Pictured front row, left to right are: new homeowner Staff Sergeant Omar Domenech, his son Omar, Jr., wife Angela and daughters Ashley and Anastasia. Pictured back row, left to right are Landmark Properties President Mark Baisch, Long Island Builders Institute (LIBI) CEO Mitchell Pally, Deputy Supervisor / Councilwoman Kathleen Walsh, Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld, Supervisor Mark Lesko, LIBI Vice President Mike Kelly, Councilman Dan Panico, Councilwoman Jane Bonner, Long Island Home Builders Care Development Corp. President Tom Datre and Treasurer Clara Datre.

Returning Veteran Gets New Home Built by LIBHC

Brookhaven Town Supervisor Mark Lesko joined town council members Kathleen Walsh, Jane Bonner, Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld and Dan Panico, members of Long Island Home Builders Care Development Corp (LIBHC), neighbors and friends welcomed returning veteran and Purple Heart recipient Staff Sergeant Omar Domenech and his family to their new home in Sound Beach. The home is the first of four affordable homes being built by LIHBC for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The property was donated by Long Island Builders Institute (LIBI) member Mark Baisch of Landmark Properties, and the house was built with donated materials, materials purchased at a reduced rate, and labor from local building material suppliers and sub-contractors. Brookhaven Town assisted the LIHBC by “fast tracking” all required building permits and inspections so the Domenech family could be in their new home by Veterans Day. The selection of Staff Sergeant Domenech for this home was conducted by the Veterans of Foreign War Post 6249 in Rocky Point. The program is made possible through the joint efforts of Suffolk County, the Town of Brookhaven and members of Long Island Builders Institute. The Town of Brookhaven has donated two lots in East Patchogue and one in Ronkonkoma for future homes.

For more information about Long Island Home Builders Care, call 631-232-2345 or visit HERE.

New York, New Jersey Healthcare Network

A new Website, www.familyofheroes.com, has been launched by the VA New York/New Jersey Healthcare Network and is offered to veterans’ families in the metropolitan New York and New Jersey area. The website offers a free one-hour training simulation to help friends and families of veterans identify problems and deal with post-deployment life.

Tax Credits for Hiring Veterans

In August, President Obama called on Congress to enact tax credits that will help get veterans back to work. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides businesses that hire unemployed veterans with a maximum credit of $5,600 per veteran, and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers businesses that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities with a maximum credit of $9,600 per veteran. These tax credits were included in the American Jobs Act and were signed into law by President Obama on November 21, 2011. For more information on these tax credits, visit the White House Website, www.whitehouse.gov.

VA Care Giver Support Program

The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a telephone support program to help the spouses of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans after a pilot program was successful. The spouse telephone support program is part of VA’s Caregiver Support Program. Spouses participate in 12 telephone support groups over six months. Caregivers should contact their nearest VA Medical Center to learn about this and other family caregiver resources in the local area. For more information, visit the VA Caregiver Support webpage HERE or your local VA caregiver support coordinator.

State Veteran’s Benefits Directory

Each state manages its own benefit programs. The following is a list of links to the Websites for each of the individual states that offer veterans benefits. Be sure to take advantage of the benefits you have earned by clicking on the link to your State Department of Veterans Affairs. See what benefits your state offers by going HERE.