Paralyzed Veterans of America

PVA has the best mission of any VSO hands down. An organization that has a specialty will almost always survive, even during challenging times such as the COVID-19 pandemic. 
This career path will challenge you every day and there is never a dull moment because it is fast paced and ever changing within the VA environment. 

PVA has excellent benefits: 

1) paid vacation (up to five weeks yearly) and the ability to carry over to the following year
2) sick leave (2 1/2 weeks yearly) and the ability to carry over (no limitations)
3) paid holidays (every federal holiday is observed and several of them come with 2 days off)
4) a compressed work schedule which also earns one full day off
5) the ability to work remotely 2 days per week

The work schedule is flexible. PVA truly believes in work-life balance.

PVA also offers the following benefits:

1) 401K program. They will match up to 3% and contributes 3% of the base salary.
2) accident insurance
3) basic life and AD&D for the employee
4) long term disability for employee
5) critical illness for children, spouse, and employee
6) HSA Medical (and other health insurance plans) for employee/family
7) dental
8) vision
9) volunteer child life and AD&D
10) volunteer spouse life and AD&D
11) short term disability

The challenging part of working for PVA is that it is easy to become burned out (the time off definitely helps with this). Clients depend on us heavily and sometimes for things that are beyond our scope of responsibility. The employee turnover rate is high at times (mostly due to salary). Other employees are expected to step in and assist when there is turnover. This is not necessarily a problem, but it can be difficult to manage your own cases and the cases of another office. It is frowned upon if you fall behind. 

Upper management could be more transparent in their decisions that affect the company. The relationship between upper management and the field staff needs to improve as there is a large divide. 

Salaries, cost of living adjustments, incentives for being a good employee need to improve and should occur regularly.

I would recommend working for PVA. There is no such thing as a perfect company.




Load up the car for the deliveries, grab the tickets, money bag, and head out the door.  Spend about 12 hours plus in the car, delivering, stop at the manager's house, drop off cash, tickets, get paid, and go home.  Get up and do it all over again the next day. 

  I learned that customers are the ones that make sure you get paid at the end of the day.  If you have customers that aren't the greatest, you still have to be nice, and move on.  No matter, if you know they are wrong.  

  In the beginning the management was good, and fair, but when you bring problems from home to the office, and somehow it interferes with the job you are trying to do, and creates problems.  The communication and the fairness were almost gone, and the abuse of generosity was in high gear.  It took the fun out of doing my job.

  The Co-workers (non-management) were special to me, because they were the ones who worked hard day in and day out to get that sale, and to be able to depend on me to deliver it, so they could get their commission.  It is their hard work, that allowed us to get paid everyday, or every other day.  

  The hardest part about the job was never getting a chance to say thank you and good bye to the customers i dealt with all the time.  I broke my leg while loading my car up one day, and not being able to see these fine people again is really hard.

  The most enjoyable part of my job was the customers.  To have a relationship where they know your first name, your phone number, and what kind of car you drive, is pretty awesome.  When you meet people from different walks of life, it helps you grow as a person, and you're always learning something new each time from them.

The organization operates in a shabby DC headquarters with a secretive, non-communicative, top-down 1950’s management style based on intimidation, micro-management, distrust, and antagonism.  Collaboration and innovation are strongly discouraged, and employees are not valued.  The overpaid, under-performing, and self-promoting department managers are sadly out of touch.  Telecommuting is not permitted, and employee work schedules are not flexible.  Vacations and personal time off are discouraged, and work-life balance is askew.  The organization has a shockingly high annual turnover rate, 50% or more in some departments, with a constant revolving door.  Conscientious, enthusiastic, intelligent employees are regularly thrown under the bus, predictably leaving when the spirit-crushing PVA culture that seeks to destroy self-esteem becomes apparent.

Advice to Management:  Question why very high annual turnover rates are the norm, and sideline the long term department managers who treat employees with hostility and disrespect.  Value and trust your colleagues, encourage full collaboration, and take advantage of the organizational brain trust.  Welcome innovation and new ideas to bring the organization into the 21st century.  Incorporate modern HR and workplace practices.    Top managers must open their eyes and realize that replacing valuable employees every six months is wasteful, costly, and destroys morale.

I enjoy working for Paralyzed Veterans Of America.  I totally love my job just wish it was closer.
 Nice work environment .   I think one of the hardest job done was  finding a way that we did not have to copy everything to go to my Board of Directors at that time we had 34 chapters ,directors that needed to receive the meeting material and I found a company called Directors Desk after  researching six other companies. We now save time with the employee creating the book and then we would no longer have to copy the book document are dragged on to  Directors Desk to create book .  Then I did all the training with all  key employees and 34 national directors along with our 15 executive committee and other boards and committees .   The cost saving of the employees time, cost of printing and shipping is very  rewarding.  The most  enjoyable part of my job is I love to save money and love to work with  companies to donate things items/money to our  Organization  rather than  our organization  purchasing itemafor our in-house events for the employees.

My day started as a mornimg visit with all of the hospitalized veterans on the Spinal Cord Unit and those placed in other areas of the hospital.  Managemennt was very supportive with resources to assist with accomplishing our mission.  My co-workers were great!  They also had passion for the veterans and would alert me of situations within the unit when the veterans were afraid to speak up.  The hardest part of the job was receiving a denial of benefits for the veterans that I assisted with filing a claim before the Department of Veterans Affairs.  The most enjoyable part of the job was researching medical records and obtaining a medical opinion from physicians to support any claim that was granted benefits.   I have a passion for assisting people in any capacity, as long as it is legal. 

I was granted custody of my grand daughter and I had to resign.  We have adjusted and I am ready to join the workforce.

Some of these reviews are not being honest. Yes, PVA has an exceptional and honorable mission. To help SCI Veterans find quality care as well as a better quality of life. However, those put in charge and in management positions in the NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS most specifcially, lack business acumen, code of ethics and all in all excellent managerial skills. Some do not have a proper command of the English langauage or the skill sets to write a grammatically correct and professional email or just communicate effectively in general. For years there has been high turnover and people with morales and talent have been let go, either resigned or in some sly way asked to leave PVA. 

This company needs to take a closer look at who is running things, and HR needs to be completely revamped. There should be more training initiatives and interaction with staff, so that all are on the same page and can accomplish the goal in a cohesive and condusive manner.

Working for PVA can be great if you are located in any of its various offices excluding the National office in DC. Managers have little to no leadership training or skills. The turnover rate throughout the company is extremely high. Steer clear of the architecture and medical department. Unfortunately those managers seem to have the highest turnover mainly due to the workplace bullying environment. These particular managers have made false accusations against a number of employees throughout the years.

I can only speak for my department. We work very hard. The pace is fast and requires a certain amount of flexibility in your scheduling due to the nature of the work. My direct leadership is supportive, uplifting, and excellent mentors. 
The culture on our team is healthy and I enjoy the people I work with.
The hardest part is simply the grind. We work hard, and sometimes long hours depending on the hearing schedules. 
Two of the most enjoyable parts of the job are interacting with staff on the Hill and working with our members. 

A collaborative work environment is discouraged. All departments are in solos and senior management are encouraged to maintain confusion. Although staff works extremely hard, there is always an excuse for not providing raises or bonuses. In addition, there is no short term disability. Senior Leadership and the board do not value employees. They assume staff should be working on a volunteer basis or simply happy to have a job. Managers are encouraged to maintain a toxic work environment.

It's a very political, stressful environment and there is absolutely no need for it.  It's a tough work environment  to work in and no one has your back. Several senior management have absolutely no people management skills and it makes daily operations very difficult, Those that have been there for 15 plus years are totally brainwashed and can't think on their own.  It's the absolute worst work environment and job I have ever had. No one is working together which makes it very, very difficult to get things done.

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