honor, dignity & mobility
DESCRIPTION
The Warm Springs Initiative aims to create a combined physical and vocational rehabilitation center for wounded veterans and civilians on the site of the “Little White House” used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The initiative is a partnership between the Georgia Warrior Alliance, the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute, Callaway Gardens, and several institutions of higher education, as well as some major corporations. The rehabilitation side aims to become a national facility for treatment of, and recovery from, serious neurological disorders. The vocational aspects will complement this recovery by offering practical instruction and work activities in a variety of fields including construction, landscaping, farming, and information technology. Another avenue for veterans to return to work is through an entrepreneurship program, supporting the incubation of veteran owned businesses. As the vocational side matures and expands into newareas, the campuses will grow to form a one shop stop, constituting one of the nation's first care-to-work programs. The campuses will be within driving distance of the Atlanta metro area and Warm Springs in particular is also conveniently located near Macon, Columbus, and Fort Benning. The centrality of this location allows it to service the needs for all 3 cities (where the majority of Georgia’s 75,000 homeless live), while also using military transportation to conveniently bring patients from all over the country. Funding will come from a variety of sources, including in-kind contributions from partner organizations, as well as cash donations from individual philanthropists. Finally, the project will leverage a four to one match from the Federal government for vocational programs for persons with disabilities.TRANSCRIPT
Honor, Dignity and Mobility
“It’s the economy stupid”(And your most important assets are your mind & connections)
• The emergent ‘knowledge economy’ is feeding into a related ‘knowledge-based economy’
• Knowledge-based occupations will require less direct physical labor, and more facility with software, understanding data, and team communications
• Veterans have already been exposed to the information-centric, high intensity, skills-based team occupations. Further, they have a strong brand identity that can be leveraged
Innovations, Invention, and Impact
• Advanced Manufacturing Local Examples Include: 1. CAMotion @ Atlanta, GA 2. Kia Manufacturing Plant @ West
Point, GA 3. Amendia @ Atlanta, GA • Renewable Energy Deploying and utilizing alternative energy sources requires a
variegated skill-set and labor pool, including developers, installers, manufactures, consultants etc.
Challenges
• Wounded warriors, like most veterans returning from the wars, are disconnected from the domestic labor economy
• Veterans with disabilities need a safe space to decompress, heal, and renew
• Veterans requiring long-term rehabilitation and care, must have access to both a wide-range of professional services and health expertise, as well as their family & friendship networks
Labor life cycle of the “typical” employee
Benefits to the firm
Training can shift the peek right-ward
Where can we add value?
*from Rauner, MacLean (2008)
Warm Springs, Callaway, and Ike’s VA – A Vision
• Integrated approach to healing. Combining a living-learning community, traditional medical facilities, and a network of biomedical and hospital technologist
• Historical legacies of two transformational leaders, President Roosevelt & Eisenhower
• Using innovative new learning technologies, including openCourseware, Self-directed computerized courses, and distance learning, to provide personalized training material
The current competitive landscape
• FY2013 VA budget is estimated at 140.3 billion (a 6% YOY increase)
• FY2013 VA budget for vocational rehabilitation at 1.59 billion (a 10% YOY increase)
• Vocational rehabilitation programs targeting a population of approx. 130,000 veterans
• Afghan & Iraq war veteran unemployment rate: 9.1%, 33% for 18-24 age-cohort
First of it’s kind?
• Dan Marino vocational program for teens with autism. First class 2014
• Ohio Recovery-to-Work project. Started in 2011, focuses on individuals with alcohol and drug addictions
• The team could not identify any other programs that incorporated both a physical rehabilitation and dedicated vocational component
Factors that lead to successful rehabilitation program
*taken from Hayward, Schmidt-Davis (2005)
Summary
• Project currently has $500,000 and wants to utilize federal 4:1 match. Final projected capital goal is $5,000,000
• Great opportunity exist to utilize new learning-technologies for vocational training
• One of the first fully integrated healing-to-work communities in the nation dedicated to veterans
Citations
• Hayward, Schmidt-Davis (2005)• Rauner, MacLean (2008)• Clark, Huang, Walsh (2009)
