CHESTER, Pa. — Power Home Remodeling (Power) revealed two new policies to support its growing veteran and veteran spouse community, spearheaded by the Power Veterans Initiative (PVI). The nationally-recognized top workplace is offering five additional days of paid time off for veterans to attend any Veteran Affairs (VA) appointments pertaining to preventative care, disability claims, mental health counseling, or any appointment needed with their local VA office. Veteran spouses can also utilize this paid time off if a veteran requires a medical escort.
Additionally, the company is now offering one day off for National Guard and Reserve members to re-acclimate after their required annual training or extended active duty orders to help them transition back into civilian life and work. Power implemented these policies in an effort to not only improve the experience at work for the veteran population, but to support their physical and mental well-being.
“It can be extremely difficult and overwhelming to navigate working with the VA to seek medical care and mental health support coming out of the military,” said Hollie Delaney, chief people officer at Power Home Remodeling and a veteran spouse. “Veterans are dealing with that along with transitioning back into civilian life and work, so when our military affairs team told us that our people needed this, we undoubtedly said ‘yes.’ We’re committed to offering resources and support to our military community.”
The changes are the direct result of feedback from PVI’s Quick Response Forces (QRF) — a rapid response unit common in the military — consisting of frontline veteran and inspired civilian employees who continue to build the initiative, gain employee intelligence and feedback across the business, and improve the experience for veterans at Power.
The move correlates with a shift in how veterans are using services offered by the VA, with a particular focus on mental health. Usage of mental health services from the VA increased 90% from 2016 to 2019, and the VA is projecting an additional 32% increase in outpatient mental health care over the next 10 years, a critical tool to combat the suicide rate among veterans, which is 1.5 times higher than the general population. After learning of widespread underutilization and cancellation of VA appointments within the Power veteran community for fear of missing work or utilizing too much of their standard paid time off, the QRF developed and implemented these new policies with support from Power’s HR department and executive leadership.
“PVI was created to recruit, train and develop veteran employees by cultivating an environment that reawakens the sense of purpose and camaraderie they experienced in the military. Over the years, this community has also harnessed lessons learned from their military experience to fuel their individual success, which in turn feeds the growth and scale of the business,” said Co-National Director James Boscia. “What makes this initiative so unique is the sense of community we’ve built for veterans and spouses where they feel at home, fully supported, at home, and most of all — heard. These policies were necessary to ensure our people continue to feel that sense of support and care.”
