Congratulations to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs Veteran Homelessness team on receiving the prestigious Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs! This award recognizes outstanding state programs that support Veterans within their states. This is MDVA’s fourth Pillars of Excellence award, since 2018.

The 2022 awards were presented by Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough at the mid-winter conference of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs (NASDVA) last month. MDVA was the sole winner in the category of “Eliminating Veteran Homelessness” in recognition of three new homeless Veteran initiatives: Operation OVER (Opening Veterans to Every Resource), Minnesota’s Veterans Entering Stable Tenancy (MNVEST) and Veteran Supportive Housing Opportunities (VSHO).

“This is the highest honor our department can receive,” said MDVA Deputy Commissioner Brad Lindsay. “It is a credit to the fine staff on our Veteran Homelessness team who have worked tirelessly on new initiatives to eliminate Veteran homelessness in Minnesota.”

The “Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence” Award was established in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recognize best practices from NASDVA members that have developed effective programs to address what are the current five top-line issues: Customer Experience with VA Benefits and Services, Eliminating the Claims and Appeals Backlog, Eliminating Veterans Homelessness, Delivery of services to Tribal governments serving Native American Veterans, Suicide Awareness and Prevention and Innovative State Programs.

With VA’s national commitment to Veterans and the states local capabilities, this recognition reflects the close working relationship between the VA and the state directors. This year, Secretary McDonough presented eight states with the Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Awards for outstanding state programs that support Veterans within their states. In addition to Minnesota, Alaska, Indiana, Tennessee, Nebraska, Kentucky, Utah and Washington also received Pillars of Excellence Awards.