Making sure hospitalized veterans have therapeutic arts & crafts kits to occupy their hands and minds is what Walter Vannoy does at the Perry Point, Maryland VA Medical Center. Vannoy, who routinely makes the rounds throughout the hospital to distribute the kits, even conducts one-on-one craft clinics.
“The veterans, particularly the younger ones, often say, “Please give me something to do with my hands.” This is because between medical treatments or therapy, they have a lot of free time. But these veteran patients don’t always want to just watch TV or sleep their time away, they want to be productive,” Vannoy said.
Vannoy, who spent 25 years working in museum exhibits, decided it was time for a different career path. Always on the lookout for something creative, he noticed an opening at the VA medical center in Perry Point. Help Hospitalized Veterans (HHV), the nation’s largest provider of free arts & crafts kits to VA and military hospitals was recruiting a Craft Care Specialist (CCS) position for the facility. Vannoy himself a Marine Corps veteran and compassionate for those who have also served their country, got the job.
“Witnessing hospitalized veterans complete their kits and proudly show them to me and other patients, well that’s just about the best it gets,” said Vannoy. “These men and women take so much care in creating something, and it really shows. Sometimes the simplest tasks for most people can be daunting challenges to veterans, some of whom are missing fingers or even hands and arms. But that doesn’t slow them down much; they dedicate themselves to finishing their kits. To be a part of their recoveries brings a lot of satisfaction to this job,” he added.
HHV, which was founded over 40 years ago, has provided over 27 million arts & craft kits to those receiving care from VA or the military. In 1994 HHV began its CCS program which now provides 57 other CCS’s stationed at VA and military hospitals throughout the country – also at no cost to the VA or military medical facilities.
While much has changed on the battlefield since the war in Vietnam, one thing that hasn’t is the demand for HHV’s arts & crafts kits. “Give me something to do with my hands,” was the original statement made to HHV founders during their first visit to the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego in the hopes of learning how they could help the sick and wounded returning from Vietnam, and it’s what continues to motivate HHV to strive to put a free craft kit into the hands of each and every hospitalized veteran.
