MILWAUKEE — You might not expect it, but one of the most popular people inside the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center has only been working there a little over two years.
Everywhere he goes he says hi to people he knows and patients approach him for a conversation. That man is Robert Allen the head of chaplain services at the VA.
“Whenever I can be around people and help people connect or help people win whatever win is for them, I’m in my calling," Chaplain Allen who is an Army veteran said.
Among the roughly half a dozen chaplains at the VA, he is the chief offering spiritual guidance to all that come in.
“You’re not confined by certain aspects of one particular denomination and or religion, so for us we meet people where they are," Chaplain Allen said.
Before coming to Milwaukee, he was the Manager of Spiritual Care at three hospitals and a rehabilitation hospital in Henderson, Nevada. He was also the chaplain for the Ann Arbor Police Department. Chaplain Allen even wrote several books including Self Care.
Now at the VA, he is putting his combining his therapy, spiritual, and military skills.
“He’s a veteran that’s a huge difference when talking to people because he’s been there. He can walk the walk and talk the talk which is so very important for veterans," Kim Queen, an Army veteran and post commander for the Wisconsin Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, said.
Chaplain Allen has done about a dozen baptisms in the chapel.
“What I get from him revitalizes me," Mr. Amos Ashford, an Army veteran who was baptized by Chaplain Allen, said.
The bible study nights and outreach programs organized by Chaplain Allen have helped spiritually energize VA patients.
“It’s a changed world. He has come in and really put a lot of wonderful things in place, and I can really see a big difference, and I really appreciate him," Dawn Bowers-Winters, an army veteran, said.
The spiritual guidance goes well beyond the VA walls too. He provides mental health, suicide prevention, moral injury, and veteran culture training to about 20 different places. Plus, he invites veterans he meets in the community to come to the chapel for services even if they aren't receiving treatment from the VA.
"It's a calling first, and I absolutely love what I'm doing. I love people, and I love our veterans," he said.
So while Chaplain Allen’s popularity is rising at the VA, it’s his actions that are noticed the most.
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