Archive for January, 2013

A Berkshires chef cooks for veterans down on their luck

Chef Jason Stump in his kitchen for Soldier On in Pittsfield.

PITTSFIELD — On a menu usually stacked with meat and potatoes, where does one find room for kale? That’s the challenge facing Jason Stump as he cooks three meals a day for about 70 military veterans.

Bridging the worlds of fine dining and institutional food service, Stump puts his experience as a chef in Greater Boston to good use as he cooks for this audience at the food program Soldier On, a nonprofit serving homeless veterans and those who have fallen on hard times and live in residential units the organization runs. “These guys are meat and potatoes guys, and certain vegetables, they don’t touch them,” says Stump, who is coming up on his first year here. “The challenge is cooking around that.”

Stump also leads cooking classes and weekly sessions devoted to a specific food item and different ways to make use of it. He will visit a group of female veterans at Soldier On’s location in Leeds for a practical lesson in dressing up basic foods, or in the warm months, he will encourage the stewards of the vegetable garden in Pittsfield to take advantage of community farming plots available nearby.

Before his professional about-face, Stump pursued a typical career for ambitious young chefs. He worked his way through jobs as the founding kitchen manager (and, later, sous chef) at Legal Test Kitchen on Boston’s waterfront, and head chef at Scollay Square Restaurant on Beacon Hill. Just before moving to the Berkshires, he worked as executive chef for The Cottage in Wellesley. That menu had an emphasis on a “light, clean, fresh” fusion of Californian and New England cuisine, Stump says. (Favorite dishes he introduced there include Chioggia beet salad and pan-seared fish with a sweet potato crust, served with wilted spinach, edamame, corn, and a balsamic beurre blanc.)

Stump sauteed chicken breasts in a cooking class.

MATTHEW CAVANAUGH FOR THE BOSTON

Stump sauteed chicken breasts in a cooking class.

Chioggia beets may not be high on the favorite food list among the veterans at Soldier On, but Stump finds other ways to translate his skills to this new environment. His task is to satisfy a more back-to-basics type palate, while avoiding old standbys of institutional-style food (think: overdone roast beef with heavy gravy) that don’t go well with conditions like diabetes and obesity.

“He’s really been able to incorporate some fine dining into the dinners at Soldier On for the veterans without having them feel like they’re entering into another world,” says Mike Hagmaier, who runs operations for the organization. “Most of the veterans we work with are used to eating fast food and takeout. Jason is very clever in making sure they are getting the adequate diet and being taken care of properly.”

Kale makes its way onto the menu in a hearty, Portuguese-inspired stew. Instead of cheese, twice-baked potatoes are slyly stuffed with sweet potato. Roast beef is slow-cooked at a low heat, with light seasoning. Looking to avoid salt and sugar, Stump uses a touch of lemon juice to enhance natural flavor and sweetens some foods with fresh orange juice.

Edward Watkins dug into a plate of sauteed vegetables.

MATTHEW CAVANAUGH FOR THE BOSTON

Edward Watkins dug into a plate of sauteed vegetables.

Stump, 30, left the restaurant scene and moved here when he and his wife, Andrea, decided they were looking for a different lifestyle and a quieter place to start a family. He figured he could stitch together a couple of cooking jobs, but the opportunity at Soldier On popped up and sounded intriguing. He had a grandfather in the Navy and an uncle in the Army, but Stump says there’s been no particular emphasis in his family on military service. But once he started at Soldier On, not only feeding veterans but also working with them, he found the environment agreed with him.

“They deserve it. They’ve served us, they’ve sacrificed for us,” Stump says. “So even with something as simple as food, if they walk out of here and say it was the best roast beef they ever had, that means a lot to me — more than a busy Saturday night in a restaurant where we made a lot of money.”

He has revamped the organization’s food program, taking advantage of seasonal produce and ordering from local suppliers. The farmers’ market in neighboring Lanesborough is now a key resource. Stump is also building a database of new recipes, including the ingredients for a house spice rub used on flank steak with marinated peppers, so his kitchen discoveries are available for other cooks as Soldier On grows.

For Jeffrey Harmon, a resident in one of the organization’s apartment units, a job in Stump’s kitchen takes advantage of the skills he used through 19 years as a sous chef in the Navy. Working on two batches of muffins (one combining strawberries and chocolate, the other a mixture of cranberries, blueberries, and strawberries), Harmon swiftly cracks a series of eggs.

Some of that Navy training still comes in handy.

“This is a requirement in the military,” he explains. “You have to be able to crack an egg with one hand.”

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Soldier On awarded $100,000 from Newman's Own Foundation to develop women's wellness center in Northampton

NORTHAMPTON – Soldier On has been awarded a $100,000 grant over two years from Newman’s Own Foundation to develop a Women’s Wellness Center in Leeds.

Newman’s Own is an independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman.

“The Soldier On Women’s Wellness Center provides a holistic approach to the recovery of women veterans who have faced homelessness, trauma and addiction,” said Cindy Nolan-Liston, a case manager for the women’s program at Soldier On.

“The Newman’s Own Foundation grant will give the women the opportunity to work on physical, mental and spiritual wellness so that a more complete recovery can be made,” Nolan-Liston said.

Soldier On is dedicated to providing housing and supportive services to homeless veterans. With the $100,000 grant from the Newman’s Own Foundation, Soldier On will develop a wellness center to support the women’s program.

The wellness center will be aligned with the peer managed housing and programs at the women’s program.

Yoga, meditation, stress management, peer support and nutrition are among the programs that will be available to the women at the center.

“We are proud of the men and women who have made innumerable sacrifices in service to our country,” said Robert Forrester, president of Newman’s Own Foundation. He added, “For nearly 20 years, we have been supporting the organizations that help our nation’s troops and their families.”

“Soldier On is proud to be selected by Newman’s Own as the vehicle to serve women veterans with a multifaceted treatment plan aimed at getting them back to the center of their lives,” said John F. Downing, president and CEO of Soldier On.

The women’s program at Soldier On has been providing services to women veterans since 2005. The program provides female veterans with a safe, structured environment that allows them to regain stability. Transitional housing units are located at the Leeds campus and house 12 female veterans in a duplex cottage. Aligned with Soldier On’s peer-to-peer support system, the cottage is managed and maintained by the women who live there.

Click here to view this story.

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Soldier On awarded $100,000 from Newman’s Own Foundation to develop women’s wellness center in Northampton

NORTHAMPTON – Soldier On has been awarded a $100,000 grant over two years from Newman’s Own Foundation to develop a Women’s Wellness Center in Leeds.

Newman’s Own is an independent foundation created by the late actor and philanthropist, Paul Newman.

“The Soldier On Women’s Wellness Center provides a holistic approach to the recovery of women veterans who have faced homelessness, trauma and addiction,” said Cindy Nolan-Liston, a case manager for the women’s program at Soldier On.

“The Newman’s Own Foundation grant will give the women the opportunity to work on physical, mental and spiritual wellness so that a more complete recovery can be made,” Nolan-Liston said.

Soldier On is dedicated to providing housing and supportive services to homeless veterans. With the $100,000 grant from the Newman’s Own Foundation, Soldier On will develop a wellness center to support the women’s program.

The wellness center will be aligned with the peer managed housing and programs at the women’s program.

Yoga, meditation, stress management, peer support and nutrition are among the programs that will be available to the women at the center.

“We are proud of the men and women who have made innumerable sacrifices in service to our country,” said Robert Forrester, president of Newman’s Own Foundation. He added, “For nearly 20 years, we have been supporting the organizations that help our nation’s troops and their families.”

“Soldier On is proud to be selected by Newman’s Own as the vehicle to serve women veterans with a multifaceted treatment plan aimed at getting them back to the center of their lives,” said John F. Downing, president and CEO of Soldier On.

The women’s program at Soldier On has been providing services to women veterans since 2005. The program provides female veterans with a safe, structured environment that allows them to regain stability. Transitional housing units are located at the Leeds campus and house 12 female veterans in a duplex cottage. Aligned with Soldier On’s peer-to-peer support system, the cottage is managed and maintained by the women who live there.

Click here to view this story.

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Fewer Massachusetts veterans homeless, Lt. Governor Murray says

The images are equally disturbing — that of a soldier fighting, risking his or her life for the country, and seeing that same soldier among the living, but living on the streets.

On Wednesday, during the annual Veterans’ Service Officers Luncheon at the Statehouse, Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray said new federal data shows veteran homelessness has dropped 26 percent in Massachusetts between January 2010 and January 2012. That statistic exceeds the 17 percent national rate of decline over the same two-year period.

Local veterans services agents say the decline is also reflected in Berkshire County, but the risk of homelessness for vets persists. While programs to help veterans are working now, officials say the military’s troop drawdown could eventually overwhelm the system.

“The numbers the lieutenant governor is talking about are relatively true: There has been a decrease in the number of vets on the street,” said John “Jack” Downing, the president and CEO of Soldier On. The organization provides three veterans housing sites — two in Pittsfield and one at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds.

Downing said about 90 percent of veterans in Soldier On housing are individuals versus veterans with families.

The data cited by Murray, who chairs both the Governor’s Advisory Council on Veterans’ Services and the Interagency Council on Housing and Homelessness, is based on a count of homeless veterans by the Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development departments. The count was conducted on a single night in January 2012, and compared with previous single-night annual counts. The 1,181 people counted in 2012 represented a 7 percent decline from 2011 and a 26 percent decline from 2010.

The decline is attributed to new programming, increased collaboration among networks of providers, and availability of comprehensive veterans’ benefits.

Both Downing and Pittsfield Veterans’ Services Officer and Director Rosanne Frieri specifically credited a four-year-old federal program known as HUD-VASH — the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. The program provides rental assistance, case management and clinical services.

“With VASH, veterans are getting into apartments a lot easier with less money,” said Frieri.

The program has also led to more employment for veterans.

“We’ve been able to see guys who have been chronically homeless become established,” said Downing.

Citing the current government drawdown of tens of thousands of troops, Downing cited a “hardcore reality.”

“[Those soldiers are going to be] returning to us, on top of the normal attrition of military personnel finishing their tours,” he said. “Most of us doing the work with veterans have realized those numbers could start to rise again, and we’re not ready with all the programs and services needed to assist them.”

Frieri said the Pittsfield veterans affairs office has “never been busier,” with more than 130 people claiming a portion of the city’s $85,000 veterans benefits monthly payroll.

Downing said that the Western Massachusetts region may be less affected by the military drawdown because there have been fewer reservists called to service from the region versus other parts of the country.

“We’re still not good at preventing people from going homeless but we’re better at it, and hopefully we won’t have that kind of spike,” Downing said.

The local agents lauded the state government for its attention to veterans issues, as well as local collaborations on the matter.

Murray said he intends to release a statewide plan later this winter to further address homelessness among the veteran population.

Last January, the department launched a pilot program in collaboration with VA known as the Statewide Housing Advocacy for Reintegration and Prevention (SHARP) program. It aims to accelerate the housing process and offers veteran-to-veteran peer support, mental health services, psychiatric evaluation and linkages to emergency shelter to chronically homeless veterans.

Back in October, the state government announced that it had received new federal funding to expand peer-supported “housing first” opportunities in the state. This new funding will hire nine new peer support specialists, 12 new case managers, and is accompanied by 320 new HUD-VASH vouchers.

Downing said Soldier On has also applied for local grants through the federal Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, which will be announced in July.

To view the entire article, visit http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_22344253.

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Agawam board approves changes to veterans housing project

AGAWAM – The Planning Board has approved changes to Soldier On’s $12 million veterans housing project proposed for the former state police training academy building. They are needed for the Northampton organization’s project for low- and moderate-income veterans to conform to Massachusetts Historical Commission standards. “Overall, we’re very happy to have them (Soldier On) in the community. We were very happy to accommodate them,” Planning Board Chairman Travis P. Ward said Friday. The changes will reduce the number of its housing units from 54 to 53 and were approved by the Planning Board by a 4-0 vote Thursday. The board voted after hearing a presentation by Soldier On’s consultant on the project, engineer James M. Scalise II of SK Design Group Inc. of Pittsfield. He explained that the modifications are needed as a result of a detailed review of the former state police training academy building on South Westfield Street by the state historical commission. It has oversight of the project because the structure, which was built at the turn of the 20th century, is believed to have historic value. Plans call for revamping the building and constructing an addition. Steven E. Como, Soldier On’s executive vice president, said Friday that a groundbreaking could take place as early as late spring or early summer. The next major hurdle will be getting tax credits for the project through the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development as it will be government-subsidized housing for low- and moderate-income veterans. The changes authorized by the Planning Board must also be approved by the Board of Appeals. It will take up the matter when it meets Jan. 14. In a letter to the Planning Board, Scalise explained that changes are needed to preserve the former state police training academy’s first floor lobby, which is considered to be historic. The state has also required that the second-floor stage and auditorium be preserved and that the roof top on the proposed addition be lowered so as not to detract from the main building. Designs have also been altered so that the addition will not be visible from the road, In addition, changes have been made to the layouts of the units and the kitchen, and the rear entrance has been modified. The new site plan will result in about 600 more square feet of paved area than what the Planning Board allowed in the earlier site plan for the project. However, the new site plan will result in 160 square feet less paved area than currently exists.

Read the full article here.

 

 

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