Real Support for Military Families and Veterans

There's a lot happening which provides real support for military veterans and their families. Lots more needs to be done, but things are getting better. This is only a sampling, biased by efforts that I'm seriously involved with, or plan to become so. Hey, you can also help out.

Turns out that the Department of Veteran Affairs gets more and more done, like improving the systems for handling medical and educational claims. They're also leading novel public/private partnerships to better support veterans, like the Blue Button effort which will allow vets to download their health records. Recently announced efforts will lead to integration with the Pentagon health records system, which is a huge deal. They're also using social media to get the word out to vets, including getting help from social media nerds to further propagate the word. (Yes, it's true that I fulfill the "nerd" part.)

Speaking of nerds, you might've noticed that Stephen Colbert ran a DonorsChoose.org challenge which helped the classrooms in schools that serve the children of the military. Well, I've picked up that effort, and will match all contributions to the same schools, who really need a break. Please check out the details here, and consider sending a few bucks to help the kids out. Note that this effort has been tied to the current Colbert/Fallon matching funds thing, but you should support the bigger nerd.

There're a lot of other efforts which really get the job done. The Bob Woodruff Foundation at ReMIND.org discovers the small vets service organizations that get the job done, vets them, and helps get funding.

 

In NYC, sometimes you pass the Intrepid air craft carrier on the west side, without knowing that they do a lot for military families. I gotta learn more, but check out the Intrepid Family of Foundations: Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, the Fisher House Foundation, and the and the Intrepid Relief Fund. They focus on the practical, like housing families at the hospitals where their wounded troops are getting treated, and working on traumatic brain injury.

In the future, we need to do more to help vets gets jobs. However, military job descriptions aren't easy to translate to civilian job descriptions. People are working on this, and I'm hoping we'll see a call to action, asking recruiters and hiring managers everywhere to take a look at this.

Finally, check out The Mission Continues, where veterans can find opportunities to serve in their neighborhoods and communities.

Lots more is accomplished by many other groups, lots more needs to be done, and you can help by supporting any of these efforts!

This story is part of Military Families Week, an effort by HuffPost and AOL to put a spotlight on issues affecting America's families who serve. Find more at jobs.aol.com/militaryfamilies and aol.com.

 

Follow Craig Newmark on Twitter: www.twitter.com/craignewmark

Comments

[MFSpeakOut]

03:35 PM on 04/25/2011

http://wearemilitaryfamilies.wordpress.com/

See REAL support for military families.

[LotsaHelpingHands]

11:05 AM on 04/13/2011

We applaud The Administration's commitment to our nation's military families and want to share a resource that is already providing support to many families - whether experiencing deployment or challenges related to injuries upon arrival home. Called Lotsa Helping Hands, our service provides an immediate way for our nation’s military families, and those wishing to support them, to create a private web-based community to organize well-meaning offers of help with those daily tasks that become a challenge during times of medical crisis and caregiver exhaustion. The service includes an intuitive group calendar for scheduling meals, rides and other daily activities that provide respite for the family as well as community sections (well wishes, blogs, photos) that provide emotional support. We created Lotsa Helping Hands to answer the question "what can I do to help?" - I hope readers find it helpful in their caregiving journey.

[military wife 43]

03:38 PM on 04/12/2011

I am getting a little bored with all of the support being offered to the "poor soilders". I have been a faithful, supportive and loving wife for 18 years. My husband has left me and my daughters.. He has decided, after being away from us so often, he prefers his military family. He is a first seargent and trains soilders for deployment full time. After serving in Iraq 5 yrs ago, he accepted a job which keeps him away from home for weeks to months on end. He has told me he does not enjoy being at home anymore. He has alot of responsibility to his unit and feels he needs to focus on them instead. He has informed me what he does is important to alot of people, so he has a bigger obligation to them. He has offered to vacation and share holidays with his 11 and 13 year old daughters. I am frequently told my husband is a "hero". I hear many comments about the sacrifices he is making from being away from home. In 18 years, I have never felt ANY support from the military in any way! My daughters and I are invited to Christmas parties and get togethers to make greeting cards and pictures for the soilders. My husband is not the only bum in his unit to feel this way. There are many broken marriages. I will be left with no health insurance and no support from any military agency.

[ben616]

07:27 PM on 04/11/2011

Mr. Newmark I just want to personally thank you for your incredible invention.
I was able to get with freaky chicks in Chicago that I would never had access to without the list.
Women who were good to go. Some old, some young. Most probably cheating on someone.
Some that could get that golfball through the garden hose without any trouble and some that had trouble. What I am saying Craig is you did a good thing. Not always legal but fine.
thank you again.
ben616

[neighborhoodmole]

04:28 PM on 04/11/2011

Even though underfunded, there are already existing programs for most military families. When DADT repeal is complete, there will be no official support for gay families, thanks to the discriminatory DOMA law still in effect. Hopefully, there will be non-profit organizations specifically to help these people. If anyone knows of such a program already or one being planned, please send the info to Craig so he can support that also.

[ExpectAMiracle]

03:53 PM on 04/11/2011

Things are getting better? In 1966, when 21, I was exposed to Agent Orange (AO) while serving in Vietnam. It has so badly affected my muscles that today at age 66 I cannot even lift a glass of water to my mouth. A good day for me is being able to dress & feed myself. I have been fighting with the VA for FOUR YEARS trying to receive some financial assistance because I can't work & I'm being kicked out of my foreclosed upon house. You'll never guess why I was turned down. Even tho it has been well established that it takes 10 - 20 years for the effects of AO to surface (19 in my own case), there's a stipulation that says damage must be reported within ONE YEAR!! How's that for incomprehensible bureaucratic BS? All those heartfelt comments from politicians declaring that "Our #1 obligation is to help our wounded veterans" is for when the cameras are rolling. Once the cameras are off, guys like me who didn't burn his draft card or run to Canada, but served his country and was crippled for life as a reward, is discarded like so much rubbish upon asking for help. And I'm not the only one. It's disgraceful!

[mumsies57]

03:15 PM on 04/11/2011

Someone at the HP needs to speak with the Tillman family about Stan McChrystal being posted to head a program for military families! A slap in the face to military families who have lost members in the wars and were not given the full story. He was involved in the misinformation around Pat Tillman. As the mother of an active duty Marine serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, I am disgusted.

[warloch2]

11:43 AM on 04/11/2011

I wonder why ol Craigy forgot to mention the organization that was the first to reach out to vets: http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/

http://www.nptimes.com/11Apr/04012011cover1.html

There is nothing like reaching out to vets for a political show right Craigy? :-)

[salvy859]

11:05 AM on 04/11/2011

Here's an idea for our veterans families, if a member of your family is killed in these useless wars your families live TAX EXEMPT forever maybe it can serve as a deterient for politicians to stop sending our young to die .

[WILLIEMOJORISIN]

11:31 AM on 04/11/2011

By calling these wars "useless" you are telling people who've lost thier kids that they died for nothing , do you have no heart?

[RINOVirus]

12:11 PM on 04/11/2011

It is possible to disagree with the mission but still support the man.

Spit on our leaders for getting us into these wars. Not on the ones who served. Not ever.

[usna73]

10:32 AM on 04/11/2011

Excellent work Craig. I hope that the SV community gives more recognition and mindshare to Vets.

I worked with and for several tech companies and found that the under 35 group is likely to self-identify as "liberals", but unable to translate how they can drive issues that help Vets, as you have highlighted above.

As someone who has worked to help both individual Veterans, as well as groups and institutions, I can testify that we need more awareness to succeed.

You have a prominent spotlight. Please shine it. Thank you.

[Volkmoidruk]

04:48 PM on 04/11/2011

Speaking from experience, I think private-sector decision-makers seeking to hire veterans can do a much better job of seeking them out through advertising and recruiters.

Several business magazines last year mentioned how major corporations are seeking out young academy graduates/ex-junior officers, but that leaves out most people who've served. Many military contractors prefer ex-military people, but they pick the senior officers and senior NCOs at the other end of the spectrum. Most of our OIF/OEF veterans who need job hiring help aren't academy grads or 20-year retirees.

Another point about why decision-makers are crucial: HR types just don't 'get' military people, no matter how de-jargoned and de-acronymed the latters' resumes become, even if these men and women have vitally-needed transferable skills. As with hiring in general, HRs are the peanut butter sandwiches in the Graceland plumbing of hiring.

[Edward Standley]

10:28 AM on 04/11/2011

Right now just 1/2 of 1% of Americans serve in the military. Just 10% of those people actually serve in combat roles. That's a very easy demographic for our legislators and our citizens to take for granted and sometimes ignore completely. If a person doesn't have a personal stake in the actions of our military and the ways in which they are used (misused), they are much less likely to speak out when they are misused. I think we absolutely must bring back the draft. If every voter and/or their children, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren were subject to the draft, our government would be forced to be far more careful in how they are deployed. We currently have an "economic draft" in which the fewer the opportunities in the civilian world, the better the military looks to a segment of the population. This is cowardly on the part of our legislators and on the part of Americans as a society. We are not acting honorably on this count.

[luria]

10:12 AM on 04/11/2011

Craig,
I am grateful for your support for military families. The Coming Home Project, a San Francisco-based non-profit, has been at the forefront of pioneering efforts, www.cominghomeproject.net. We've served thousands of veterans, families and children from California and over 30 states around the U.S. The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), after an exhaustive review of hundreds of reintegration programs nationwide, found that Coming Home "rose to the top." Yesterday, the LA Times carried a feature about our retreat for women veterans,http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-veterans-women-20110410,0,4965825.story Coming Home recently partnered with Google's Veterans Network to raise awareness about and appreciation for veterans at a Mountain View school composed of a high proportion of children whose parents were or had deployed. Google employees read "What a Veteran Means to Me, From A to Z," to in all the classrooms. The resulting discussions were lively and moving and meaningful. The Bob Woodruff Foundation funds some of our retreats.

I look forward to engaging a dialogue on Huff Post about how we can all support our military families.
Joseph Bobrow

[l stern]

09:45 AM on 04/11/2011

Just wanted to add two more support resources to this list:

America's Heroes at Work, a public education and outreach campaign designed for employers, is a U.S. Department of Labor initiative that focuses on improving the employment outcomes for returning service members and veterans living with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and/or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). (www.AmericasHeroesAtWork.gov)

The National Resource Directory (NRD) is a website which connects wounded warriors, service members, Veterans, and their families with those who support them. A collaboration between the Departments of Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs, the NRD provides access to services and resources at the national, state and local levels to support recovery, rehabilitation and community reintegration. Visitors can find information on a variety of topics including benefits & compensation, education & training, employment, family & caregiver support, health, homeless assistance, housing, transportation & travel and other services & resources. (www.NRD.gov)

[kattales]

11:23 AM on 04/12/2011

The National Resource Directory is a great source of information for everyone in the military community. Please share it with your family and friends!

[10SGMom]

09:24 AM on 04/11/2011

One way to support our veterans is to treat them with respect. The people of the US should be so angry with their representatives in Washington who used our Armed Forces as human shields in their budget wars. To even consider that the people who are risking their lives everyday for us would have their pay cut off is beyond belief. I did not hear one of these representatives, including the President, demand that they be paid if the government shut down. It shows the value they place on the people who do the fighting for them. Just think about about how much they value the rest of us.

Our politicians have lost their moral compass and are taking our country in the wrong direction. I don't know what the answer is. Voting the rascals out has just led to another round of rascals, but we should not forget the people in the Armed Forces and should write to our representatives to demand that they never again embarrass and diminish their sacrifices in the eyes of the country and the world.

[mdbmama]

01:09 PM on 04/11/2011

I would like to add a little to this. Watch your Representative's and Senators' votes. Then call them on it. Publish it in a Letter to the Editor. Mine keep telling me and the voters how they support the troops and the veterans. I ask, and continue to ask, why do you vote against benefits for them then?

You might want to ask Jo Bonner, R; Richard Shelby, R; and Jeff Sessions, R; the same thing. All from Al. The interesting answer if you back them in a corner: It's a procedural thing. Right!! It's a political thing. And I'm sick of it.

I'm the mother of a disabled Navy vet, with a wife and 4 kids. All living in my house. At my expense. Both monetarily and emotionally. I love them dearly. But right this minute, and probably until the day I day - the Rethuglicant's and I are not on the same page and will not be.

Please people, support the troops for real. DO SOMETHING constructive to help them and their families. Support the veterans that come home wounded physically and mentally. My home faces a lifetime of surgeries and mental health battles. The children will be scarred forever also. It takes a lot of effort from our family to just get through the day. PLEASE hold the politicians accountable.