HOLYOKE — The Veterans of Foreign Wars organization has given two former Holyoke Soldiers’ Home officials a national award for their advocacy during and after the deadly COVID-19 outbreak at the home in 2020.
On Sunday, the VFW presented Paul Barabani, the former Soldiers’ Home superintendent, and John Paradis, the facility’s former deputy superintendent, with its prestigious Above and Beyond Award for their work with the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Coalition — a group that came together after the deadly outbreak that killed at least 77 veteran residents of the home. The coalition continues to push for reforms and investments that will ensure a similar tragedy doesn’t happen again.
“This is a rare, national award, which is presented to an individual who exemplifies through work, actions, and through perseverance has provided a service above and beyond in support of our veterans and their community,” Troy Henke, a state surgeon with the VFW of Massachusetts, said in an award announcement.
The award ceremony took place at the Florence VFW Post 8006 at noon on Sunday.
COVID-19 began to spread in the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home in March 2020, and within six weeks it killed around one-third of all of the facility’s residents. In the wake of the tragedy, the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Coalition began to form. Its members include relatives of those who died during the outbreak, politicians, former administrators like Barabani and Paradis, veteran advocates and others.
Since then, the group has advocated for the successful passage of a bond bill at the state level that will allocate $400 million for the reconstruction of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home. The coalition has lobbied lawmakers to maintain local oversight of the Holyoke facility and to give the state Department of Public Health a greater role in the day-to-day operations of the home, and has pushed for better funding, more staffing and an adult day health care program.
In an interview last week, Paradis said he appreciates the recognition he and Barabani are receiving from the VFW. But he said the award speaks far more to the work of the entire coalition, which continues to work toward a better future for the region’s veterans.
“Nothing gets done without teamwork,” Paradis said. “We are a coalition, and that means that when we pull together, anything is possible. And I think that’s been the great lesson over these past many months.”
While the coalition has secured some wins, like the reconstruction of the facility, Paradis cautioned that there is still plenty more to advocate for. In particular, Paradis said coalition members are concerned about proposals to eliminate the boards of trustees at the soldiers homes in Holyoke and Chelsea, replacing them with a statewide advisory body.
“We fear they’d have little authority or would not serve the specific interests of us in Western Mass.,” he said.
Instead, the coalition envisions a board of trustees that has “a level of independence and autonomy, and the strength and removal from the political process so they can truly advocate on behalf of the veteran residents and their family members.”
The coalition also wants the board to involve the community in the process of nominating trustees.
Paradis said the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home Coalition would not be what it is without support from community members and organizations like the VFW.
“This was a true solidarity effort, and it’s a textbook case of outreach and galvanizing people,” he said. “We needed to do this.”
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.