Expanding Opportunities for Veterans in National Service 2011 Symposium on Service and Inclusion December 8, 2011

Welcome and Overview• The Corporation for National and Community

Service Veterans and Military Families

Initiative

• Objectives and Strategies

• Increase the number of Veterans including

those with disabilities and their families

2

Workshop Presenters• Paula Sotnik, Project Director, NSIP

• Joanne E Cohen, Organizational Consultant, CTAT at

Denver Options

• Zernial M Bogan, AmeriCorps Alumnus and Veteran;

President, Champaign County Black Chamber of

Commerce

3

Agenda and Objectives• Introduction, purpose, and conceptual frame

work• What’s important to Veterans--Themes• Questions and issues Veterans might have when

approached about National Service and Civic Engagement

• Promising outreach practices, potential products and delivery strategies identified by Veterans that can be used to successfully recruit Veterans with disabilities.

4

Serve America ActThe 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act authorized the Corporation for National and Community Service to establish a Veterans Corps to engage more veterans in service.

CNCS launched the Engaging Veterans with Disabilities Initiative to enhance the capacity of national service programs to successfully recruit, engage and support veterans with disabilities as active service members in structured volunteer experiences.

5

Engaging Veterans with Disabilities and Wounded Warriors in National

and Community Service

6

Conceptual Framework and Project Plan• Background

• Objectives

• Methods

• Target Participants

• Current Status

• www.serviceandinclusion.org/veterans

7

What’s Important to Veterans• Understanding why they joined the military and their emotional response to their military service• Personal goals• Teamwork, emergency response and deployment• Vet to Vet• Respect prior service and leadership skills• Focus on abilities, not disabilities• Recruit in person• Communication

Themes that Resonate with Veterans• Importance of service and diversity

• Desire to transition personally and professionally

• Feelings of patriotism

• Prioritization of benefits

• Search for new opportunities

• Sense of accomplishment

10

11

12

13

“My experience as a volunteer in the AmeriCorps program has given me the will to get out of bed everyday. It has given me the education and the knowledge to understand my disability and it gives me a purpose in life. If you don’t have a purpose in life, it is hard to get out of bed every morning”

-anonymous veteran who served in AmeriCorps

14

Veterans Questions and Issues• How many terms of service may someone

serve?

• May a member serve while still serving in the

Army?

• Where are service opportunities in my area?

• Can someone support a family on an

AmeriCorps living allowance? What are the

other benefits and WIIFM?

• And more…15

AmeriCorps Veteran’s View and Experience• Zernial M Bogan, AmeriCorps Alumnus and

Veteran; President , Champaign County Black

Chamber of Commerce

16

Veteran View and Experience• Vet to Vet

• Marine Ross Schumaker’s Story

17

18

Ross Schumaker, Wildland Firefighter. Engine-682, Columbine Ranger District, San Juan National Forest. Ross was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in November 2009. He served two tours in Iraq (2005, 2008-2009). After being discharged Ross joined the Veterans Fire Corps and AmeriCorps programs in March 2010. He led three different chainsaw crews and was a part of the first veterans program to receive their red cards and go on wildland fire. Ross then started working for the U.S. Forest Service in March 2011 as a wildland firefighter on a type 6 engine where he has helped mitigate numerous fires. Ross was selected to be featured in a (feds hire vets) video put together by the office of personal management because of his dedication to his community and service to his country.

Promising Outreach Practices• What we are using / has been developed

• What has yet to be developed?

• What have you developed that you are using

and is considered successful?

19

20

Interactive Discussion• What are YOU doing?

• What will YOU change in your recruitment strategies based on what we’ve learned in Colorado?

• What do YOU need to get there? (e.g., Products)

21

Q & A

22

Wrap-Up• What final suggestions do you have that would

help us engage veterans with or without a

disability to join AmeriCorps?

• Final Comments…

23

Resources• Engaging Veterans with Disabilities in National Service Initiative

http://www.serviceandinclusion.org/ • CNCS Veterans Corps

http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/serveamerica/veterans.asp• CTAT www.ctat-training.com• Denver Options www.denveroptions.org• Operation TBI Freedom www.operationtbifreedom.org• America’s Heroes at Work www.americasheroesatwork.gov• Invisible Wounds: Serving Service Members and Veterans with PTSD and TBI

http://www.disabilityrightsoregon.org/search?SearchableText=invisible+wounds

• Recovering from Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) A Handbook of Hope for Our Military Warriors and Their Familieswww.braininjuryhopefoundation.org

• National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) www.serviceandinclusion.org/veterans

24

Paula SotnikPaula Sotnik has over twenty-five years of experience working as a director, curriculum developer, trainer, and diversity and disability specialist. She oversees the National Service Inclusion Project, the national T&TA center on accessibility and disability issues funded by CNCS. She also oversees the ICI Community Capacity Building team, which houses federal and state projects designed to support underrepresented communities and individuals to access mainstream services. Ms. Sotnik has served as a lead training consultant and author on culture brokering for the Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange at the University at Buffalo, SUNY. Prior to this project, she developed and coordinated several capacity-building projects with community organizations that examined the experiences of individuals with disabilities from diverse cultures related to person-centered planning and assistive technology. She also developed and directed several federal- and state-funded assistive technology projects for individuals with cognitive disabilities to live more independently in their homes. Paula has served on several consumer advocacy boards, consulted nationally, and conducted presentations and published on topics related to diversity and disability, accommodations, responsive outreach strategies, and developing the capacity of organizations to include individuals with disabilities. Paula has undergraduate degrees in social work and psychology and has taken graduate courses in business and nonprofit management.

25

Joanne E CohenJoanne E Cohen, Organizational Consultant, CTAT, Denver Options, has over thirty years combined experience in coaching, consulting, and facilitation, with twelve years internally directing and managing her teams to focus on successfully supporting strategic and tactical corporate initiatives. She has consulted and coached executives and their teams in the planning and implementation of new strategic directions that are in alignment with the business goals and objectives of their companies. Joanne has kept pace with the current business needs and has provided clients with excellent resources for understanding and managing change. Her expertise domestically and globally spans the telecommunications, hi-tech, manufacturing, service, mining, biomedical, oil and gas, and aerospace industries. Joanne also has non-profit experience and joined CTAT, Denver Options in May, 2010 as an Organizational Consultant and Trainer. Joanne was in a car accident in the Bahamas in 1992 that left her unable to walk. A year later she discovered many of her personal challenges were due to TBI from that accident and two TBI’s from previous rear-end accidents four and ten years prior to the “BIG” one in ’92. She has overcome many obstacles and has exceeded the medical diagnosis, leading to a remarkable and inspirational story and recovery.

26

Rev. Zernial M BoganRev. Zernial M Bogan is a Viet Nam Veteran who served in the United States Air Force (USAF) in the early 70’s and went to St. Joseph’s Military Academy in the early 60’s. He currently is a volunteer member of AmeriCorps, serving at the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, Social Services, No-Limits Program. Zernial is currently enrolled at Ashford University studying to obtain his Master’s Degree in Human Resources, Organizational Management, with a specialty in Heath Care Administration and is a member of the Human Services Council in Champaign, Illinois. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from Ashford University, Clinton, Iowa in Human Resources, Organizational Management. Zernial is President of the Champaign County Black Chamber of Commerce since 2005. He is the Director of the computer lab at Salem Baptist Church, Champaign, Illinois, a Pastor of a Prison Ministry in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and became a licensed Minister in the 90’s, ordained in January of 2006.

27

Stacey Hersch

28

Stacey Hersh…….