Personal Response: Life 101 And Boost

Over the course of this past year the Veterans Success Center (VSC) has made huge strides in being more visible and more involved with other areas across campus. I wanted to concentrate on reaching the incoming student-veterans so that when they encountered the veterans program it appeared to be far more established than it was, and interaction with it being perceived as a daily opportunity. This meant that we would need to be far more involved with the early processes of becoming a student such as: Premiere Night, SOAR/TSOAR/Preview Day/ Veteran specific orientation and Veteran campus tours. We also wanted to be much more accurate in speaking to our student-veteran population, so we worked directly with the Admission Office to create an

Welcome to New Haven Middle School’s Veterans Day Assembly. A lot of people think it’s just another assembly that you go to and just listen to people talk, but it’s more than just that. It’s about honoring our loved ones and the fallen ones, the ones who came back injured or scarred for life. We go to airports and gym’s where a meeting s held to welcome home our soldiers. Some kids ask their parents or someone they know about who gives us our freedom. All they have to say is someone who fights for our country. Freedom is NOT free. It may seem free because certain people are out fighting to protect us and our country. Some people throw a party or a huge welcome home gathering or make tons of signs to show their thanks. I’m sure they love it but I’m also sure all they would want is a simple thank you.

The purpose of this proposal is to start a canned food drive and help in the fight against hunger during the holidays.

The Student Veterans of America organization on campus went ‘homeless’ this previous Friday and Saturday to raise awareness about the issue among community veterans and additionally collect canned goods year-round to donate.

The group needs will be to stay active and up to date on existing and new programs throughout the facility and community. Other needs will include the facilitator keeping educated on the unique challenges that homeless face daily. Early in the group scheduling the facilitator may require up to two hours to keep up with current issues facing the homeless in the area. Researching new programs and other support systems could take a large amount of time. As the process is continued the facilitator should not need more than a half hour to lead the group. As new information is brought forward more time may be required. Homeless veterans are known to be highly resilient and this can be used as strengths of the group. One of the biggest limitations of this group will be contacting the homeless veterans and keeping them engaged in the group itself. Also many homeless can have severe psychiatric disorders and addition issues. Lastly many veterans choose to self-isolate at times due to varying issues. These groups will include any veteran that is homeless, inadequately housed, or in danger of being homeless. The group will only exclude veterans that are actively psychotic or visibly intoxicated at the time of the group. Due to issues that can arise in a group setting attendance can be granted or disallowed on a case-by-case setting. Ideally the group itself will have no more than 15 members and no less than 4. The group itself could hold more people but for the sake of available facilities and for the strains of the time limitations. Some veterans in this group will be suffering from PTSD. This group will focus less on PTSD issues, as there are many PTSD groups that occur inside the VA daily. While this issue can be addressed at times it will not be the main focus of this particular group. It will also be important to note that this group does not provide housing for the veterans but it will help give skills for

As a student, I have demonstrated many works of service to my community and school. Service opportunities have shaped me into the person I am today and these projects have made me realize how fortunate I am for all that I have. While I've been doing these service projects through the years, it has been a pleasure seeing the joy on the faces of people that aren't as fortunate as I am. Service projects that I have completed include managing the fish booth at the St. Leo's Parish Festival, being an altar server at St. Leo's Parish, helping cook dinner for the Ridgway Fire Department during carnival day setup, participating in the St. Marys Light Up Night by dancing, and Christmas caroling to local residents. I also participated in a zombie/princess

The agency I participated at for my ten hours of service learning this semester was the Plain City food pantry. The food pantry is located on 156 W Main St, Plain City, OH 43064. There are many people that run this agency. A couple names are Phyllis and Jane. I participated March 2nd from 9:30 to 11:30, March 3rd from 9:00 to 12:00, April 4th, from 9:30 to 11:30 and April 6th from 9:00 to 12:00.

The Vietnam Veterans of America is a charity in Georgia that serves all veterans and we will ask them to donate used clothes, shoes, appliances and other household items to soldiers and service men and women. We will appeal to the Coastal Habitat for Humanity to donate time and equipment to build houses for low-income residents. United Way will collaborate with CAT to give free bus passes to those struggling financially, but are trying to get to work and achieve economic independence. We will appeal to Toys R Us to donate educational games and toys to the several YMCAs we support as well as the Greenbriar Children’s Center, Hodge Memorial Day care center as well as dozens of the other school readiness and youth academic programs that United Way supports.

It is time to get the word out about the Smiling Soldier Project. We will depend on county’s involvement for the promotion of this project. We will request free advertising for our local radio stations and encourage the use of social networking sites to send the word out. Pounding the pavement looking for donations from local businesses will be crucial. We will depend on the church to assist in announcing our needs for donations, volunteers, and provided space for packaging. It is time to fetch your family, friends, classmates, teammates, neighbors, and church community to become

If you are or know of a Marlton community Veteran or their family in need or if you are a Veteran who needs to talk or request information please feel free to contact me at 856-334-8948

Homelessness in veterans has become a major problem in Alabama due to a lack of affordable housing and little help treating PTSD, so in order to help decrease the levels veteran homelessness, I plan making twenty donation bags with my youth group every year; moreover, these bags will contain basic necessity items, with the advantage of no longer spending money on these items, homeless veterans will be able to spend money on more important things like finding work. The part of my solution of donation to a local non-profit started from the idea of “[focusing] your efforts on supporting the homeless veteran service providers in your community, or [becoming] an active advocate to ensure that veterans receive an appropriate share of the resources

Located in room 16, the center will provide resources for student veterans, including those in active-duty, National Guard, reservists and military dependents. The center will be staffed with a veterans coordinator and certifying official, veterans affairs work-study students and 10 peer-mentor leaders.

“Nationwide, spending on homeless vets is up 300 percent since President Obama took office, hitting near $1.5 billion last year. That tracks with a reduction in homeless vets by about a third (Lawrence, 2015, August 4). Progress is being made in the homeless state of veterans. However, it is not enough. If there are 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night, enough is not being done. Perhaps more of a ground effort should be made by the organizations that help veterans. Instead of waiting for the veterans to come to the facilities, go to them, under the freeways, in the alleys or the makeshift homeless camps. Moreover, we as citizens of the United States whom have depended upon these great men and women of the military, need to step up and become more involved in helping the veterans. Instead of passing by or walking over the next person you see lying on the sidewalk, stop and extend your hand to that person, whom can very well be a veteran. If that is not feasible then volunteer or donate to a local organization that is trying to help the homeless veteran. The homeless state of the veterans is all of our problem – Get Involved!!!

Veterans live quiet lives in our neighborhoods, silently making a difference in the world we live in. They are the ones willing to fight for justice and freedom and give up their lives for our own. If they’ve already sacrificed us, how can I show my gratitude for them? This question was fulfilled by the VA’s Summer Volunteering Program, where I helped perform numerous tasks including reminding veterans of their doctor appointments, helping staff by getting supplies and transporting materials to certain locations, escorting patients, re-stocking supplies in examination rooms, etc.

On 26 August 2017, ALC 91B 17-012 volunteered with the Greenville Rescue squad in Emporia, VA. There the 16 students along with their SGL assisted in inventorying and cleaning equipment and vehicles. The small group leader for this class is SSG Demillo