This Veteran Helps Fellow Soldiers Tap into Their Artistic Sides

It’s an understatement to say that Army veteran BR McDonald is multi-talented.
McDonald always dreamed of becoming a musician or an actor, but after the terror attacks on September 11, he decided to enlist in the military.
Growing up, McDonald’s parents were missionaries in Taiwan, so he was fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Perhaps because of this, the Army assigned McDonald (who graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2001 with degrees in vocal performance and religious studies) the task of learning Arabic. Graduating from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., at the top of his class, McDonald served as a linguist with the Joint Special Operations Command.
McDonald tells the Christian Science Monitor, “There are a lot of people in the intelligence community with a creative background. It’s the same side of the brain. Music is just another language. So when I heard something I could repeat it.”
In 2008, he felt a call to reengage with the art world and was determined to bring fellow vets along with him. So the following year, he founded the Veteran Artist Program (VAP). Its goal? To support veterans who wanted to start careers in the arts.
VAP sponsors events such as art shows, theater productions and writing workshops across the country. It also teaches veterans how to make a living as artists by connecting them to mentors, opportunities and grants. For example, in 2011 through Operation: Oliver, volunteers with VAP and other organizations cleared almost 60 tons of garbage from a low-income neighborhood in Baltimore and painted a bright, kid-friendly mural.
“A lot of people only see art as a means of therapy for veterans. That’s not what VAP is about, although we do work with art as healing,” McDonald says. “People have to understand that these are artists who happen to be veterans. The two are not mutually exclusive.”
MORE: Meet the Photographer Who Captures Veterans’ Emotions About Returning to the Civilian World

This Nonprofit Eases the Transition to Civilian Life for Vets

With all the magazines and television shows devoted to makeovers, it seems like physical transformation must be one of America’s favorite topics. Now, one non-profit is bringing the ever-popular makeover concept to some people who deserve it the most: U.S. Veterans.
The Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation works with low- and middle-income families in Brooklyn, New York, providing them with a variety of services including affordable housing, foreclosure prevention, energy-saving weatherization, job-search assistance, college preparation, and art classes. One of their newest efforts is a veterans outreach program that provides makeovers and new wardrobes to former service members in an effort to help them make a successful transition to civilian life. So far they’ve served 170 veterans, with plans to help hundreds more this year.
Two participants in this program are veteran Peter Payne and his wife Ida, a married couple of 16 years. In this video, Ida explains, “In 2005 [Peter] had a major seizure and his memory was wiped away. I had to teach him how to do everything all over again.” She said the effort she put into helping him learn to bathe and recognize her and their son was worth it because, “He’s such a wonderful person, a husband like all women would love to have.”
Veteran Cedric Smith works for the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation in its veteran outreach programs. After his time in the Army, Smith himself experienced homelessness and unemployment. “I want to let him [Peter] know that he’s not alone, that there’s millions of us who have our addictions, who have our traumatizing experiences, and that if we don’t have each other like we would if we was on the front line, we are the walking dead,” Smith says.
Smith helped the Paynes connect with Saxon/Hart, a company that works with beauty and clothing professionals to donate their services to needy people. They outfitted Cedric in a new suit, and gave Ida the beauty treatment and makeup session that this family that served America so richly deserved.
MORE: How One Woman Helps Veterans Dress for that Oh-So-Important Interview