A Heart of Resilience

Each change affects people differently, bringing a unique flood of thoughts, strong emotions and uncertainty. In the last two years we can all agree that this statement has never rang more true as we all have endured. Ms. Jessica Rice has been no exception as she continues to balances life on several fronts. She is the mother of two children ages 7 and 4, working between school functions, childcare, ballet and soccer while maintaining all the responsibilities of caring for a home, paying bills, car maintenance and suppers, as well as being in the middle of a home renovation.?Doing all this while her husband serves as a Staff Sergeant in the US Marine Corps. ??Oh yea, she also works 50 plus hours a week leading one of North Carolinas top Veterans housing programs with Veterans Services of the Carolinas, which serves over 3,00 Veterans annually. Since 2017 Jessica has served as the Network Director for Coordination, Regional Coordinator and now serves as the Director of Housing which includes the oversight of the VA’s SSVF program across 28 North Carolinas Counties comprising of cities such as Asheville and Charlotte. She leads a team of 21 that ranges from Intake Specialists and Case Managers to Data Analysts and Healthcare Navigators; in addition to managing a subcontract with legal team.

From the beginning, Jessica endured challenges, in 2017 she applied for an Intake Coordinator position with VSC, a division of Asheville Buncombe Christian Community Ministry a 52 year old faith based non-profit serving the most vulnerable across Western North Carolina. In her interview she stated that she wanted to serve Veterans and their families, knowing personally how families are affected due to Military Service. ???She did not get the job.?However, several months later she applied again and took an entry level position within the NCServes Coordination Center program. Her jump to Regional Director two years later allowed her to gain experience with several other VSC programs such as HVRP employment, PATH outreach and SSVF housing programs respectively.?Her knowledge and experience paired with the execution of integrating SSVF with the NCServes platform, gained the attention of VSC leadership.?One year later she was intimately involved with a successful federal monitoring review for the SSVF program and was offered the position of SSVF Housing Director following this visit.

Navigating Deployment and the Pandemic with Agility

In mid-2019 Jessica’s husband TJ a 15 year Marine Corps Veteran received orders to serve as a Foreign Advisor in the country of Georgia. Although no stranger to deployments (TJ an OIF Veteran), the balancing act of being a mom and dad with two children coupled with renovating a home and, managing a major federal program seemed to be an impossible feat. Throw in the fact that the pandemic was just beginning and the road ahead was full of uncertainties for all the above created a perfect storm of falling short….somewhere. She knew she must respond with the right attitude and surround herself with her teammates that could both support and elevate here in order to not just survive but to thrive for the community.?During the pandemic, when much of the community scaled back, VSC leaned forward and so did Jessica as she participated in two point-in time counts and helped to organize Veterans stand downs serving over 300 homeless Veterans whom were experiencing isolation and abandonment during this time.?These stand downs also included vaccinations from both VA and State agencies.?

With Veterans Affairs National SSVF office making adjustments during the pandemic, Jessica flew into action again reaching out to other SSVF providers across the nation and communicating with SSVF Regional Director in order to build and execute strategies to support Veterans during this critical time.?She quickly made staffing adjustments and begin implementing VSC’s new and improved Emergency Housing Assistance (EHA) program, hiring a full time EHA coordinator. In addition to this position she began developing working relationships with local hotels and landlords to quickly house Veterans during this time of uncertainty. Although with more lenient guidelines for EHA and Veterans feeling supported, this quickly created a significant funnel in payment and fiscal processes.?Once again her and the team solidified partnerships by implementing the direct bill program, allowing hotels to invoice monthly which increased the efficiency of housing Veterans.?Tested again, TJ’s deployment was extended three more months due to the pandemic. In addition to the EHA program and with guidance from SSVF, Jessica has also successfully employed Health Care navigators that support Veterans enrolled in SSVF to both physical and behavioral health care with the VA and community resources. She has also implemented the Shallow Subsidy program that supports Veterans for 24 months post SSVF discharge and built a working relationship with Pisgah Legal services to support Veterans with legal needs. Jessica currently serves as a co-chair of the Mecklenburg (505) Coc in Charlotte in addition to a member of the Northwest (5??) CoC. She also participates in the NC Governors Working Group, specifically with the Housing sub-committee, and is an active member of the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness.?She also makes time to participate in the local Auxiliary of the Asheville Detachment of the Marine Corps League. She never seeks attention nor has received any accolades for all her work but continues to focus on the work and uplifting the team, community and most importantly Veterans and their families.

Jessica’s Resiliency continues to be an inspiration to our team in the community as a leader in addressing Veterans homelessness, but also as a mother, friend and Military Spouse that continues to give her all as a true servant leader.?

Brandon Wilson?is the Director of Veterans Services of the Carolinas and manages programs across North Carolina at State, Federal and Local levels addressing the needs of Veterans and their families.