Military Resource Team awarded Veterans Community Service Award by High Desert Medical Group

By DENNIS ANDERSON
High Desert Medical Group

LANCASTER, Calif. -- The Military Resource Center, a component team of Mental Health America Los Angeles, has been designated as the awardee of the Veterans Community Service Group Award for 2021 -- a joint initiative of High Desert Medical Group and Los Angeles County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

The award, created during the past decade, is bestowed as part of High Desert Medical Group’s annual Senior Expo. In making this award High Desert Medical Group and Los Angeles County Supervisor Barger recognize the contributions that team members of the Military Resource Center-MHALA have made during the past decade.

In presenting the recognition, Supervisor Barger and High Desert Medical Group take note of the MRC team’s achievements since its innovation as an initiative started in 2011 by Judy Cooperberg, Vice President for Mental Health America Los Angeles in the North County Region.

The award was presented at High Desert Medical Group by Dennis Anderson, a licensed clinical therapist and veterans advocate, and Charles F. Bostwick, assistant field deputy for Supervisor Barger.

"In presenting the award, we recognize all the good work that the Military Resource Center and MHALA has done in helping prevent veteran homelessness, and providing needed services for those who served in our armed forces," Bostwick said on behalf of Supervisor Barger.

On hand to accept the award was Cooperberg, joined by Robert Parga, assistant director for the Military Resource Center. Donniel Marquez is Director of the Military Resource Center, a half-dozen specialists who work on resolving veteran homelessness.

"We do appreciate the award and recognition from High Desert Medical Group," Cooperberg said. "We would add that High Desert Medical Group has always supported the work we do at MHALA and the Military Resource Center. Anything that we have asked for they have always provided. If people don't know what High Desert Medical Group does in community, they should."

Specifically, the awardee is recognized for:

-- Promotion of wellness and stability for veterans and their families through advocacy, provision of mental health services, and housing stability through the Supportive Services for Veterans and Families program initiated by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

-- Vigorous and conscientious efforts of MRC to conduct outreach to homeless veterans, even in desert encampment settings, working with local SSVF program offices and regional coordinators.

-- Working tirelessly with VA over a decade to make veteran homelessness a priority and goal achieved through effective outreach, using a “Housing First” approach to deliver stable shelter for veterans and families.

-- Since the MRC’s inception the team has provided housing and services for more than 2,200 veterans and has housed 1,300 veteran families. This has achieved a substantial contribution to the Antelope Valley’s health and wellness, mental health, and positive housing outcomes.

"It has been 10 years since the VA recognized us as their partner in the Supportive Services for Veterans Families program," Cooperberg said. "We were one of about only 50 non-profits in the nation to be so recognized."