communities can participate in the American Dream.
• The VA's Creative Arts Festival was held October 5th - 11th at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in beautiful downtown San Antonio, TX. One of the purposes of the festival is for Veterans to show case their art and/or conduct a performance piece through poetry, song or dance. Over 123 medical centers had Veterans who submitted their artwork or performance. The performances of the Veterans will be forthcoming on a PBS special.
• The covers of the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service's Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) for the upcoming year are displayed at this event and the artist themselves are on hand and are presented with certificates and medals.
• The 39th annual conference for the Society for Neuroscience was held in Chicago, IL. The Society for Neuroscience is a nonprofit membership organization of basic scientists and physicians who study the brain and nervous system. VA ORD Program managers from the Rehabilitation Research and Development Service were on-hand to answer questions as well as VA researchers from across the VA research community attended the conference. There were over 30,500 neuroscientist who attended the annual conference.
• The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) held its annual conference in Portland, OR at the Oregon Convention Center. The AISES mission is to increase substantially the representation of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in engineering, science and other related technology disciplines. Several government agencies (DoD, HHS, USDA) participate in AISES through conducting workshops, informational booths and poster sessions. VA ORD Community Outreach participates in 3 Native American Conferences annually.

If you have questions regarding ORD's Community Outreach Program, please contact Reuben L. Wright, PhD via email at reuben.wright@va.gov or by phone at 202-461-1710.