U.S.VETS

The recently launched House Our Vets initiative in LA brings together U.S.VETS with partners including U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Los Angeles City Mayor, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors - LACountyBOS and the HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES (HACLA) with the shared goal of housing veterans faster by cutting the time it takes for them to qualify for and receive housing vouchers, in addition to making it easier for housing providers and landlords to rent to them. If you are a property owner in Los Angeles, we encourage you to open your rental properties to veterans. Get guaranteed rent and dedicated support while providing a veteran with a safe and stable home. Email [email protected] or visit https://lnkd.in/gs5E3yXs for more information. #houseourvets ??#servingthosewhoserved #honorusvets

“This is what a veteran looks like,” quipped U.S.VETS’ Rocio Palmero at an LA premiere of?"The Six Triple Eight," a film about the largest unit of Black women serving overseas during WWII. Palmero, a Marine veteran who leads Women Vets on Point as program coordinator, was among nine real-life heroes chosen for glamour & valor makeovers and red-carpet appearances with IPSY and Netflix as part of the film’s release. They were treated to surprise appearances from the film’s stars,?Kerry Washington and Ebony Obsidian! #Servingthosewhoserved #HonorUSVETS #WomensHistoryMonth #WomenVeterans

Assembling a brighter future! What a thrill for President and CEO Darryl Vincent to join Northrop Grumman senior leadership and help spread the word about the power of volunteerism in our communities. Darryl met with company executives, including CEO Kathy Warden and Agartha Larbi, VP of Global Corporate Social Responsibility, to talk about building stronger teams through giving back to those in need. As part of the day, execs participated in a service project, putting together hundreds of portable solar chargers they later delivered to U.S.VETS — Washington D.C. for homeless veterans. #servingthosewhoserved #honorusvets #volunteerism #leadership

Sometimes it hits Krystal Rains hard, the way a conversation pushes her to places she hasn’t explored in years. The Air Force veteran served in the ’80s and was 17 when she entered basic training. “At that time, if we were subverting cultural norms and going into the military, something pushed us to do it,” she says. “I was getting out of a really messed up home.” In the Air Force, Rains says she “felt productive. I was appreciated. I was given more respect than you’d expect for my age.” When she was 19, a commanding officer brought her in front of a group of pilots to explain a debriefing process she designed to improve flight operations. Rains became an expert technician and communicator working on A-10A “warthogs,” low-flying aircraft designed for close support of ground forces. Rains attends meetings and events through Women Vets on Point, a U.S.VETS-led program organized by women veterans for women veterans. “There was a real poignant conversation about how women veterans, we really go hard on one-upping each other. We’ve been the only woman on a shift or in a platoon and we’ve always had to prove ourselves,” she says. “This doesn’t serve each other well, and it brought up a lot of complicated feelings for me.” She says she draws on counseling and help from meditative therapies to push through. “I’ve been really impressed with the offerings at Women Vets on Point,” she adds, noting a recent highlight of a Battle Boutique where she found a new outfit and mingled with other women veterans. Rains—who also worked in a civilian aerospace job on the Defense Support Program—says after 9/11, she struggled with earlier traumas and her anxiety and complex post-traumatic stress disorder worsened. She met with VA doctors and developed skills in mindfulness, Reiki and nature. She’s now a certified peer specialist and volunteers doing outreach to help women veterans in need. “I’m interested in how we create a women’s space that is supportive and equitable and nurturing,” she says. #WomensHistoryMonth #ServingThoseWhoServed #HONORUSVETS #womenveterans

A new Wounded Warrior Project Warrior Survey of America’s post-9/11 wounded, ill and injured veterans and service members underscores the importance of quality healthcare, peer connections, social networks and financial wellbeing—cornerstones of U.S.VETS’ work as a partner and grant recipient. The survey unpacks how different factors impact veterans’ quality of life, from mental health struggles to financial instability, with high rates reported for sleep problems (82%), anxiety (80%), depression (76%), post-traumatic stress disorder (76%) migraines or chronic headaches (55%) and underemployment (36%). More than one in 10 are survivors of military sexual trauma, including about half of all women and 3% of men. In partnership over the last year, U.S.VETS served 2,700 post-9/11 veterans, including more than 500 women veterans in specialized programs, providing therapeutic communities with outreach, mental health counseling, employment guidance, life-skill classes, peer mentoring and community support activities. Learn more about the survey: https://lnkd.in/gqHdsutj #ServingThoseWhoServed #HONORUSVETS

President and CEO Darryl Vincent was live in the studio with KHON2 News discussing the fight against veteran homelessness and how U.S.VETS is making a difference across the nation. Don’t miss this important conversation about how we can all support those who served through prevention and intentional work in our communities. "Let’s not wait until someone is at their very worst to bring them our best," Vincent said. #HONORUSVETS #ServingThoseWhoServed U.S.VETS Barber's Point U.S.VETS Wai'anae https://lnkd.in/gVXX9DJh

U.S.VETS’ supporter Call of Duty Endowment recently teamed up with Mission Roll Call and Ipsos to study public perceptions of those who served, offering insights into the multifaceted value veterans offer in workplaces, including leadership, rich experiences, strong business acumen and active community engagement. With support from the endowment, U.S.VETS provides career services to thousands of veterans each year, helping translate military experience into meaningful civilian employment. Our partner collaborations help foster long-term relationships with employers committed to hiring veterans. Read about the survey: https://lnkd.in/gQhGyKuV #ServingThoseWhoServed #HONORUSVETS #goodjobs4vets #vetperceptions

As a partner in The Veterans Collective along with Century Housing and Thomas Safran & Associates, we're committed to moving vulnerable veterans into safe, stable homes, and are proud to work side by side developing a large-scale, thriving housing community on the West LA VA campus. A new op-ed by Jack Skelley of Urban Land Institute LA spotlights this progress. #ServingThoseWhoServed #HonorUSVETS

U.S.VETS is expanding access to affordable homes for vulnerable veterans nationwide in partnership with property owners like Reggie Morris through master leasing, which sets aside dedicated housing for those who served. Morris, a longtime Los Angeles-area landlord, applauded the housing initiative, which is supported by the Home Depot Foundation’s Veteran Permanent Housing Stabilization Pilot Project. U.S.VETS holds hundreds of master leases around the country. “The master lease program came to me as one of the most interesting, best programs I’ve found in more than 40 years as a landlord,” Morris said. “This team that works on the program, I give you an A+ in terms of communications, professionalism and the way you handle the vets and the landlords together.” #ServingThoseWhoServed #HonorUSVETS #VeteranHousing

It wasn’t the financial security Paige Johnson, a chiropractor and educator, hoped for after she was laid off from a steady job and decided to move from Florida to Texas. Savings the Army veteran set aside to relocate with her three school-age children drained quickly at an extended stay hotel as job prospects fell through. Her mental health was fragile, with symptoms from post-traumatic stress disorder she suffered for years following military sexual trauma. With two weeks’ of savings left to keep her children housed, she refined her job search to fast food restaurants, Walmart and dollar stores, searching for an opportunity to support her family. “I had packed my kids up. I thought it would be OK, and then I was struggling. I said, ‘Let me just get something to take care of my family.’ But no one was hiring.” At a critical point, VA contacts led her to U.S.VETS Houston and the tenacity of Sharhonda Williams, workforce development coordinator. First, it was a part-time job at UPS. “Sharhonda made sure I had the warehouse clothes, the shoes I need, everything,” Johnson says. Soon, an offer came to teach biomedical sciences at Texas Southern University—one of the nation’s largest historically black colleges and universities. She found an apartment, and U.S.VETS helped with first month’s rent, utilities, a furniture voucher and bunkbeds for her children. “Sharhonda called me and said, ‘Paige, you need new clothes. Loafers, dress shirts, slacks for work.’ She was even like, ‘Do you need office supplies?’ She checked on me and made sure everything was going smoothly.” Johnson was recently promoted to teach graduate students in pharmacy and health sciences. “You don’t realize that some people just need that one thing, that one break to start working. I have dropped this pessimistic attitude I used to have. Sharhonda would say, ‘We’re working on it. We’re getting things done. Don’t give up.’ Even when I couldn’t convince myself, she was so convincing that things were going to be OK.” #Servingthosewhoserved #HonorUSVETS #BlackHistoryMonth