Message Center

Wow, we came across  a compelling story on CNN.com, told by Mike Scotti, a servicemember who talks of feeling alienated and isolated after returning home from Iraq.

It was 2003, and I was attending a friend’s wedding. As I sat at the table listening to the conversation, I suddenly realized that someone who had never been in combat could never even remotely understand what I had just been through.

I looked around. The chamber music quartet, the beautiful bridesmaids, the steak dinner … none of it was real. My buddies were, at that moment, probably on patrol and quite possibly engaged with the enemy. That was real.

Scotti is the subject of the documentary film Severe Clear. For the men and women returning home from the battlefield, this looks like it could be one film they need to see.

Building on its Elevate America program to provide technology training to help prepare people for 21st-century jobs, Microsoft Corp. today announced an initiative to bring together a coalition of public, private and nonprofit organizations to give veterans and their spouses the skills and resources they need to be successful in today’s civilian work force.

Microsoft will contribute $2 million in cash and up to $6 million in software over the next two years to support programs for members of the armed services and their spouses who are separating from the military and reintegrating into their civilian communities and the work force. Through a competitive funding process, Microsoft will award cash, software and other resources to eligible organizations, including veterans service organizations, work force agencies, community colleges and other nonprofit organizations.

The initiative will provide veterans and their spouses with the support they need to be successful in their transition to civilian careers, including technology skills training, job placement, career counseling and other support services such as childcare, transportation and housing. The initiative is intended to support active duty service members who are transitioning out of the military as well as members of the National Guard and Reserves who are returning to their civilian jobs.

At the NAWB Forum, Passman reported on the results of Elevate America so far:

• Twelve states have implemented the program: Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington.
• To date, Microsoft has distributed more than 300,000 free training and certification vouchers to these states.
• More than 50 percent of people who received vouchers proactively took the next step — beginning a training course or taking a certification exam.
• Around 70 percent of the people who received the vouchers were unemployed.
• Sixty percent were women, and 37 percent were between 41 and 55 years of age.
• Thirty-three percent had a high school diploma or GED, and 42 percent had some postsecondary education or training (certificate, some college or four-year degree).

Organizations and veterans can find more information on this initiative by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/elevateamerica, and can get updates by following Elevate America on Twitter at http://twitter.com/elevateamerica.

We’re not choosing sides here, but if you’re in the market for some appliances,  hardware, tools, or building supplies, both Lowe’s and Home Depot are now offering their military discounts year-round!

In addition, both companies have long-standing programs geared toward hiring servicemembers (both active duty and retired) and their spouses, and supporting military charities.  Supporting our troops, one purchase at a time!

Check it out:

• The Home Depot offers a year-round, 10 percent discount, up to a $500 maximum, to all active duty military personnel, reservists, retired or disabled veterans and their immediate families. We offer this discount to thank them for their outstanding service to this nation and to help make their homes more comfortable and safe. Customers requesting the discount should present a valid military ID. This discount is not available for our online shoppers or in addition to existing discounts or promotions.
• Lowe’s Companies, Inc. announced today it will expand its support of the military by offering an all day, every day 10 percent discount to all military personnel who are active, reserve, retired or disabled veterans and their family members, with a valid, government-issued military ID card.All other military veterans will receive the discount on the Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Veterans Day weekends. The discount is available on in-stock and Special Order purchases up to $5,000. Excluded from the discount are sales via Lowes.com, previous sales, and purchases of services or gift cards.

*******************

3/15/10 at 1:53 pm

Webmaster update- Due to the many member questions and comments (both on this blog and via email), MOAA double checked the veracity of the Home Depot offer with their headquarters again. This offer is valid, though they are still working to ensure that ALL of their many stores and thousands of employees are educated on the new policy.

If you have any further questions on this offer as it pertains to your local  store, please contact: sarah_care@homedepot.com

Transitioning military veterans will have the chance to receive financial and career assistance in 2010 through the “Gradient Gives Back” Community Outreach Program. The program, launched by Gradient Financial Group, the country’s leading financial services firm, and Afterburner, the global leader in organizational execution, aims to help the 220,000 military veterans transitioning into civilian life this year.

Gradient and Afterburner are seeking up to 50 transitioning military veterans across the U.S. to earn a seat at one of three Veteran Transition Assistance Boot Camps. These fully-immersive, three-day courses will help transition military veterans into civilian life through Afterburner’s military-to-business vernacular training, coaching and career placement.

Top candidates from each boot camp will be vying for select positions with Afterburner’s network of Fortune 500 clients and will be awarded two years-worth of financial services from Gradient, which will include asset analysis, risk tolerance assessment, retirement planning, home mortgage origination, tax planning, and debt review and reduction strategies.

One deserving military veteran will be selected in late 2010 to receive the Ultimate Financial Gift – six months of mortgage/lease payments; waiver of home mortgage origination or refinancing fees; debt reduction; free tax planning and filing of 2010 and 2011 taxes; and career counseling and guidance!

To learn more about Gradient Gives Back Community Outreach Program or to nominate a deserving veteran in your community, visit: www.gradientgivesback.com. Follow us on Twitter @gradientgives.

The Pat Tillman Foundation has selected Cleveland State University as a new partner in the Tillman Military Scholarship program which provides educational scholarships for veterans, service members, and their families. In 2009, the Pat Tillman Foundation awarded $642,000 to the inaugural class of 52 Tillman Military Scholars pursuing education at every level from freshmen undergraduates to Ph.D. candidates.

“CSU is a leader in providing service to returning military veterans, easing their transition from military to civilian life and into the classroom. Our SERV – Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran – program is a national model for addressing the very special needs of veterans as they re-adjust to civilian life,” said Cleveland State President Ronald M. Berkman.

Nearly 300 veterans are enrolled in CSU’s Project SERV, a program that was selected as one of only 10 colleges nationwide to receive $100,000 for program excellence by the Wal-Mart Foundation in 2008.

“It is an honor to be recognized by the Pat Tillman Foundation as a partner institution. The financial needs of the returning veteran are great. Partnering with the Foundation will enable us to help more students begin or re-start their collegiate studies,” added Berkman.

CSU joins Texas A&M University, the University of Arizona, and the University of Oregon as the newest Tillman Military Scholar universities selected as partners for the 2010/2011 academic year. They join current university partners Mississippi State University, the University of Idaho, the University of Arkansas, and the University of Maryland. The Pat Tillman Foundation has chosen to partner with these institutions because they are all leaders in military support services to student veterans, active service members, and their families on campus. Each university partner also helps circulate information and educate eligible students about the Tillman Military Scholar program.

During the month of March 2010, Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Family PLUS Web site becomes a virtual meeting ground for parents, caregivers, Club professionals – and anyone who cares about families and communities. Symposium attendees will come together through Web-based seminars with the nation’s top experts on family issues.

Here’s how it works:

• Beginning March 2, Webinars will be hosted every Tuesday and Thursday throughout the month of March, each lasting approximately 30 – 45 minutes.
• Each session consists of a presentation by one of eight proven experts in their respective fields. Throughout the session, attendees can submit questions which will be answered and posted on the site along with the recording of the session the following day.
• Sessions are open to the public, designed for parents, caregivers, Boys & Girls Club professionals, members of the media and others who support families.
• Pre-register for the sessions you want to attend by visiting the Family PLUS Web site.

“The Family Strengthening Virtual Symposium will provide a variety of tools and resources that families and caregivers can use to further strengthen the family unit,” said Jenny Lewis, vice-president, Kimberly-Clark Foundation. “Kimberly-Clark’s sponsorship demonstrates our company’s commitment to strengthening families, as well as our ongoing support of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s quest to fulfill their mission of helping provide opportunities that change lives and create productive citizens and leaders of tomorrow.”

Find more information and register for the virtual symposium online, it’s free!

Project HIRED, whose job placement, training, and employment services have helped hundreds of people with disabilities find the right job with the right company for the last 30 years, announced today that they will host local and regional public officials, federal agencies, local business executives and disabled veterans at a Wounded Warrior Workforce Conference on Thursday, January 28, 2010, in San Jose.

The conference represents Project HIRED’s launch of its Wounded Warrior Workforce initiative, which will be a specialized sub-set of Project HIRED client services designed to provide veterans with disabilities the tools and resources they need to successfully transition into the civilian workplace. In addition, the Wounded Warrior Workforce program will also offer employers strategies and services for adding these dedicated and skilled heroes to their organizations.

One seminar will be held from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm (PST) for veterans with disabilities who have completed (or will soon complete) rehabilitation and are ready to return to the workplace. The other seminar will be in the morning from 8:00 AM-12:00 PM, bringing together employers interested in starting or expanding their own program for hiring these veterans.

The event will be held at:

• Project HIRED, 1401 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite 125, San Jose, Ca. 95126.
• Veterans with Disabilities: Project HIRED’s Wounded Warrior Seminar
• Employers, Exhibitors, Veterans Support Organizations and Public Agencies, or General Public: Project HIRED’s Employer Seminar

Give a little, and get a little back!

With the final months of winter upon us and some of the coldest temperatures yet to be faced, it is important for Americans to remember those who do not have a warm home, 23 percent of whom are military veterans*. At a time when these veterans need help the most, Sears is rallying support for them. Today the retailer announced it has teamed up with AMVETS to support “Operation Blanket,” a program created to collect blankets that will be distributed to military veterans.

Customers are invited to show their support and donate gently used blankets from Jan. 31 through Feb. 18 at a Sears store  in one of the states participating in “Operation Blanket”:  California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In exchange for their donation, Sears will provide each customer with a coupon for 20 percent off any one home fashion or home décor item, or a coupon for 10 percent off any one housewares, luggage or furniture item (mattresses are excluded). Customers will receive a coupon for each blanket they donate.

AMVETS will distribute all collected blankets to veterans through its thrift shops and local veteran posts in select cities across the country. Sears will also make a $5,000 donation directly to AMVETS to further support their military veteran programs.

*U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Urban Institute, 1999

To give troops a soft spot to rest their heads, Sleepy’s, the family-owned east coast mattress company, has developed a pillow donation program in partnership with Give2TheTroops, a non-profit organization which sends care packages to the military. Through a program called “Comfort Our Troops,” when consumers purchase any Tempur-Pedic pillow at one of Sleepy’s 700 retail locations between January 28 and February 28 Sleepy’s will send a travel pillow to troops overseas via care package from the Give2TheTroops organization. The pillows will be packaged with other “comforts of home” such as snacks and toiletries.

”Sleepy’s is proud to engage our community to support the men and women who serve our country through the ‘Comfort Our Troops’ program,” said Adam Blank, Chief Operating Officer at Sleepy’s. “We hope that when they lay their heads down, they are reminded how truly grateful we are for their service.”

“A cozy bed is one of the things that our soldiers miss the most while they are away,” said Andi Grant, President and Founder of Give2TheTroops. “The ‘Comfort Our Troops’ program is a great way for people to give our soldiers a little piece of home and help them sleep a little easier.”

To purchase a pillow in support of the “Comfort Our Troops” program, please visit one of Sleepy’s 700 retail locations beginning January 28. For information on the program, please visit Sleepys.com or give2thetroops.org.

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center has planned national and local events, activities and initiatives during 2010 to mark the 10th anniversary of its congressional mandate to collect, preserve and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans.

VHP contributors have recorded and submitted more 68,000 personal recollections to the Library to date, making it the largest oral-history collection in the United States. The project depends on a vast network of volunteers, both individuals and organizations, to record stories and submit original photographs, diaries, letters and other personal documents that tell the history of our nation during wartime from the perspective of the men and women who were there.

Plans for 2010 include:

• Launch of a “toolkit” to help VHP contributors plan local events and develop community-engagement programs
• Initiatives to gather more stories of minority and women veterans
• Events to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War
• A host of online and in-person programs to mark cultural heritage months.

VHP accomplishments include:

• A National Teach-In on Veterans History that was webcast live to more than 2,000 schools, hosted by VHP and HISTORY™ as part of the Take a Veteran to School Day initiative
• More than 25 web presentations that highlight the stories of the diversity of the veterans who served our nation
• Hundreds of community engagement programs with the U.S. Congress; colleges, universities and schools; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; civic organizations; faith-based groups; veteran-service organizations; libraries; and other organizations that continue to contribute to VHP
• Opportunities for thousands of students to participate in inter-generational service learning programs
• Two books published in conjunction with National Geographic: “Voices of War: Stories of Service from the Home Front and the Front Lines” and “Forever a Soldier: Unforgettable Stories of Wartime Service,” which feature stories from the VHP collection,
• Interviews with veterans from every congressional district.

The Veterans History Project was created in 2000 by Congress as a national documentation program of the American Folklife Center to record, preserve, and make accessible the first-hand remembrances of American wartime veterans from World War I through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.