CHIPPEWA VETERANS HOME RECREATION COMMITTEE INC

The Chippewa Veterans Home Recreation Committee, Inc. (CVHRC, Inc.) is 501 (c)(3) organization, established in March 2013 and made up of individuals who support the residents (Members) who live at the Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls. The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) owns the Veterans Home, which is a 72-bed, 24-hour skilled nursing home. Currently, forty eight (48) Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) are members of the Recreation Committee, and each appoints volunteer(s) to attend monthly meetings. All WDVA Veterans Homes have a recreation committee composed of VSOs and their corresponding Auxiliaries, usually within a 75-mile radius of the Veterans Home.

Since the Veterans Home opening in February 2013, it has been 100% occupied to the extent that when a bed is open, it is occupied as soon as the next eligible person on the waiting list, (approximately, four hundred person) waiting list can be notified. The level of the care for Members in this modern, state-of-the-art facility consistently receives five-star ratings from State & Medicare nursing home inspections.

An important part of the recreation committee’s volunteer activities is the recruiting and training of interviewers to conduct interviews with veterans. Nursing home staff identify candidates who may want to do an interview. Another source is a fellow Member who may have an idea when someone wants to do an interview but needs a little more information. The result is to record video interviews safely and considerately for Members who want to leave a lasting memory of their time in service to family and to the public.

Veterans History recordings are electronically transferred to the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison, WI where they are transcribed for a paper record, then cataloged onto the web. All Members enter the home having served and most have a story or two from their service days. Some choose NOT to tell their stories. Others are open to being interviewed and we’re happy to help them tell their stories.

While the nursing home provides professional medical care, the CVHRC, Inc. provides the extra ingredients that make Members' lives more pleasurable and more like it was at home. Members don’t take the “extras” for granted nor do they expect them – they simply appreciate them and say “thanks”.

Staff from the Life Enrichment Department attend every meeting. These devoted folks work tirelessly to devise activities like: • Veteran's history program interviews • Annual formal Veterans Ball • Bingo • Bingo Store • Fishing • Patriotic Ceremonies • Branch of Service Gatherings • Library/Computers • Member Council • Happy Hours • Live Music • Outings/Sponsored Events • Exercise Classes • Religious Services • Major league baseball games • Wheel chair accessible motorcoach transportation to distant activities • Special seating for Blue Angels and Tamburitzan's performances. The recreation committee funds most Life Enrichment activities.

During monthly meetings, Veterans Home staff outlines the activities they feel will help enhance the lives of their Members. On behalf of their Members, they petition to the Recreation Committee for funds needed to make these activities happen. Once petitioned, the committee responds with a motion to fund. Members of the Recreation Committee have unwavering faith in these requests and never seem to judge them too costly. If the Life Enhancement Staff feel the Veteran Members would benefit from an activity, the Recreation Committee will make every effort to see that they get it.

The Veterans Home provides the highest standard of nursing home care for Members. The Recreation Committee helps increase the overall standard of living for those Members through financial support and volunteers.