US VET CORPS RESOURCES

US Vet Corps Resources dba Tri-County Veterans Support Network is a 501(c)3 Nonprofit Charity committed to effective advocacy and holistic service to our veterans and families. We are focused on innovative and proactive outreach methods, to find veterans and families in crisis and help them to find stability in a collaborative effort with veteran service agencies throughout the community. Our veterans are the very bedrock of our culture, and as a grateful community it is incumbent upon us to work together to ensure that after heeding the call and making sacrifices in defense of our nation, they are able to regain their lives and cope with the stresses of the many challenges of reintegration into society.

Alarming current statistics on their challenges reveal the following:

Ø We lose 22 warriors a day…1 EVERY 80 minutes to suicide!

Ø More veterans have committed suicide than killed in action in our two most recent major conflicts!

Ø 40% of those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are dealing with PTSD and / or TBI

Ø 800,000 to 1 million unemployed veterans at present.

Ø 12 million underemployed veterans, forced to work multiple part-time jobs in order to make ends meet.

Ø Even more shocking is that on any given night there are over 100,000 homeless veterans.

Ø An alarming increase in female homeless veterans has recently been reported to include single moms.

There are many difficulties our veterans face in their transition home. A major challenge is overcoming the loss of identity and direction upon exiting the military and many are ill prepared for reintegration into their community upon their return. In a word, stability is our objective but it will come in many different forms given the wide array of difficulties veterans and their families face. Exiting the military triggers an extremely stressful and life changing pivotal moment of introspective evaluation and reinvention to find a sense of value and life purpose. How they resolve this can have a tremendous impact on their future. Many are left deficient in coping with their difficulties and as they deal with the traumas of war, this added stress compounds their problems which can be extremely daunting and leave them feeling completely overwhelmed and without hope, creating any number of reactions from depression and isolation to rage or suicide.

The Tri-County Veterans Support Network serves as a collaborative community “clearing house” or liaison to comprehensive supportive services for our veterans. We are the crossroads where a grateful community and our veterans meet. We serve them by proactively finding them in the community and working with other agencies within our network to assess the veteran and families needs, help them to come up with an action plan, give them practical tools to implement their plan and plug them in to the appropriate local, state and national resources to make their plan a reality.

We accomplish this through coordinating a collaborative multidisciplinary community response with a network of over 60 veteran service agencies throughout the community, offering services to our veterans focused in five main areas: health and wellness; basic needs assistance; education and vocational training; and employment and business development. Our ultimate goal is to have a replicable model for both metropolitan and rural areas, to give comprehensive support to our veterans that can be transplanted into communities across the country.

Our curriculum utilizes a powerful assessment tool which reveals an individual’s innate passions, strengths and natural gifts that when applied result in an action plan for their life and a comprehensive support network to help them realize their plan. Using the old adage of teaching a man to fish rather than giving him fish and he can fish for the rest of his life, our aim is to empower and equip veterans to achieve their new goals.

After laying their lives on the line in defense of our freedom our veterans have not only earned our respect but also our thanks. To the Tri-County Veterans Support Network, thanks is more than just words - it is dedication to serving our veterans with excellence in their time of need, just as they served our country. We will accomplish this because the American people are proven to be a kind and generous people and are grateful for those who have willingly put their lives on the line for our cherished liberties. We work creatively to see that every veteran who desires help and seeks it receives it. Our goal is their stability and in time, as our veterans find restoration, hope and a sense of purpose for their lives and take up roles of leadership in their communities, we will see greater stability and restoration of the foundations of our communities. It is vital to have the resources of the business community to accomplish this. Your critical financial support will be life changing and will make the difference in turning the tide in this national battle for the lives of our veterans and their families in dire crisis. Our veterans deserve no less.