Two Families Establish Long Island State Veterans Home Endowment 

Veterans answer the call to protect our nation, our rights and our freedom. Now, two families have answered the call to help our country’s veterans by establishing the Long Island State Veterans Home’s first endowment. The Long Island State Veterans Home Endowed Fund for Excellence will allow the Veterans Home the flexibility to provide state-of-the-art services to our deserving veterans.

The Long Island State Veterans Home (LISVH) opened its doors in 1991 on the campus of  Stony Brook University. It is part of Stony Brook Medicine and provides short-term rehabilitation, traditional long-term care, Alzheimer’s/dementia care and end-of-life palliative care for veterans. The facility currently has 350 beds and offers a 40-slot Medical Model Adult Day Health Care (ADHC) Program. The day care program is offered six days a week and offers all of the services of our skilled nursing facility, but the participants get to return home after their visit. Services include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, a dental visit or eye exam and even a haircut or a warm shower. “At the Long Island State Veterans Home, we handle not just quality of care, but quality of life for our veterans,” explained Executive Director Fred Sganga. “Our philosophy for our residents and ADHC registrants is that we want to exceed their expectations.”

The LaSpina family has been giving to the LISVH for the past 10 years. John LaSpina is the former chair of the Bowlers to Veterans Link charitable foundation. Through that organization, LaSpina helped to bring virtual-reality headsets to the LISVH — making it the first state veterans home in the country to offer virtual reality experiences to its residents. Through the family-owned and -operated Maple Family Centers, the LaSpina family has raised funds to bring eye gazer devices to the LISVH. LaSpina was motivated to help establish the endowment to ensure that the LISVH continues to have the resources and services it needs for years to come. “We want to brighten veterans’ lives, and we want to inspire others to do the same,” said LaSpina. “We hope that the Long Island State Veterans Home continues to be cutting edge in terms of technology and resources that enhance the care for our veterans.”

The LISVH is one of only a few nursing homes in the country that are fully integrated into the health and educational mission of a major teaching and research university. Because it serves as a teaching nursing home, students pursuing careers in geriatrics or gerontology learn from nurses, therapists and social workers to gain the education, training and experience they need for their future careers. Students work alongside full-time physicians and registered nurses. What’s different from most nursing homes is that there are five highly trained full-time geriatricians on staff.

Navy veteran and alumnus Steven Allard ’76 and his wife Mary Ann established a scholarship in 2015 to benefit full-time students who are veterans of the United States Armed Services. He explained that when he got out of the Navy he received financial help from the GI Bill, as well as a veteran scholarship from the State of New York, which made things easier for them. “We wanted to give back to future generations and support students that may have similar academic challenges that we faced when we were in school,” said Steven. 

When the Allards learned more about the LISVH, they were impressed not only with the services it provides but also with its association with Stony Brook Medicine. “As a retired nurse, that was important to me,” said Mary Ann. The couple hopes that the endowment will help the LISVH to expand its services, as well as keep thinking about what’s next for the future of the home and the veterans. “We also hope that the Long Island State Veterans Home becomes a model for other places,” said Steven. “Our view is that paying back the brave men and women who gave part of their lives to uphold what America is supposed to be about is something that should be natural.”

“The Long Island State Veterans Home is grateful to the LaSpina and Allard families for their generosity and support of our services,” said Renaissance School of Medicine Dean Peter Igarashi. “This endowment will allow us to continue our caring tradition of serving the veterans community, as well as grow and maintain a world-class healthcare facility that is befitting of the honor of serving America’s heroes in their time of need.”

Sganga said he feels blessed by the generosity of the LaSpinas and the Allards. “They recognize the importance that our veterans play in our country. Because of them, we’ll be able to continue to provide a first-class environment for our veterans — and our veterans and their families deserve nothing less.”

The Long Island State Veterans Home Endowed Fund for Excellence is eligible for both the New York State endowment match program and the Simons Infinity Investment Match Challenge, which triples the impact this endowment gift will have on Stony Brook. For more information, visit stonybrook.edu/endowments. If you have interest in or questions about endowments or the match opportunities, contact Scott Barrett, interim vice president for Advancement, at (631) 632-9128 or Scott.Barrett@stonybrook.edu. 

-Christine McGrath