When: March 28 – 31, 2012

Location: Near Yosemite Park

Details:

• Join with other student veterans and service members.
• Support one another in the journey of return.
• Share stories and experiences.
• Learn stress and wellness management skills.
• Find comfort and strength in community with fellow student veterans and service members.
• Enjoy vigorous recreational activity while renewing mind and body in a beautiful setting. 
• Free lodging and meals.

Please Note: Transportation costs are not covered.

The retreat site is about 3 hours from the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno, and Sacramento.

We are coordinating carpools from these 3 regions.  Please indicate in your application whether you:
(1) Are interested in helping coordinate a carpool
(2) Are willing to drive other veterans from your region to the retreat
(3) You need transportation.
 

Eligibility: All post-9/11 Veterans, Guard, and Reservists currently enrolled in an educational institution. 

Early application is advised as retreats fill quickly.
 

 

Download the Flyer Here

The SERV study will look at whether there are gender differences in how male and female military combat vets readjust to civilian life. This research study is the first major project to study this phenomenon. The S.E.R.V. Study (Survey of Experiences of Returning Veterans), is a 5-year research project to determine whether there are gender differences in how male and female military combat veterans readjust to civilian life.

If you are a Veteran who has been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan or surrounding waters AND are separated from military service, you may qualify for this study whether or not you have PTSD. You should know that this is NOT a treatment study; rather, it is an observational study. This means that the information you provide will not benefit you directly, but may someday help other Veterans with similar experiences. It is entirely voluntary and consists of five telephone interviews over the course of one year. Participants are compensated for their time.

The study itself has begun and veterans have begun to be recruited to participate. If you would like to sign up for the SERV Study, please contact Project Coordinator Elizabeth Dombrowski at elizabeth.dombrowski@va.gov.

Uncovering the Stories: Building the Community

The Bay Area Military Women’s Collaborative is a community forum for Service Women of any Branch, Component Status, Discharge Status and Era of Service.

This collaborative has the following objectives:

• Build community among Military Women that fosters relationships, peer support and outreach
• Build conversation among Military Women about the support we and our families most need
• Welcome military-friendly community partners who serve military women and their families

Wednesday, February 22, 2012
10:00am – 1:00pm
San Jose Vet Center, 278 N. 2nd Street, San Jose, CA.

Featured Speaker: Star Lara
She is currently the Woman Veteran Coordinator for Swords to Plowshares helping prior service women to access the care and benefits they deserve. She conducts outreach to women veterans, as well as government and community entities relevant to women veterans as well as providing information on veterans’ benefit information.
Star Lara is an Army veteran who served more than twelve years on active duty. She completed two tours to Iraq totaling more than 22 months. Upon completion of her active duty commitment in 2007 she graduated from California State University East Bay where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management/Organizational Communication.

Please RSVP to one of our Facilitators:
Rev. Charlotte Bear @ E-mail: bearcoastalgirl@aol.com
Mary Ellen Salzano @ E-mail: maryellen_salzano@yahoo.com

This is the first time in Swords’ long history providing supportive housing to thousands of once-homeless veterans that we have been able to provide permanent homes to veteran families – a much-needed program here in San Francisco.

In keeping with our successful continuum of care model, this permanent housing program, which consists of 12 single family units, is coupled with supportive services and direct access to Swords’ full range of services. 

The statistics are frightening: women veterans and female service members are more likely than non-veterans to experience intimate partner violence, and 39% of women veterans and 30-44% of active duty women report having experienced intimate partner violence. On the flip side, up to 58% of veterans and active duty have committed intimate partner violence — three times higher than seen among civilians.

In the veteran community, separating from the military and coping with challenges such as Post Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury, economic challenges such as unemployment, transition to school, and transferring a military career to a civilian job can bring enormous strain to the family. Veterans and their families may feel isolated, not knowing how to access care and deal with the stresses of their changing roles in the family. Caregiver burden, the stress which often arises in family members of veterans from the overwhelming financial and emotional responsibility of caring for them, can occur.

There are no uniform programs at the VA which address and treat domestic violence in the home. Domestic violence organizations are handling a wave of cases, often without even knowing that the victim or spouse is a veteran and not knowing the specific service-related issues and resources they might be able to link them to. Traditional treatment methods for veterans experiencing domestic violence don’t bode well when the veteran also needs treatment for Post Traumatic Stress or Traumatic Brain Injury. Holistic treatment which also takes into account the root cause– the psychological or cognitive war trauma that causes the violence–  is needed.

Swords to Plowshares has pioneered local efforts to bring domestic violence and veteran organizations together to serve families experiencing domestic violence. Our collaborative model allows the communities to share information, create understanding, and build a framework to guide providers and advocates who intervene in DV cases.

Swords to Plowshares and American Legion Post 315 are convening a Veteran/Domestic Violence In-Service on March 6 in San Francisco with presentations from domestic violence organizations and veteran organizations. For more information on the event, click here.

Jobs for Veterans Program

The VISTA volunteer provides veteran and employer outreach support to the job development team. This position works closely with program staff in reaching out to returning veterans and creating new employer contacts.

Job Duties:

• Research high industry growing companies in the Bay Area
• File and database management: input and maintain all employer contact information in database
• Conduct employer follow ups in order to aid in program evaluation
• Research veteran related networking events, such as university vet clubs, vet groups, and social networking groups
• Perform online recruitment using social media and traditional media including blogging flyers
• Develop recruitment and implementation plan to recruit veterans with in-demand skill sets

Program Benefits:

• Childcare assistance if eligible
• End of service stipend
• Education award upon successful completion of service
• Health coverage
• Relocation allowance
• Training

Terms:

• Prohibits paid work outside of the sponsoring agency at any time

Service Areas:

• Community and Economic Development
• Community Outreach

Skills:

• Salesforce administration, implication and reporting highly desired
• Ability to work in a team environment and meet regularly with Project Supervisor and Program Staff
• Communications: public speaking, writing/editing
• Recruitment
• Community organization

To Apply: visit the Americorps posting at AmeriCorps/VISTA

Contact Anthony Sordini for more information: (510) 891-8773 x307, asordini@stp-sf.org

What is AmeriCorps VISTA?
AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program designed specifically to fight poverty. Founded as Volunteers in Service to America in 1965 and incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs in 1993, VISTA has been on the front lines in the fight against poverty in America for more than 40 years.

Marquez, who joined Mayor Ed Lee and other local officials on a walk through the remodeled building at 150 Otis St., grew up in the Excelsior district and went to Immaculate Conception Academy in the Mission.

“When people asked me if I knew where this building was, I told them I knew exactly where it was,” she said.

One of the most important purposes of the project, she said, is that it will “serve people who have been on the streets for a long time. We don’t want to forget our older veterans as younger people come back from the war.”

HUD provided $2.5 million of the $34.3 million cost of converting the historic nine-story city building into permanent affordable studio apartments for 75 homeless veterans. Work on the building, which will be run by Swords to Plowshares, a veterans’ support group, is slated to be completed in time for Veterans Day in November.

The 1916 building was the city’s first juvenile hall and detention center. From the 1950s through the 1980s, it served as office space for the city’s Department of Human Services, headquartered next door. The building was vacated after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, serving as a storage facility and winter homeless shelter.

The chance to transform a rundown historic building into a much-needed facility for veterans is an example of what San Francisco can do with what it has, the mayor said.

“We don’t need all-new buildings when we can adapt the buildings we already have,” Lee said. “This is one of the most important projects we can be doing and it’s great to see that it’s going to get done.”

The non-profit Chinatown Community Development Center is the developer for the project. Swords to Plowshares runs a similar supportive housing program for 102 previously homeless veterans at the Presidio.

“There will be no problem filling these apartments,” said Leon Winston, chief operating officer for the support group.

Sources:
SFGate – Veterans Housing Project Brings HUD Official Back Home/
KTVU: SAN FRANCISCO: City converts vacant building into affordable housing for homeless vets

LONDON — Florence Green, the world’s last known veteran of World War I, has died at the age of 110, the care home where she lived said Tuesday.

Briar House Care Home in King’s Lynn, England, said Green died Saturday, two weeks before her 111th birthday.

Born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on Feb. 19, 1901, she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17.

She went to work as a waitress in the officers’ mess at RAF Marham in eastern England, and was serving there when the war ended in November 1918.

Green remembered her wartime service with affection.

Farewell to Frank Buckles, last surviving U.S. World War I veteran

“I met dozens of pilots and would go on dates,” she said in an interview in 2008. “I had the opportunity to go up in one of the planes but I was scared of flying. I would work every hour God sent. But I had dozens of friends on the base and we had a great deal of fun in our spare time. In many ways, I had the time of my life.”

She was officially recognized as a veteran when a researcher found her service record in the National Archives.

The RAF marked her 110th birthday in February 2011 with a cake.

Asked what it was like to be 110, Green said “It’s not much different to being 109.”

The war’s last known combatant, Royal Navy veteran Claude Choules, died in Australia in May.

After his death, Green became the war’s last known surviving service member from the war, according to the Order of the First World War, a U.S.-based group that tracks veterans.

During calendar year 2011, we served nearly 2500 unduplicated veterans in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Over the course of 2011:

• Our Transitional Housing programs served 138 veterans, with 79% of exits moving into permanent housing.
• Our Permanent Supportive Housing program provided residential stability to 110 disabled veterans.
• HSS provided Emergency Housing vouchers to 235 veterans, Financial Assistance to 156 moving into permanent housing, and Eviction Prevention services to 89 veterans.
• Our Employment & Training programs served 527 local veterans, providing Job Training to 469, securing Job Placements for 290, with 145 still actively seeking employment at year end. Of note, 111 of the veterans placed in jobs were homeless, and another 15 were exiting incarceration.
• And, our Legal Program served 365 homeless and at-risk veterans, providing expert advice to 161 and ongoing claims assistance to 204. Average retroactive payment per client was $27,379. Average recurring monthly benefit per clients was $1,341. For claims resolved during the year, 94% were successful.

Within a week or two, our new Permanent Housing for Veteran Families will be fully occupied. About half of the 12 units now have families in them.

By this time next year, we will also be able to boast about 75 chronically homeless veterans becoming permanently housed at Veterans Commons, and hopefully, will be able to talk about implementation of a Support Services For Veteran Families program that will allow us to provide homelessness prevention and re-housing services to an additional 330 veteran and their families each year.

Particular thanks go to the staff providing direct services, but we must also acknowledge that these good works are only possible when there is great support provided by Fiscal, HR, RD, IT, Housing Operations, Communications, and Policy staff, as well as our Board of Directors. Everyone should be very proud of the significant benefit we provide to the veterans that we all serve, and which these numbers reflect.

Leon Winston is the Chief Operating Officer of Swords to Plowshares, where he has worked on the housing, treatment, and income support needs of homeless and marginally housed veterans since 1995.

New Online Enrollment Application Available for Servicemembers To Be Introduced at Demobilization Sites Nationwide

WASHINGTON (Feb. 3, 2012) – The Department of Veterans Affairs partnered with the First Army at Camp Shelby, Miss., to launch a streamlined version of its online application for VA health benefits (VA Form 1010EZ) for Servicemembers returning from deployment. VA will introduce it at demobilization sites nationwide by early spring 2012.

“This online application demonstrates VA’s commitment to work with the Department of Defense to make it easier for Servicemembers to get the care they earned by their service,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The new, online system noticeably reduces the paperwork and reduces a 10-day process to three days.” The application is used to enroll in the VA health care system, which has more than 1,000 sites of care across the country.

Enrollment for VA health care is done as part of a Servicemember’s demobilization. The online form allows the application to be completed during a regularly scheduled briefing for all Servicemembers on VA benefits. Quick enrollment is important for returning troops because recently discharged combat Veterans are eligible for five years of cost-free care and medications for conditions potentially related to combat service. The new application was piloted as part of the demobilization process at Camp Shelby.

Based on the results, VA plans to collaborate with DoD to offer this online application at all 61 demobilization sites nationally. For more information, Servicemembers may contact VA at 1-877-222 VETS (8387) or visit VA’s health eligibility website at www.va.gov/healthbenefits.

In the Civil War, black regiments fought for the Union Army and sustained massive casualties for their valiant fighting.  Of the approximately 186,000 African-American soldiers (including 94,000 former slaves from Southern states), 38,000 died in battle. At the Battle of Chaffin’s Farm, “out of an initial force of 1,300 men, African Americans suffered 455 casualties.”* Most were inexperienced soldiers but they also felt pressure to prove themselves equal and fight for country and their race against slavery. Their bravery and fighting spirit was second to none as more than 20 were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

African-American soldiers served with distinction in the Spanish-American War. The 10th regiment, many veterans of Indian campaigns,  accompanied Roosevelt’s Rough Riders at San Juan Hill in Cuba. ”After the battle, a Rough Rider Soldier said, ‘If it hadn’t been for the black cavalry, the Rough Riders would have been exterminated.’”**

World War I demonstrated the service of American blacks as well. Although the Army had a racial segregation policy with most blacks serving in support roles, eventually the first black combat unit – the 369th Infantry Regiment – served with valor and was nicknamed “Hellfighters” by the Germans for their fierce fighting without ground lost or a single man captured.

World War II saw further exceptional contributions. Against a Nazi regime that touted Aryan superiority, blacks fought valiantly in Europe while second-class citizens back home and serving in segregated units. We saw that “the first group of African-American nurses in the Army Nurse Corps arrived in England in 1944.”*** The Tuskegee Airmen were the first black pilots and quickly earned a reputation for their skill and bravery.

The Korean War saw the end of segregation in the military. The Civil Rights movement coincided with the Vietnam War. The roles of blacks as equals in both the military and society was unquestionable.

American blacks have shown their valor through past wars and continue to exemplify the best of what we are as a nation. Their service in Iraq and Afghanistan should not be overlooked either. Nor should the service of any veteran, but this month we take a moment to pay homage to our African-American brothers and sisters and the history of their struggles.

Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/lincolns-soldiers/*
http://www.army.mil/africanamericans/timeline.html
http://www.army.mil/africanamericans/timeline.html#tenth**
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/02/0215_tuskegee.html***

Participants will learn 1) how to identify risk factors for violence amongst military and veterans; 2) military/veteran and survivor culture; 3) resources and services to prevent and mitigate domestic violence.

Presenters will highlight obstacles and share best practices in order to increase the effectiveness of agencies responding to the needs of survivors and perpetrators.

Veterans War Memorial Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 207
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
9:00AM – 4:30PM
Add to my calendar

CEUs are available for LMFTs, LCSWs and LPCCs.

Click here to register!

Schedule of training:

9:00AM – 10:00AM
Swords to Plowshares: Based on components of their Combat to Community training for law enforcement, clinicians, and other first responders, Swords will provide an overview of military/veteran culture, risk and protective factors for violence, as well as the intersection of violence with service-related mental and cognitive health issues such as post-traumatic stress (PTS) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

10:15AM – 11:45AM
La Casa de Las Madres: Based on La Casa’s trainings for veteran service providers at the VA, the curriculum focuses on understanding the basic dynamics of domestic violence, appropriate screening, and how to safely and appropriately engage with victims of domestic violence.

Lunch – 11:45AM – 12:30PM (Box lunch provided at a minimal cost)

12:30PM – 1:30PM
Bay Area Legal Aid: This training will cover the legal options for domestic violence survivors, including civil restraining orders, other family law (divorce, support, custody/visitation), housing protections, public benefits eligibility for abused immigrants, and the criminal justice system.

1:45PM – 2:45PM
Man Alive/Woman Alive: This training will cover hands-on violence intervention strategies through a peer-led, treatment intervention perspective. The training will focus on sensible and effective strategies and skills to stop violence, as well as discuss peer-led treatment strategies for survivors of domestic violence.

3:00PM – 4:30PM
VA, Veteran Justice Outreach Program/Veteran Treatment Courts: This training will provide information on services for justice-involved veterans and veteran treatment courts. The Department of Veteran Affairs’ VJO program helps justice-involved veterans suffering from PTS or other mental health issues be routed to treatment diversion programs and reentry services. They work with public defenders, providers, community and veterans organizations and the courts. The veteran treatment court partners with the VJO Program and other community organizations to focus on the special circumstances impacting the lives of veterans facing criminal charges, and routes eligible veterans to treatment programs in lieu of conviction and incarceration.

Contact Mary Moran with any questions regarding this event at mmoran@stp-sf.org or (415) 655-7253

WHEN:    Friday, March 2, 2012  9 am –5 pm

WHERE: War Memorial Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco

WHAT:    Community commitment signing event and all day free resource fair for servicemembers, veterans and their families.

WHY:      Our mission is to bring the community together to ensure comprehensive support and accessibility to those who serve, and to sustain this support through regular community meetings.

This is more than a Commitment, it is a Covenant. Our mission is to develop a greater awareness of the needs of our Military members, veterans and their families who live and work in our community. The full day Resource Fair will provide outreach by community based organizations and veterans service providers to connect and provide direct assistance to our servicemembers, their families and our veterans. There will also be a job fair, educational seminars and a Veterans Art Show.

For more information about the event and how to participate, download the flyer.

Visit http://www.communitycovenantsf.org/ to learn about the event organizer.

Training starts on February 7 and continues to March 8
Classes are Tues. & Thurs. 4 – 7pm

We have a really terrific class that may be of interest to veterans interested in inbound marketing, personal branding and marketing branding strategy.  The title is Effective Green Business Marketing and includes many industry expert guest speakers that will present on subjects that will be of enormous value for job seekers, business owners, managers, and marketing professionals. It’s project based so by the end you will have developed the skills to move your career forward.

Although there is a focus on marketing green industries, the broader subject matter includes customer relationship management (CRM), marketing planning and strategy, search engine optimization (SEO), website development and finally – and most important for current job seekers – personal and business branding strategy. These techniques can be applied to any industry!

You will learn from industry experts how to market businesses and yourself! This class will give you the tools to create a personal brand and help to market yourselves to employers using social media. You will also receive job search assistance from Swords to Plowshares and San Mateo County.

In addition, there are also volunteer opportunities to apply what you learn in this class to non-profit orgs that are developing an online media presence. This real world experience will help you break into the industry by adding to your resume.

If anyone is interested, please visit our Marketing Registration Page for more information. You can also register there. The class begins soon and we need to reserve spots by Friday.

You can also contact Carmen Santoni directly at 415-252-4787 ext. 307

 

AB 167 “Stolen Valor Act”

The bill requires elected officers to forfeit their office upon conviction of any of the crimes specified in the California Stolen Valor Act. The law provides that any person who, orally, in writing, or by wearing any military decoration, falsely represents himself or herself to have been awarded any military decoration, with the intent to defraud, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

AB 188 “Property Tax Exemption: Principle residence: Veterans and their unmarried surviving spouse”

This bill ensures that the disabled veterans’ property tax exemption on a principal residence received by an unmarried surviving spouse will continue to be available to unmarried surviving spouses who are confined to a hospital or other care facility.

AB 557 “California Interagency Council on Veterans”

This bill created the California Interagency Council on Veteran Services and Programs, composed of state and federal officials, legislative representatives, local governments, and stakeholder organizations to ensure that the states programs that serve veterans are efficiently administered and properly integrated with federal and local government and other stakeholder organizations.

AB 629 “Veterans Cemetery”

This bill authorizes the Department of Veterans Affairs to enter into an agreement with the Fort Ord Reuse Authority for the veteran’s cemetery project to be under the sole charge and direct control of the authority. In order to get the cemetery started, private donations must fully fund the cemetery design and planning costs in the form of an endowment (the Endowment). After the Endowment is funded sufficiently to design and plan the cemetery, the balance of its costs for construction will be paid by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. With the loss of redevelopment funds, the endowment will allow construction to begin on a site that has sat quiet for ten years.

AB 636 “Military Service Benefits”

Existing law provides certain protections for members of the National Guard ordered into active state service by the Governor or active federal service by the President of the United States for emergency purposes, and for Reservists called to active duty. This revision changes the conditions for tuition and fees refunds and removes the requirement of the student’s withdrawal by a specified date. The bill would also require any refund toward an academic term to equal 100% of the tuition and fees paid to the institution for the academic term in which the student was required to report for military service, regardless of whether the student was called to military service before the academic term had commenced or after the academic term had commenced.

AB 697 “Veteran: Acquisition of home: Interest of record”

With so many veterans caught up in the current housing crisis, and foreclosures among service members 3 times the national average, AB 697 authorized the Department of Veterans Affairs to refinance a mortgage loan that is not an existing loan acquired under the Cal Vet Home Loan Program. This law brings great relief to those veterans caught in the sub-prime mortgage mayhem.

AB 713 “Military Service: Legal Benefits”

A National Guard or Reserve service member’s order to military service can materially impact the financial stability of California service members and their families, and recent statutes providing financial protections to alleviate this impact have been clarified to ensure that these protections are made available to all service members whom they were intended to help. The legislation allows for service members to petition their financial obligations and liabilities to a court for relief. These circumstances include, but not limited to: a) Eviction from the member’s primary residence; b) Obligations under a lease for specified residential and nonresidential property; c) Obligations secured by a mortgage; d) Nonpayment of an installment under a contract for purchase of real or personal property; e) Taxes or assessments, whether general or special, other than taxes on income, as provided.

AB 882 “Veterans and Military: Public postsecondary education”

Service members and their families that are stationed in California will qualify for in-state residency for the purpose of tuition and fees. In addition, families who remain in the state while the service member is deployed elsewhere will remain eligible for the state rate. (The California Department of Veterans Affairs has instituted a non-resident fee waiver program for those veterans who separated from the military in California and stayed to pursue their education here.)

AB 1084 “Veterans Farm and Housing: Shared Equity Cooperative”

The passing of AB 1084 will be valuable tool in the development of Permanent Supportive Housing Co-ops throughout California, providing low income veterans more affordable rental housing as well as the opportunity of ownership through the “share equity” model. A shared equity co-op is similar to a regular co-op except a portion of the corporation is owned by a non-profit who shares the unit with the buyer/homeowner. Purchase of the shared equity units is limited to defined low-income buyers, seniors, families, veterans, etc. When the homeowner sells, a portion of the equity gain is shared with the non-profit partner.

SB 10 “Military and Veterans: Veterans Home Allied Council”

This law allows the Allied Council to directly represent the concerns of veterans living in the home before the California Department of Veterans Affairs and the Legislature. Veterans applaud the additional authority given to the Allied Council as a vital tool to improve communications between the veterans and the CDVA.

SB 806 “State Employee; Military Leave; Salary Overpayment”

This bill provides that when the state determines that an overpayment of compensation has been made to a state employee on a leave of absence for active military duty as a member of the California National Guard, administrative action to recover overpayment be initiated within six years from the date of overpayment, notwithstanding existing law, unless specified conditions exist. The bill would make this provision applicable to any overpayment made up to 6 years prior to the date enacted.

SB 813 “Public Postsecondary Education: Veterans Enrollment”

This law grants priority enrollment to members or former members of the Armed Forces of the United States within four years of leaving active duty.

On August 23, 2011, Governor Brown issued an Executive Order establishing the California Interagency Council on Veterans, with the goal of improving the collaboration and coordination of veteran services across local, state, and federal governments.

Governor Brown’s Executive Order directs the secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs to establish the IAC, which will be tasked with identifying and prioritizing the needs of California’s veterans and coordinating the activities at all levels of government in addressing those needs.

“Every year 30,000 veterans return to California which is already home to the largest veteran population in the country. The IAC is a tremendous opportunity for collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies to identify and bridge the gaps in services and to ensure these veterans a successful transition home,” said Keith Boylan.

Under the order, Speaker Pérez and Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg are each expected to appoint a member to the IAC from their respective houses. These appointees will join secretaries and department heads of the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, california volunteers, Business Transportation and Housing Agency, Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, military department, Employment Development Department, Department of Consumer Affairs, Department of Rehabilitation and Department of Housing and Community Development.

Additionally, the Governor’s order requests that the Chief Justice of California, President of the University of California, Chancellor of California State University and Chancellor of California Community Colleges each appoint a member to the IAC. The secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs will also coordinate with federal partners and external stakeholders to ensure both groups are active participants on the IAC. 

• The unemployment rate for Gulf War II veterans is 42 percent higher than it is for non-veterans.
• Approximately 25 percent of Gulf War II veterans have a disability that is connected to their military service, compared with approximately 13 percent of all veterans.
• Recent tests of returning troops show that 20 percent of infantry and 10 percent of other troops suffer from at least mild traumatic brain injury.
• Over 35 percent of veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, who have sought healthcare through the Veterans Administration, have been diagnosed with mental disorders.
• California has the largest number of homeless veterans in the nation and 62 percent of all homeless veterans have been diagnosed with both substance abuse issues and serious mental health problems

This film screening aims to bring awareness to our soldiers and veterans by providing insight into the American soldier. Iraq Veterans Against the War is presenting this film in collaboration with San Francisco’s chapter of Veterans for Peace. This film screening will be followed with a discussion by some of our members.

From a snowy small town in Northern Michigan to the mountains of Afghanistan and back, Where Soldiers Come From follows the four-year journey of childhood friends, forever changed by a faraway war.

A documentary about growing up, Where Soldiers Come From is an intimate look at the young men who fight our wars and the families and town they come from. Returning to her hometown, Director Heather Courtney gains extraordinary access following these young men as they grow and change from teenagers stuck in their town, to 23-year-old veterans facing the struggles of returning home.

We hope you can join us for this event.

Arts & Skills Service is hosting a series of workshops on the theme of Trench Art. Trench Art is art made by soldiers and civilians with the creation and materials linked to armed conflict or its effects. Allison Smith, a SF Bay Area artist and educator, is leading these workshops with special workshops for women veterans in addition to workshops open to the public. In addition, Amber Cady and Helena Keeffe will present at the workshops with historical trench art pieces and show the skills used to make such pieces.

This is the third year of the program, revisiting a World War II collaboration between the SF MOMA and American Red Cross which provided hands-on workshops for returning soldiers by Bay Area artists and craftspeople.

The FOR-SITE Foundation and Swords to Plowshares are partnering with Allison Smith to make this year’s workshops a success. Swords to Plowshares is hosting its SHOUT! Art by Women Veterans on May 9, 2012 to continue addressing women veteran issues through art.

Visit the Trench Art Workshops facebook page!

Dates & Locations for Workshops: (Workshops are free and all materials are provided)

Workshop 1

Thursday, January 26, 5:30 – 8PM
(Women Veterans only: War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue Room 20)

Saturday & Sunday, January 28 & 29 10-6PM - Workshop Presentations at 10AM and 2PM both days
(Open to the Public: Exhibition Pavilion, Building 1212 at the corner of Storey and Ralston Avenues in the Presidio)

Workshop 2

Wednesday, February 15, 5:30 – 8PM
(Women Veterans only: War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue Room 20)

Saturday & Sunday, February 18 & 19, 10-6PM - Workshop Presentations at 10AM and 2PM both days
(Open to the Public: Exhibition Pavilion, Building 1212 at the corner of Storey and Ralston Avenues in the Presidio)

Workshop 3

Wednesday, March 7, 5:30-8PM
(Women Veterans only: War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue Room 20)

Saturday & Sunday, March 10 & 11 - Workshop Presentations at 10AM and 2PM both days
(Open to the Public: Exhibition Pavilion, Building 1212 at the corner of Storey and Ralston Avenues in the Presidio)

Workshop 4

Wednesday, April 4, 5:30-8PM
(Women Veterans only: War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue Room 20)
Saturday & Sunday, April 7 & 8 - Workshop Presentations at 10AM and 2PM both days
(Open to the Public: Exhibition Pavilion, Building 1212 at the corner of Storey and Ralston Avenues in the Presidio)

Workshop 5

Wednesday, May 2, 5:30-8PM
(Women Veterans only: War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue Room 20)

Saturday & Sunday, May 4 & 5 - Workshop Presentations at 10AM and 2PM both days
(Open to the Public: Exhibition Pavilion, Building 1212 at the corner of Storey and Ralston Avenues in the Presidio)

To participate, please RSVP by email to Allison Smith at smithsgeneral@gmail.com.

For more information, visit http://www.allisonsmithstudio.com/arts-skills-service or download the Arts & Skills Service Workshops 2012 Flyer.

The staff at Swords to Plowshares are working to strengthen our existing job training programs to create meaningful job opportunities for veterans. One model in particular that exemplifies the value of our community partnerships and customized job training can be seen in a unique partnership with Skyline College. Swords to Plowshares is currently recruiting veterans to enroll in a unique course at Skyline College, Green Business Marketing.

The course is designed to equip veterans with the skills they need to launch into a career marketing green energy businesses. The five-week course begins February 7th and is free to qualified veterans.

Jarom Vahai learned early on in the Marine Corps never to desert a fellow Marine in need. He’s taken that credo with him back to civilian life. The San Bruno resident formed a nonprofit last summer that’s dedicated to helping veterans find green jobs, and the organization is already getting results. Green & Gold Careers for Veterans has found jobs for more than 40 people, and that number is about to increase dramatically.

Clear-Wall and Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation, two companies that have established hiring pipelines with Green & Gold Careers, are about to embark on hiring sprees, and Vahai is developing a new partnership with Cisco Systems. That’s on top of Vahai’s work with Tesla Motors, which employed 48 veterans as of November, about a quarter of whom Vahai says were referred by his nonprofit.

Vahai, who’s in his 30s, has accomplished all this despite spine and brain injuries suffered during two tours in Iraq that cause him debilitating pain and make it difficult to concentrate. And his success has come at great personal expense — he’s sunk roughly $30,000 from the military pension he earned after his medical retirement into his new venture.

Many veterans don’t have professional networks built up outside the military, Vahai said, and they don’t know where to look for jobs or how to convey their skills to prospective employers. He likened his new role to the way Marines cover for one another in combat.

“They have a lot of blind spots — they don’t know where the jobs are,” he said of veterans who are re-entering the civilian world. “What I’m trying to do is cover those blind spots for them.”

Marco Concepcion, 26, is one of roughly 37,500 veterans who live in San Mateo County. The Marine lance corporal said he struggled personally and financially after completing a seven-month tour of Iraq in 2005, but he found his stride last year after he was hired by Clear-Wall, applying the company’s energy-saving films to building windows. He’s making good money, and he’s in line to supervise his own team when Clear-Wall finishes its current project at Genentech and moves on to its next contract.

“I never thought I would like it, but I’m loving it, although it is very exhausting,” said Concepcion, who lives in South San Francisco. “You have to have dexterity and patience.”

Clear-Wall employs five veterans right now, but that number will soon jump. The company expects to hire as many as 100 people over the next year, many of them veterans. CEO Norm Marchand said the company’s performance improved dramatically once it made hiring veterans a priority.

“The military guys are all about doing it right,” Marchand said. “They’re just the easiest workforce that I’ve had work for me.”

The founder of Bauer’s Intelligent Transportation has come to a similar realization. The transportation service, which shuttles 6,000 people a day to and from Bay Area tech companies like Salesforce.com and LinkedIn on biodiesel buses, is poised to hire about 50 veterans as drivers, mechanics, dispatchers and supervisors.
“It’s the perfect fit for what we do,” said Gary Bauer, citing veterans’ discipline and work ethic. “They fought for the country and served, and we need to do the right thing and give them the opportunity to get into the workforce.”

The seeds for Green & Gold Careers for Veterans were planted in April, when Vahai, who at the time was head of Skyline College’s veterans club, organized an Earth Day job fair with Tesla. The response from local veterans was so strong that Vahai decided to take a break from studying engineering and devote his full attention to finding work for others.

Vahai doesn’t draw a salary from his two-person operation, which gets some support from fellow veteran nonprofits Swords to Plowshares and The Mission Continues as well as a private donor who works for Hewlett-Packard. There are some perks to be had, however. Vahai’s success recently got the attention of the Obama administration, which invited him to the White House Christmas Party.

Vahai hopes to expand Green & Gold Careers and eventually get a full-time management team in place so he can step back from day-to-day operations. He wants to continue his education — he’s particularly interested in studying how ancient civilizations used their monuments as navigational tools.

For now, though, he’ll continue to push ahead with his unexpected calling.
“I didn’t go into it to make money,” he said of his work. “We see our brothers suffering and we track that mission.”

By Aaron Kinney
akinney@bayareanewsgroup.com
Original article: http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county-times/ci_19796259

Mai-Ling Garcia, former Swords to Plowshares’ Senior Policy Associate, talks about meeting the needs of veterans, military and families. Garcia, who is married to an Iraq veteran, continues to advocate for the veteran community both personally and professionally. She currently works with the Department of Labor as the Veterans Employment and Training Services Programs Specialist.

By Suzy Bohnert, Office of Public Affairs, Washington, DC for FrancEs Magazine

Mai-Ling Garcia has found her calling working with the Coming Home Project (CHP), a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco. Married to a veteran, she has devoted her life to providing compassionate care, support, education, and stress-management tools for Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans, service members, their families and their service providers.

Passionate about helping veterans and their families to find resources to assist them, her work on the board of directors for the CHP allows her to concentrate on retreats, psychological counseling, training and community consultation that staff at the facility provide.

“CHP is building regional centers across the country, so that people can build a community,” Garcia says. She adds that the demand for group support and stress-management retreats for veterans and their families is high, and that CHP leverages its relationships with government agencies and other nonprofits to attract participants and find private funding to support these retreats.

Garcia knows about these services firsthand. “I was trying to find some resources for my husband, who is a Marine Corps’ veteran, and had done two tours in Iraq. He was in school, and I didn’t have a job, so I was looking for some assistance from the community. I knew where to obtain help, but wasn’t sure how to do it or who to ask,” she said.

During her search, she stumbled across Swords to Plowshares, a nonprofit organization and a recipient of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program grants. Founded in 1974, the community-based organization provides counseling, case management, training and employment, and housing and legal assistance to veterans in the San Francisco area. The nonprofit’s staff offered Garcia a policy position to conduct research, policy work and public education on issues facing Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans and their families. “The experience I had there was invaluable in shaping my perception of systems of care,” she said.

This experience also helped her in finding a position at DOL, which she did in 2009, because she wanted to work for the government to help veterans. She works as a program specialist with the DOL Veterans’ Employment and Training Service in San Francisco.

“You need to know the system from many sides — private, nonprofit and government — to understand the system of care,” she explained.

For her, the most rewarding part of helping veterans is validating their experiences. “A lot of vets and their families want to hear that people understand the hardships they face during and after their service to our country. I don’t know anything about war, but I do know a lot about what happens when it comes home. It is a transformative experience for me to be on the other side of providing and supporting the very services that help other people, like me and my husband,” she says.

While Garcia is now devoted to community work, this was not always so. She said this changed when she attended Mt. San Jacinto Community College, where she served on the campus Diversity Committee and as a college mentor to high-school students at continuation and alternative high schools. “I was really inspired by the determination that these students had in their effort to access higher education, despite their emotional and economic challenges. It caused me to focus and strategize about my own future and begin to contemplate public service,” she said.

Following community college, Garcia transferred to the University of California, Berkeley. Soon after, Carnegie Mellon University officials named her a public policy and international affairs fellow, followed by a Haas Research Fellowship to conduct in-depth interviews and research about American military families. She graduated from Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 2007.

From her research, Garcia learned that, “Many are deeply impacted by conflict and war, but I was interested in learning how military families influenced and were impacted by the military, particularly during deployments. In my research, I found that military families served as gatekeepers to the military community. Veteran families, on the other hand, have very different demands and challenges without the organized support of their former, tightly-woven military communities.”

Finding the time to help veterans during and after hours is what Garcia is most enthusiastic about, she says.