The Giving Spirit

Volunteer: Stacy Kruse

Community Veteran Justice Project (CVJP) is dedicated to ensuring current and former military service members receive the information, support, and services they need to use California's Veteran Statutes to improve their lives.

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Ilya Kurbanov, a five-time combat tour veteran, went back to school after serving and there he encountered the Community Veteran Justice Project (CVJP) at Pasadena City College (PCC). He attended a training webinar provided by CVJP and engaged with CVJP about doing outreach. Originally planning to work on this project from Spring through Fall 2019, Ilya stayed with CVJP until he graduated and continued to volunteer after he got his AA. He was instrumental in establishing at PCC, the first CVJP presence at a Veteran College Resource Center. He also spearheaded the creation of other CVJP outposts at other schools. He completed training to become a certified veteran peer specialist. He has delivered numerous presentations to the Region 7 Veteran Resource Center Directors and personally ensured the distribution of CVJP informational packets to all 16 college veteran resource centers in the region.  However, it is at a very different institution where Ilya’s tireless outreach has had the greatest impact: at the jails. Ilya was able to convince the LA Sheriff Department to provide him, as a CVJP representative, with jail clearance. As a combat veteran, Ilya knows firsthand the various physical and mental traumas that veterans suffer and how these traumas can manifest in behavior. He drives from one end of LA county to another, in order to reach veterans, some of whose families have reached out to CVJP for help. He has connected incarcerated veterans to CVJP, which can lead to motions being submitted so that a veteran can receive the treatment they need. Ilya has made a substantial impact on all the veterans in jail that he has connected with, and he empowers those around him to "go above and beyond" so that CVJP can thrive.