The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded its prestigious Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award to the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA). MDVA Commissioner Brad Lindsay accepted the award from Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough for “Innovation in Eliminating Veteran Homelessness” on behalf of the SOAR team. MDVA has won five Pillars of Excellence Awards in recent years.

MDVA’s SOAR program collaborates with key organizations and community groups to provide Minnesota’s homeless and at-risk Veterans with expanded access to Social Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. SOAR stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access and Recovery.

“The SOAR program has established itself to be one of the most important homelessness prevention strategies in Minnesota’s drive to be the fourth state in the nation to effectively eliminate Veteran homelessness,” says Lindsay. “I’m proud that this team’s dedication and focus on building relationships is being recognized by the VA.”

The Abraham Lincoln Pillars of Excellence Award was established in 2012 by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recognize best practices from the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs (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.

If you or a Veteran you know is experiencing homelessness or is at risk of homelessness, please contact your County Veterans Service Officer or call 1-888-LinkVet.