The recession has taken a huge toll on the U.S. job market – and some of those feeling the effects are soldiers who are returning to civilian life after fighting for their country.
Many private companies, like the San-Diego-based Reboot, have cropped up to offer Veterans assistance getting back into the work pool.
“When you join the military, you are by-gosh programmed to be successful in the military. And the military is very proud of its training,” Reboot co-founder and retired Rear Adm. Ronne Froman told a local newspaper. “But when you leave the military, nobody ever reprograms you to be successful in the civilian world.”
The Department of Defense, in a partnership with the departments of Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Labor, does offer soon-to-be-discharged service members courses about reintroduction to civilian life through the Transition Assistance Program. But because the course is optional, not every soldier takes advantage of it.
While Reboot offers participants practical advice on how to conduct job searches and what to do during a job interview, it also helps Veterans identify what their interests are and how they can parlay that into a job.
“We see the high unemployment rate, the suicide rate, the homelessness rate,” Froman said. “Whether it’s the VA, Department of Labor or Defense, we’ve got a broken system.”
While private companies are able to offer Veterans immediate assistance, proposed legislation dealing with the Veteran jobless rate seems to be stalled in Washington.
President Barack Obama’s American Jobs Act, which includes tax credits to encourage businesses to hire Veterans, was declared “dead on arrival” in the House of Representatives by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).
While the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act is expected to be taken up on the House floor later this month, the Hiring Heroes Act of 2011 has stalled in the Senate.
During the Ride 2 Recovery Golden State Challenge will finish at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles on Saturday.: Photo by Flickr user Larry Myhre.
Two hundred cyclists set out on a bicycle ride Sunday from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The cyclists are injured American Veterans and their supporters.
More than 100 Veterans from California are participating in the 7-day event, which is sponsored by United Healthcare. They are expected to arrive on the Santa Monica Pier on Oct. 8.
The Ride 2 Recovery Golden State Challenge helps support health programs for Veterans. United Healthcare believes that exercise and rehabilitation services are critically important to help injured Veterans enjoy to the health and well-being that they enjoyed before being injured.
Anyone is able to participate in the event. Many of the donated bikes are adapted so that disabled Veterans can participate and find a physical and mental outlet. Cycling can be a therapeutic exercise which can be practiced for the rest of their lives. The Veterans who participate are allowed to keep the bikes so they can continue cycling after the ride.
Today a joint initiative between the The Home Depot Foundation and Habitat for Humanity was announced to provide funding to remodel and renovate homes owned by Veterans. The program is called Repair Corps and is expected to provide volunteer assistance from both organizations, as well as $1.5 million in funding for the project.
The two organizations hope to assist nearly 100 Veterans and their families through the program.
“We are committed to ensuring that every Veteran has a safe place to call home,” Home Depot Foundation President Kelly Caffarelli said in a statement. “Habitat for Humanity has its finger on the pulse of the needs of homeowners in communities nationwide, and we know that through our joint Repair Corps program, we’ll be able to identify and help Veterans whose homes are in critical need of repair.”
The program will be similar to the system Habitat for Humanity uses for the new homes it builds – the participating Veteran will repay a zero-interest home loan. That money will then go into a fund that will be used to assist other families.
Some of the programs that will be receiving assistance from the joint venture include Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles’ “Homes for Heroes” program and Habitat for Humanity Houston’s “Home Assistance Program for Veterans.”
Repair Corps is part of The Home Depot Foundation’s “Celebration of Service,” which seeks to honor the service of the nation’s Veterans.
Governor Jerry Brown of California announced Tuesday morning that he was ordering an inter-departmental council on Veterans services.
The council is supposed to address the needs of the 30,000 service members who return to California each year and will bring new focus and efficiency to provide needed services to California’s Veterans.
Brown’s executive order directs the Veterans Affairs Secretary to establish the council to identify and prioritize the needs of California’s Veterans, and to coordinate the activities at all levels of government in addressing those needs. The members will be appointed from both chambers of the state house, major agency secretaries and their department heads, as well as the state’s chief justice and college leaders.
To read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/08/23/2508729/capitol-alert-jerry-brown-orders.html
