When most of us are 70 years old, we’ll be lucky if we can still touch our toes. But Jim Shiew of Buena Vista, Colo., could serve as inspiration to us all: the Korean War veteran and West Point graduate is currently jogging across the country on a mission that he calls Run America for Vets, raising money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation.
Shiew has been running for 11 months now and has no plans to stop until he reaches his goal. “It’s very important that we take care of our vets, because they’re not being properly taken care of, and they need a lot of help,” he said.
He serves as his own support crew and travels with two cars — a van and a station wagon with hand-painted red, white and blue stripes, flags and info about his mission (so people know how to donate to his cause).
How does he run and drive two vehicles? He described his process to Stephanie Santostasi of WCYB: “Drive the van forward a couple miles, run back pick up the car, drive it to the van, then move the van forward again. I just kind of follow myself.”
As he inches his way across the country at about 12 miles a day, “I’ll be going east, but running west,” he told Maisie Ramsay of The Chaffee County Times before he embarked on his journey Nov. 1, 2013 in Colorado. He ran to California, waded in the Pacific, then doubled back, heading east all the way to Virginia Beach, which he plans to reach on Sept. 24.
“As far as I can tell, if I can do this, I’ll be the oldest one to run across America,” he told Ramsay.
According to Holly Kozelsky of the Martinsville Bulletin, each day Shiew phones his coordinator, Jim Blakeslee, to report on his progress. (He invites people to track his journey on his Facebook page, Jim For Vets.) Blakeslee arranges accommodations — often at veterans’ organizations or camping facilities — for Shiew.
As for how Shiew feels about America after seeing it one step at a time? He told Kozelsky, that he’s had “wonderful weather, and met some great people. It gives me faith that this is a great country. I just haven’t met anybody who has treated me any way but nice.”
MORE: How Does Running Coast-To-Coast Help Veterans?
Tag: Military Families
The New Memorial Honoring Disabled Veterans and Their Caretakers
Each year, hundreds of thousands of tourists descend upon Washington, D.C. to visit the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the National World War II memorials. While these monuments honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, until now there hasn’t been a memorial to honor those that didn’t lose their lives, but that suffer from lifelong wounds.
The American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial, set for dedication on October 5, will commemorate those whose service has left their bodies permanently damaged, as well as the caretakers who help them get through each day.
Jacqueline Klimas of the Washington Times interviewed two of the memorial’s honorees — Dennis Joyner, who lost his legs and his left hand while he served in the Army during the Vietnam War, and his wife Donna Joyner, who quit her job in 2008 to take care of him full time — about the sort of sacrifice that goes on every day in this country but receives little recognition. “We all sacrifice a lot. We don’t live our lives the same as anybody else,” she says.
Joyner serves as the secretary on the board that planned the $80 million memorial, which features reflections from disabled veterans and their caretakers, such as, “When you’re young, you’re invincible. You’re immortal. I thought I’d come back. Perhaps I wouldn’t, there was this thought, too, but I had this feeling that I would come back. Underneath that feeling there was another, that maybe I wouldn’t be quite the same, but I felt I’d make it back.”
The memorial is completely handicap accessible and features bronze sculptures that blind veterans are encouraged to touch and a star-shaped fountain — its five sides representing each of the military branches.
The memorial is located in a park on Capitol Hill, where legislators will be able to see it. “Maybe the lawmakers will be reminded that this is what happens and [that] we deal with it every day,” Joyner tells Klimas.
MORE: Her Husband Fought Overseas. Now She’s Fighting For Him and For All Wounded Vets
For Companies Unsure About How to Find the Right Vets to Hire, a New Website Has the Answers
Most employers have a pretty good idea about how to find recent college graduates to hire: running an internship program or visiting university job fairs are two great ways. But when businesses want to hire veterans — to gain good employees and to do their part to lower the veteran unemployment rate — some of them don’t know where to begin. But that’s about to change.
Recently, the website Employer Roadmap launched to help answer employers’ questions about hiring vets and their spouses and to connect veterans with businesses looking for specific skills.
The website, a joint project of Hiring Our Heroes and USAA, went live during a Veterans Jobs Summit at North Carolina’s Fort Bragg. Kathryn Dill of Forbes spoke to Eric Eversole, the executive director of Hiring Our Heroes and the vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce about what Employer Roadmap aims to accomplish: “There’s really no one-size-fits-all approach to helping companies recruit, hire, and retain veteran talent,” Eversole said. “This allows businesses to self-asses, and then we can deliver more customizable solutions.”
Part of the website’s mission is to educate employers on such matters like why hiring veterans’ spouses can still be a good idea — despite the fact that they often have gaps in their resumes brought on by frequent moves. Employer Roadmap also includes resources about how to recruit and train veterans and encourages employers to get to know the veterans already working for them and ask for their assistance in recruiting more service members.
While some larger companies are able to launch their own initiatives to train and hire veterans (think: Microsoft, Tesla, and General Motors), smaller companies might not have the resources to set up such a program. And that’s where Employer Roadmap comes in.
Army veteran Geoff Grant, USAA program director, told Dill, “Small to medium sized businesses say, ‘I don’t have this huge HR budget, what do I do to hire one or two vets? Where do I find them?’ That’s where the best practices tool is really key.”
Of the estimated 1.5 million veterans that are expected to join the civilian workforce in the next five years, we’re sure that many of them will find employment, thanks to Employer Roadmap.
MORE: Instead of Letting Veterans Struggle Post Service, GM Trains Them For Dealership Employment
Instead of Letting Veterans Struggle Post Service, GM Trains Them for Dealership Employment
Many Army veterans know a thing or to about maintaining vehicles. And if they can keep a tank running smoothly, fixing a car should be a piece of cake, right?
That’s what General Motors and Raytheon think, which is why the two companies are teaming up with the U.S. Army to offer veterans jobs in car dealerships. According to David Shepardson of The Detroit News, GM has more car lots than any other auto maker in the U.S. — 4,300 of them, to be exact — and the company estimates it’ll need 2,500 technicians to staff them in the coming years. And with the Army planning to reduce its size from 574,000 to 450,000, there will be thousands of veterans looking for good jobs.
So kicking off this month at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, is the 12-week-long Shifting Gears: Automotive Technician Training Program. In order for Army members to obtain the skills needed to gain a civilian job before they’re discharged, the Raytheon-developed program is held on the base. GM pays for the training and connect graduates from it to jobs in their dealerships across the country.
Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, says, “Young Army veterans face unemployment rates that are more than double the national average. Raytheon sees this partnership with GM and the Army as an opportunity to reduce those alarming statistics by helping position former service members for new opportunities.”
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, deputy chief of staff for personnel, said at the Pentagon event, “Soldiers transitioning to civilian life bring exceptional training, values and experience to American communities and their civilian workforce. Properly supporting our veterans requires a team approach from the Army, other government agencies and the local community.”
Along with GM and Raytheon, more and more companies, including Tesla and Microsoft, are stepping up to help veterans transition into civilian jobs. Here’s to hoping that this assistance continue to trend.
MORE: This Innovative Car Company Aims to Hire More Veterans
This Supercomputer Is Helping Vets Transition Back to Civilian Life
When many of us last heard about Watson, the artificially-intelligent computer that scientists at IBM programmed to understand and respond to questions asked in normal language, it was destroying Jeopardy! mega winners Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on the famous quiz show, winning $1 million in prize money.
But Watson’s creators wondered if their machine could serve a higher purpose than embarrassing big-brained game show geeks, and now it will. Two weeks ago, IBM and USAA, the insurance company serving over 10 million military members, veterans and their families, announced that Watson’s brain power will be available online to all its members who are looking to transition out of the military and establish civilian careers. All they need to do is enter a query through Ask Watson on USAA’s homepage or mobile app.
Neff Hudson, USAA’s vice president of emerging channels, told Doug Henschen of Information Week, “More and more of the interactions that we’re getting from our members are coming through our digital channels, including our web and mobile sites, so we’re trying to make these channels as adept at delivering advice as a human being in our call center.”
Watson has been programmed to learn from each of its interactions, becoming more helpful at answering questions as it receives more input. Because transitioning from the military can elicit so many complicated questions — from what to do about health insurance, to how to craft a resume that will appeal to a civilian employer, to how to manage saving for retirement or the best way to fund an education — a wise guy like Watson is sure to be of assistance.
MORE: This Innovative Car Company Makes Employing Veterans Part of Its Mission
Military Spouses Didn’t Feel Represented by Congress. This Initiative Helps Them Find Their Voice
After managing sales at a clothing boutique and earning a master’s degree in social responsibility and sustainable communities, Katie Lopez thought her experience spoke for itself. So when she couldn’t find a job after relocating last summer to live with her husband, an Army service member stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the challenge was unexpected. “I was surprised that at interviews, one of the first questions I was asked is when I was leaving,” she says, even though she didn’t know when or where her husband would be stationed next. “There was never any follow-up after the interviews, so I was getting more and more discouraged. And I knew I wasn’t the only one experiencing it.”
She certainly wasn’t. Studies show that labor markets near big military bases are often “saturated with overqualified military spouses eager to work,” according to the Huffington Post. Military spouses face additional challenges, like the fact that they don’t qualify for unemployment insurance when they lose jobs in more than 14 states, since changes of station are seen as “voluntary” moves.
Even when she did attend events geared at hiring veterans and their family members, Lopez found that most job recruiters were targeting veterans themselves — and the positions available were often entry level, virtual jobs that didn’t fit her level of experience. “There was nothing for those of us who were college educated and on a professional track,” Lopez says. “It’s disheartening to think we spent this time and put in the work to advance ourselves and our careers only to get entry level jobs at a call center.”
MORE: Washington Needs to Be Fixed. These Innovators Aren’t Waiting for Congress to Do It.
In Gear Career is a nonprofit that helps military family members with all career-related challenges — from finding jobs and networking to education and professional training. Haley Uthlaut, a military spouse and veteran, conceived the idea in 2009 and then took it to Donna Huneycutt and Lauren Weiner, owners of a consulting firm focused on hiring veterans and their spouses. They helped her make the vision a reality. Although headquartered in Tampa, Florida, In Gear Career has more than 2,000 members in 22 chapters across the country, from Texas to Tennessee.
“The biggest issue we saw facing military spouses was the lack of a professional network — you don’t get that when you move every two or three years,” says Weiner. “We want to help military spouses stay employed, because big gaps on a resume are a red flag. And ultimately, if we get the spouses engaged, we’re going to keep our best and brightest in the military. It’s a military readiness issue at heart.”
Last October, during the government shutdown, Huneycutt and Weiner were in Washington, D.C. for a conference, watching C-Span during a break between sessions. Sitting with a member from Military Spouse JD Network, a group that helps military spouses maintain their legal careers amid relocations, Huneycutt and Weiner became increasingly frustrated listening to politicians on the screen blame their opposing party for the shutdown.
“Enough already!” one of them screamed.
“Fix it!” another one yelled.
“Forget about these politicians,” one finally said. “I’m sick of everyone telling me to call my congressman. I want to be my congressman.”
Looking back, it was a light bulb moment.
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Just one fifth of those who serve in Congress have any military experience, according to a September 2013 Pew Research Center survey. And the voices of military spouses have even less representation. “The number of veterans in Congress is only dropping,” says Amanda Patterson Crowe, executive director of In Gear Career. “And for spouses, that’s hard because we’re living the life that Congress makes decisions on, from child care to military pay. We had to figure out how to make our voices heard too, how to get into politics.”
So after the conference, In Gear Career teamed up with Military Spouse JD Network to create Homefront Rising, a nonpartisan initiative aimed at getting military spouses more involved in the political process, from volunteering for campaigns to running for office. “Many people don’t realize that military spouses are uniquely qualified to represent us,” says Weiner. “They’ve lived in small town America and cities, rural areas and overseas. They understand a slice of America that most people who stay in one place don’t.”
Homefront Rising launched this February with an event in D.C. and recently held its second gathering this June in Tampa. The daylong events are packed with seminars and sessions from elected officials, former service members and other leaders on topics like “Building a Public Image” and “How Extraordinary People Lead.”
Homefront Rising’s two events have already inspired several members, including Katie Lopez, to volunteer with local campaigns such as state-level House and Senate races. “I’ve found that when I approach campaigns, their leadership tells me it’s exactly what they want to hear — military spouses having an opinion and getting involved,” Lopez says. Even though she couldn’t attend, learning about the D.C. event motivated military spouse Susan Reynolds to begin writing a column in her local newspaper, the Fayetteville Observer, on military families. And Angelina Bradley was so inspired by the inaugural Homefront Rising event that she successfully lobbied the D.C. Public Schools’ Chancellor’s Parent Cabinet to add an additional seat for the nearby Bolling Air Force Base, where she is currently stationed, giving military families a voice in education that they previously didn’t have.
Should Military Dogs Receive the Same Level of Medical Care As Their Human Handlers?
There’s a special group of service members who’ve worked hard and risked their lives to keep people safe in war zones, detecting contraband and explosives and tracking down suspects. But when they return home with disabilities resulting from their service, they don’t receive complimentary medical care.
We’re talking about military working dogs, whose veteran handlers often foot the bill for expensive veterinary care. (Not to mention the shipping bill to return them to the States, which often costs thousands of dollars.)
Mike Dowling, retired Marine Corps Dog Handler and author of Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between A Marine and His Military Working Dog, recently spoke with Take Part about the problem.
“As a veteran, if I have a service-connected disability, I can go to the Veterans Affairs and get free-of-charge medical care,” he said. “But military working dogs who have service-connected disabilities, they don’t have any kind of free-of-charge medical care or even a discounted medical care. So these handlers are going to Washington D.C. to advocate for some kind of [fund] to be set up so that when they adopt these dogs they can pay for their care in retirement.”
One such instance is that of Cristina Collesano, a U.S. Navy Dog Handler. She had to pay $3,000 to transport her adopted service dog Zizi back to Michigan from Italy. After years of service during which she kept military zones safe, Zizi developed severe arthritis in her spine and shoulders as well as bone cancer. “She’s much more than just a dog to me,” Collesano said.
On behalf of their canines, military dog handlers are urging D.C. lawmakers to actually implement legislation that they passed last year: the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act, which allows defense officials to create programs that fund military working dog medical care and transportation. Since then, no programs have yet been created (due to a loophole in the law), and for some concerned military members and their hard-working service animals, the time for action is now.
MORE: This Organization Knows How to Simultaneously Save Veterans and Dogs
Editor’s note: Cristina Collesano’s last name was incorrectly spelled in a previous version of this post.
Boots to Business Gives Entrepreneurial Veterans A Leg Up
The unemployment news among veterans isn’t all bad. But while jobless rates are improving, former soldiers still face a bigger struggle landing employment than non-veterans.
Case in point: a recent study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found the unemployment rate to be 6.8 percent among younger veterans, compared to 5.7 percent for the nation as a whole. Fortunately, a lot of people are working to solve this problem.
The 2011 “Hire Our Heroes” act required government agencies to come up with classes to help military veterans transition to civilian careers. One program that grew out of this mandate is Boots to Business, a training program that guides veterans through the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. Many are already benefiting from these classes, such as the more than 60 veterans hired by the MGM Grand Detroit (which has a Boots to Business program with the American Red Cross).
Rozell Blanks Sr., vice president of human resources at MGM Grand Detroit told Matthew Gryczan of Crain’s Detroit Business that when a company hires a veteran, “What you get is an individual who has high integrity, a high sense of honor and who wants to do their very best…I can’t think of a more difficult job than one that requires you to put your life on the line, and it’s not for a whole lot of money. So you’re talking about highly skilled, highly technical, well-disciplined individuals who tend to excel quickly in an organization.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families want to extend the program’s reach even further by offering Boots to Business: Reboot. Through it, free, two-day seminars will be held at dozens of sites across the country during July and August for veterans interested in starting their own businesses. Recently, a Reboot was held in Washington, D.C. in a very special building: the White House.
If they choose, vets can supplement the two-day Reboot program with eight weeks of online classes. At the end of those lessons, soldiers should know how to come up with a good idea for a small business, write a business plan, identify people and organizations that can help them and be able to launch the business.
Ray Toenniessen, Managing Director of Development and External Relations of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University said in a press release, “We know veterans make the best entrepreneurs and we know veterans hire veterans, that’s why IVMF and the SBA are so committed to training and educating veterans about entrepreneurship and small business ownership.”
According to the United States Census Bureau, veterans owned 2.4 million businesses in the U.S. in 2007 — that’s 9 percent of all the companies in the country. And those vet-owned businesses employed 5.8 million people, generating $1.2 trillion in receipts. With the downsizing of the military, now sounds like a great time to keep the veteran-owned small business trend rolling.
MORE: Meet The Business Owner Who Gives Vets The Skills They Need To Start Their Own Businesses
For Military Families Having Money Troubles, These Organizations Offer a Helping Hand
While military members are busy serving their country, their financial situation can spin out of control. Frequent deployments and moves often wreak havoc on the finances of military families — driving them deep in debt. In fact, according to a 2012 Department of Defense study, 27 percent of military families have more than $10,000 in credit card debt, compared to 16 percent of all Americans.
Besides debt, military families are prone to fall victim to scams. Case in point: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) received more than 14,000 complaints from military members about fraud related to credit cards, mortgages and loans between 2011 and 2014. And sadly, the number of such complaints increased an astonishing 148 percent between 2012 and 2013.
So it’s no real surprise that the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) found that 55 percent of the military families it surveyed feel unprepared to deal with a financial emergency. Additionally, they learned that 60 percent have turned to non-traditional lenders — such as payday loans — for temporary help, making them particularly vulnerable to abuse.
Holly Petraeus, assistant director of service-member affairs at CFPB, visited Indianapolis this month to talk about the financial problems military families face, including illegal foreclosures while soldiers are serving overseas and aggressive collection tactics. “You think you have to be strong, so you don’t want to ask for help,” she said.
The NFCC is eager to assist military families struggling with finances too, which is why they’re offering the Sharpen Your Financial Focus program to coincide with Military Consumer Protection Day on July 16.
The program includes a personal financial review for military members, a group workshop on topics such as building wealth, smart spending and buying a home, plus access to an online personal finance tool, MyMoneyCheckUp.
NFCC spokesperson Gail Cunningham said in a press release, “Stressful situations can result in poor choices, with decisions often made out of desperation. To avoid this, servicemembers should take advantage of the opportunity to improve their financial skills, thus putting themselves in a better position to face any unplanned financial circumstance that comes their way.”
MORE: This Nonprofit is Making Sure the Kids of Fallen Heroes Can Go To College
3 Organizations That Assist Veterans Build and Grow Their Startups
It goes without saying that being a member of the armed forces provides you with valuable experience and skills. And as it turns out, it gives you a bit of the entrepreneurial bug, too.
The men and women returning to the U.S. from military service are 45 percent more likely to start a business than those with no military service, according to a Small Business Administration report.
Here, three of the best organizations, according to Task & Purpose, that have mobilized in recent years to assist veterans in the transition from active service to civilians with promising entrepreneurial endeavors.
Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV)
Post-9/11 veterans who have sustained service-connected disabilities can apply to this program to enroll in a hybrid online/in-person entrepreneurship bootcamp — for free. Participants first complete a self-study curriculum online, and from there, they move to a nine-day residency at one of the eight universities that host the EBV program. After the residency, enrolled veterans continue to receive mentorship and advice from EBV’s network of experts.
EBV got its start at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management in 2007, and after a successful first year, seven more schools signed on to host the program on their campuses. Over the life of the program, EBV has seen more than 700 matriculating veterans, whose new business ventures have collectively created 670 new jobs, according to the EBV website.
Techstars Patriot Boot Camp (PBC)
The Patriot Boot Camp is an offshoot of Techstars, a tech-startup accelerator with locations in six U.S. cities and London. Active military, veterans, and their spouses are the groups PBC was designed for.
PBC’s annual three-day workshop calls upon experts from the Techstars network to offer education and mentoring to would-be entrepreneurs at no cost, and on the final day, the program allows attendees to practice their business pitches. PBC received much of its funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
VetCap from VetsInTech
VetCap (short for “capital for veterans”) seeks to provide its members with just that: Connections to investors with the capital necessary to nurture fledgling businesses. The first VetCap event was held this May in San Francisco, with over 70 vets in attendance, according to the program’s website.
The nonprofit’s plan going forward is to roll out workshops across the U.S., not all of which will focus on tech, reports a Forbes article on the new project.
If you or someone you know is a veteran or an active service member with entrepreneurial ambitions, take note. These organizations are devoted to seeing those dreams realized.