St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) has received the prestigious Abraham Lincoln “Pillars of Excellence Award” from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 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 award recognizes outstanding state programs that support Veterans within their states. The 2022 awards were presented by U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough at the mid-winter conference of the National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs (NASDVA) last month.

This is MDVA’s fourth Pillars of Excellence award since 2018. Previous awards have recognized the creation of a database of secure military discharge documents (2018), Veterans Application Tracking System (VATS) that streamlines the process of Veterans and their families receiving the educational benefits granted by the Minnesota GI Bill (2020), and delivery of services to Tribal Governments serving Native American Veterans (2021).

“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.

###

About MDVA
The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) is a cabinet-level state agency dedicated to serving Minnesota Veterans and their families. In addition to overseeing the five State Veterans Homes, MDVA helps eligible Veterans and families secure state and federal benefits and provides programs and services relating to higher education, benefits, burial, claims, outreach and Veterans employment. Veterans and their families are encouraged to visit www.MinnesotaVeteran.org or call 1-(888)-LinkVet for more information about benefits.