National Veterans Foundation

 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (June 20, 2008) - On June 24, 2008, the National Veterans Foundation will host a benefit screening of Edward Nachtrieb’s documentary “All the Way Home” at 7:30 pm the new CAA screening room in Los Angeles. The screening will be followed by a brief Q & A session with Filmmaker Edward Nachtrieb and the President and Founder of the National Veterans Foundation (NVF), Shad Meshad. A cocktail reception will follow.

Sacramento News & Review (3/13/08, Munger) did a follow-up report on Kyle Williams, the two tour Iraq veteran, and president of the Sierra College Veterans Club. Williams helped to organize "The Road Home: From College to Combat and Beyond" which took place at Sierra College in Rocklin CA on Spetember 28, 2007. NVF founder Shad Meshad was a featured speaker at the seminar as well as Patrick Campbell, the legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. Williams is now a student at UC Davis, however his transition from the 2 year Sierra College was not an easy one.

"As the experience of Vietnam veterans amply demonstrates, these folks don’t get as much assistance as we might expect a grateful nation would provide. Oh, the services are there—mostly—but vets have to find them. Then they have to jump through the right hoops to make sure that they get all the help they qualify for—and that they don’t get slapped with a bill for it."

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Dear Friends:

Today, as our nation honors all who have worn the proud uniform of our armed forces, the NVF’s toll-free “Lifeline” call center is being inundated with a growing number of requests for support and assistance---more than 200 per week, and increasingly, from those returning from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

The NVF is poised to meet this rising wave of need, but to do that, we need your help to reach our $25,000 Veterans Day Fundraising goal.

CLICK HERE TO CONTRIBUTE!

As many of you know, this past July, we launched an needed expansion of our toll-free “Lifeline”---the only non-profit service of its kind for all veterans and their families. We’ve expanded our hours to seven days a week, more than doubled our staff of trained veteran operators, re-designed our interactive website, and launched a national outreach program that is getting our Lifeline number (888-777-4443) in the hands of more veterans and families than ever before---by web, radio, tv, on the street, and everywhere inbetween.

Coverage by the Sacramento News and Review of “The Road Home: From Combat to College and Beyond.” at Sierra College:

It looked like any impromptu party, but the group gathered in the Rocklin Park Hotel lounge recently wasn’t there to drink. They were getting acquainted between press interviews.

Shad Meshad, a Vietnam veteran and the president of the National Veterans Foundation, and Patrick Campbell, the legislative director for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, had come to town to speak at a Sierra College Veterans-sponsored forum, “The Road Home: From Combat to College and Beyond.”

They were joined by two people from Sierra College who have made that journey. Student Kyle Williams did two tours as a Marine in Iraq before a wound sent him back to civilian life. Catherine J. Morris, a Sierra College veterans counselor, served in three branches of the military.

The conversation varied from rowdy to serious, heart-wrenching to hilarious. What they all agreed on, though, is that the U.S. government needs to pay more attention to its returning veterans.

 

Los Angeles: Two decades ago, the National Veterans Foundation (NVF) launched what has become one of the most indispensable resources for veterans and families grappling with the lasting scars of war---a national toll-free helpline (888-777-4443, M-F, 9a.m.-9p.m.) staffed entirely by fellow veterans, trained to listen, counsel and guide those in need to whatever services they require, no matter where or when they are needed.

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Tahoe Daily Tribune
Jeff Munson - jmunson@tahoedailytribune.com

Two of America’s leading authorities on the Iraq War and veterans readjustment issues will visit the West Slope tomorrow to keynote an all-day event spotlighting area Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans making the often difficult transition back to civilian life.

“The Road Home…From Combat to College and Beyond,” will take place on the campus of Sierra College in Rocklin, where more than 350 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are already enrolled — with that number expected to grow by more than 20 percent in the next year.

According to the Lake Tahoe Community College admissions office there are 14 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans enrolled this semester, and it is expected to climb by next year. Nationally, colleges are now being told to prepare for a 20 percent increase in the enrollment of recent military combat veterans.

Loryll Nicolaisen of the Auburn Journal covered the Veteran's Forum at Sierra College, and provided a focus on the experiences of Veterans returning from Iraq, and their problems and successes while tranistioning into college. From the article:

Christa Hall, who sat on the student panel Friday, only recently got involved with the Sierra College Veterans Club, but said it has helped her a great deal.

"I just got out of the desert in July. I didn't want to deal with other military people," she said Friday. "It helps tremendously to be around other people who have the same experience."

Read the entire story.

Catherine Morris, Veteran Counselor at Sierra College in Rocklin, California, was interviewed on Friday, September 28th by KCBS-AM in San Francisco. Ms. Morris organized the Veterans Conference held that day at Sierra College. You can listen to the interview here.

Bruce Maiman of KFBK-AM Sacramento hosted NVF President Shad Meshad on his radio show. They conducted a wide ranging discussion of Veterans' & Active Duty Service Members' issues. Podcasts of the two hour show are available here:

Hour 1 Hour 2