Vitas Healthcare and Volunteers of America Team Up to Help Florida Veterans Transition to Permanent Housing

COCOA, FLA., Nov. 20, 2015/3BL Media/  – VITAS Healthcare Corporation, the nation’s leader in end-of-life care, is partnering with nonprofit Volunteers of America to help Florida veterans transition from shelters to permanent housing. With its donation of 1,000 Apartment Starter Kits for veterans participating in Volunteers of America’s Veterans Transitional Housing Programs in Cocoa, Miami, Key West and Punta Gorda, VITAS’ support is made possible through its participation in CBS EcoMedia’s WellnessAd program.  

Volunteers of America’s Apartment Starter Kit program includes essential household items such as pots, pans, silverware, dishes, and bed sheets, ensuring that veterans transitioning into permanent housing have the necessary household items they need to lead meaningful and independent lives. As added support to veterans, VITAS is also assigning a case manager who will help veterans process applications and pay application fees, security deposits and moving expenses as they move into permanent housing. VITAS’ support will impact a total of 1,000 veterans in Cocoa, Miami, Key West and Punta Gorda.

To celebrate this partnership, VITAS Healthcare employees joined Volunteers of America of Florida – the largest provider of transitional housing for veterans in the state of Florida and the third-largest provider in the country – at the Cocoa Veterans’ Village program this morning to assemble the Apartment Starter Kits. VITAS Healthcare employees also took time to write personalized messages of encouragement to be included with each kit.

The day concluded with a tour of the Cocoa Veterans’ Village program facilities, where VITAS Healthcare had the opportunity to meet and interact with veterans in the program. Attendees included VITAS Healthcare Corporation Vice President of Operations Jennifer Nygaard, Volunteers of America of Florida President and CEO Janet Stringfellow and CBS EcoMedia Senior Vice President of Operations and Strategic Partner Development Theresa Schieber.        

“VITAS Healthcare and Volunteers of America of Florida share the mission to help the most vulnerable in Florida, and to include spiritual and emotional support for those we serve,” said Stringfellow. “We also share the passion to keep those we serve as comfortable and independent as possible in their own homes. Thanks to VITAS Healthcare and this generous donation, together we are able to make every day Veteran’s Day.”

“As the nation’s leading provider of hospice and palliative services, VITAS is proud to support Volunteers of America, the largest provider of supportive housing for homeless veterans in Florida,” said Nygaard. “At VITAS, we realize that hospices with special programs for veteran patients are much better equipped to address many of the unique clinical, emotional and spiritual needs veterans deserve at the end of life, that’s why we are pleased to partner with VOA in hopes of providing aid and relief to our nation’s veterans.”

VITAS has defined and continuously elevated the national standards of care for terminally ill patients and their families over the years, and has earned a reputation in Florida as a leading choice provider, based on positive testimonials and referrals from health care professionals, patients and families throughout the state. The company is committed to make a difference in the communities it serves, and continues to provide charity care each year through its intake and care for terminally ill patients regardless of their diagnosis or their ability to pay. Headquartered in Miami, VITAS operates 47 hospice programs in 16 states, including the District of Columbia. Its skilled teams of experts, including physicians, nurses, home health aides, social workers, chaplains, bereavement specialists and volunteers, work together daily to ensure the best-possible quality of life for more than 15,000 patients.

About VITAS Healthcare Corporation 
VITAS® Healthcare, a pioneer and leader in the hospice movement since 1978, is the nation’s leading provider of end-of-life care. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, VITAS (pronounced VEE-tahs) operates 47 hospice programs in 16 states (Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware,  Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,  Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia. VITAS employs 11,821 professionals who care for terminally ill patients daily, primarily in the patients’ homes, but also in the company’s 34  inpatient hospice units as well as in hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living communities/residential care facilities for the elderly. At the conclusion of the third quarter of 2015, VITAS reported an average daily census of 15,756. Visit www.vitas.com.

About Volunteers of America 
Volunteers of America is a national, nonprofit, faith-based organization dedicated to helping those in need live healthy, safe and productive lives. Since 1896, our ministry of service has supported and empowered America’s most vulnerable groups, including veterans, seniors, people with disabilities, at-risk youth, men and women returning from prison, homeless individuals and families, those recovering from addictions and many others. Through hundreds of human service programs, including housing and health care, Volunteers of America helps more than 2 million people in over 400 communities. Our work touches the mind, body, heart and ultimately the spirit of those we serve, integrating our deep compassion with highly effective programs and services. Learn more at www.voa.org.

About CBS EcoMedia Inc.
At EcoMedia, we’re propelled by the desire to create positive social change; that’s been our mission since we founded the company in 2002.  In 2010, after successfully partnering with CBS on a wide range of environmental projects, EcoMedia became the newest addition to the CBS Corporation portfolio, exponentially scaling our reach across television, radio, interactive, publishing and outdoor media. 

Through our patent-pending EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd programs, an innovative twist on traditional advertising, advertisers are able to support much-needed local projects which in turn creates jobs, saves taxpayer money and improves the quality of life in communities nationwide.  In the process, we’re fundamentally altering the advertising landscape, elevating the ordinary, traditional commercial – and media, in general – into a catalyst for tangible, quantifiable social change. Please visit ecomediacbs.com, like us at facebook.com/EcoMediaCBS or follow us at Twitter.com/EcoMediaCBS.

By participating in EcoMedia’s EcoAd, WellnessAd and EducationAd advertising programs, EcoMedia’s advertisers agree to provide funding for projects we believe will have a beneficial effect upon the environment, health and/or education within local communities.  EcoMedia’s advertising programs are not certification programs nor are the EcoAd, WellnessAd or EducationAd logos seals of approval. EcoMedia does not in any way certify, endorse or make any representations about EcoMedia program advertisers, their products or services.

Press Contact
Theresa Schieber
Theresa.schieber@ecomediacbs.com
212-975-3471