Blogs

The East Bay Stand Down (EBSD) just wrapped up this past weekend at the Alameda County Fairground in Pleasanton, California. The term Stand Down is used during war to describe the practice of removing combat troops from the field and taking care of their basic needs in a safe area. Swords to Plowshares was one of the many community-based organizations represented at the four-day event which connected more than 600 Bay Area homeless and at-risk veterans to services including:

September is Suicide Prevention Month and there has been a lot of media attention around veteran suicide with the 22 pushup challenge. While raising awareness around the issue of veteran suicide is a good start, communities must start coming together to help end this epidemic.

Here are five ways you go beyond raising awareness and help prevent veteran suicide:

Last night, the Oakland Raiders and the Raiders Foundation recognized two of our very own, staff members Randall Flagg and Dennis Johnson, as Hometown Heroes at their game versus the Seattle Seahawks. Our sincere thanks to the Raiders for donating 25 tickets for our veteran staff members and giving a monetary donation to support our mission here in the Bay Area. 

The phrase “military-connected students” is meant to better identify those using Post 9/11 GI benefits to attend post-secondary education. Researchers Dani Molina and Andrew Morse use this term to identify not only veterans and active duty service members but also survivors (dependents whose military family members were killed in action) and dependents.

Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved The Dignity Fund for this November’s ballot by an overwhelming margin of 9-2.

In 2014, Congress established the Commission on Care, charging the group to examine veteran’s access to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare and to provide recommendations on how best to organize the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), locate health resources, and deliver healthcare to veterans during the next 20 years.

There was an ongoing theme of perseverance during presentations at the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans (NCHV) conference this year. The deadline for Obama’s five-year plan to end veteran homelessness had passed six months ago, and while some communities had reached the goal of functional zero, most had not. One of the main topics of discussion during the conference was: what next?

Swords to Plowshares’ Executive Director, Michael Blecker, today released the below statement and his dissent letter regarding the final report published today by the Commission on Care. Appointed to the Commission by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Blecker was one of 15 members of the Commission on Care tasked with evaluating the Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system.

Blecker was one of three Commissioners who declined to sign the final report. Blecker agreed with 17 of the 18 recommendations outlined in the Commission on Care’s report.

On the heels of LGBT Pride Month festivities, the Pentagon announced today they are lifting the ban on openly serving transgender service members. While it’s not entirely surprising given these plans have long been underway, questions of how the repeal will roll out among the branches are causing a stir.

Swords to Plowshares has partnered with a national property management company and is seeking outgoing and customer service-oriented military veterans to fill Service Technician positions for their Bay Area locations. These are full-time, hourly paid, maintenance positions with a generous benefits package available after 30 days of employment, including 50% employee rent discount.

This is a veterans-only recruitment opportunity.

Application Deadline: TBD

Requirements: