Monday June 10, 2024
The First Task Force Meeting June 10, 2024 Richmond, VA War Memorial from 2-5pm, JOIN US!
The first meeting of the Task Force set to look at the "unintended consequences" of the language passed in HB/SB 6001, which gutted Education benefits for Gold Star, Disabled Veteran and First Responder KIA Families will take place in the form of a public meeting on June 10, from 2-5pm in Richmond. This session is open to the public.
Virginia GA Betrays Gold Star & Disabled Veteran Families!
On May 13, the Commonwealth's legislature and Governor Youngkin voted to deplete the critical VMSDEP benefit and if it wasn't clear before, it should be clear now. The loss of benefits stems from an attempt by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia to take control of this program.
Welcome to Friends of VMSDEP
We bring together Gold Star and permanently disabled veterans' families to make the most of their VMSDEP experience and to support their loved ones.
Who We Are
Our History
Friends of VMSDEP is a group that came together to work with the state of Virginia to ensure a more sustainable VMSDEP program. When language appeared in HB30 attempting to gut the VMSDEP program we realized a need to give a voice to these families. We provide a centralized location to track any proposed changes to VMSDEP while giving a unified voice to those impacted by VMSDEP changes.
Our Values
At Friends of Virginia Military Survivors & Dependents Education Program (VMSDEP), our values are at the core of everything we do. We believe in honesty, integrity, and respect for all.
Call to Action!
- Sign the petition and share it with your contacts.
- Contact your legislators and respectfully demand that:
- 1. Virginia to Uphold Its Compact with Veterans
- 2. The program be restored to its previous state prior to HB/SB6001.
- 3. The program be evaluated in the form of a study that is comprehensive and specifically examines the data provided by SCHEV which is inconsistent with DVS and Colleges and Universities.
- Copy info@vmsdepfriends.org to emails to your legislators.
- Join our Facebook Community.
- Use #VMSDEPCompact in your social media posts.
- Subscribe to this website for updates.
Past Advocacy for VMSDEP
Our original petition to save the VMSDEP program got over 4000 signatures in less than 10 days, the people of Virginia made their voices heard and let legislators know it was not okay to gut the VMSDEP program.
On May 13, a group of us (veterans, dependent spouses, and dependent children) attended the live voting session for HB/SB6001 and expressed our concerns directly to members of the Assembly.
Over 1100+ members of our Social Media Outreach Community have been coordinating local meet-ups with delegates, phone-in campaigns, and media outreach.