Friday, November 18, 2016

Veteran Resources


If you're here from my Facebook post, I'm glad you clicked over. For the rest of you, there was a period of time where people were posting videos of themselves doing 22 push-ups on Facebook to raise awareness of the fact that every day 22 veterans commit suicide. Since I would probably need medical intervention after 10 push ups, and some people I tag to do push-ups might never speak to me again, I've decided to do something different. Every day, I posted one thing people could do to help veterans or veteran organizations either through volunteer efforts and/or financial donations. I decided to post the full list here.

(disclaimer: I have tried to find organizations that do honest and honorable work but investigate for yourself! Before you give, you can check the charities out here: https://www.charitynavigator.org/ OR http://www.give.org/ OR https://www.charitywatch.org/.../a-donor-39-s-guide.../150)

Know the signs and know what to do: this site can help you discern what is a signal and what isn't.
http://www.save.org/…/warning-signs-risk-factors-protectiv…/

If you see something, act!
To contact the VA’s Crisis Line: Call 1-800-273-8255 and push “1” for Veteran services. Veterans Chat can be accessed at www.VeteransCrisisLine.net. Veterans Text is available at 838255.
OR
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Day 2: Homelessness.
Nationally, you can click here: http://nationalhomeless.org/
Or here: http://www.endhomelessness.org/
In Lil' Rhody, you can volunteer or donate here: http://www.providencerescuemission.org/
Or here: http://www.crossroadsri.org/

Day 3: Addiction.
Read about it here: https://www.drugabuse.gov/…/dru…/substance-abuse-in-military
Get help here:
US Dept. of Veteran Affairs Substance Abuse Program Locator (http://www.va.gov/directory/guide/SUD.asp)
Alcoholics Anonymous (http://www.aa.org/)
Narcotics Anonymous (https://www.na.org/)
Gamblers Anonymous (http://www.gamblersanonymous.org/ga/)
pornography (https://www.xxxchurch.com/)
Celebrate Recovery (http://www.celebraterecovery.com/)
https://providencecenter.org/

Day 4: Visit a retirement home. Call your local nursing home and find out. Sometimes there are Scout troops or homeschooling groups that already make regular visits. Maybe you could tag along with them and brighten someone's day

Day 5: Everyone has a story.
Do you have a veteran in your family? Get their story. You can even record it for the generations to come via http://www.loc.gov/vets/ OR https://storycorps.org/
You can find photos of services records on Ancestry.com.

Day 6: Housing. Click here to learn more: http://buildinghomesforheroes.org/ about OR
https://www.hfotusa.org/ (this one was started close to home in Taunton, MA)
Also - some vets might not qualify for the above programs or maybe just need some help with a project on their house. Lend a hand!

Day 7: Transportation. Volunteer to drive here: https://www.dav.org/

Day 8: Service Animals. Find out more here:http://www.puppiesbehindbars.com/sponsor-a-puppy


Day 10: Education/GI Bill. Read about it here:
And help out here:

Day 11: Advocate! Find out who your congressmen and senators are here:

Day 12: Female Veterans.

Day 13: Veterans of Color. http://www.veteransofcolor.org/


Day 15: Happy Veterans Day! First of all, let's make sure make sure we're honoring the right people here. Memorial Day is for those who have died in service of this country. Veterans Day is for honoring those who have served and are still serving. Picky detail you say? Ask a veteran, I say. Veterans Day was originally celebrated as Armistice Day, the day World War I 'officially' ended in 1918. The treaty was signed at 5:00 AM and a cease-fire was to take place at 11:00AM on November 11th. Tragically, knowing that they had until 11:00 AM to continue hostilities, "Eleven thousand casualties suffered–more than during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. Why? Allied commanders wanted to punish the enemy to the very last moment and career officers saw a fast-fading chance for glory and promotion."
~ "Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918, World War I and Its Violent Climax." by Joseph Persico.

Day 16: Support the caregivers of our wounded warriors. https://hiddenheroes.org/

Day 17: Home away from home. Fisher House (https://www.fisherhouse.org/) or here: http://homebase.org/

Day 18: Prosthetics. This foundation helps out in all those areas: http://givenlimb.org/



Day 21: VA Hospital Volunteer. You can call your local VA hospital or go here: http://www.dav.org/help-dav/volunteer/volunteer-locally-help-the-va/

Day 22: Wrap Up. I strongly recommend this book as a starting point: "Tribe" by Sebastian Junger.
Still can't decide what to do? Just donate here: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/ or here: http://homebase.org/ or here: http://www.vettix.org/




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