Mission: Family: ‘Blueprint’ coordinates aid for vets, troops and families - Army Spouse and Family Resources - Army Times

Mission: Family: ‘Blueprint’ coordinates aid for vets, troops and families

A Community Blueprint may be coming to your local area.

What’s that? Ideally, it will provide a framework through which local communities will coordinate services between government, nonprofit and other organizations to improve the lives of veterans, active-duty members, National Guard and reserve personnel, and their families.

The effort will span eight areas: behavioral health, education, employment, family strength, financial and legal problems, homelessness, reintegration and volunteerism.

The nationwide effort involving a number of nonprofit groups is expected to launch in September, but pilot programs have launched in Fayetteville, N.C., and Norfolk, Va. — large military towns that already do a lot for military families.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation has donated $2 million to the nonprofit Give an Hour, helping implement the Community Blueprint framework and fill any gaps in services, picking up lessons that will be helpful for other communities, said Give an Hour president Barbara Van Dahlen.

The Walmart Foundation is giving $144,000 in grants to 16 local organizations in Fayetteville and Norfolk to improve their services for the military community.

Chapters of the Military Officers Association of America in Huntsville and Tyler, Texas, and Valdosta, Ga., have helped launch efforts in their communities. Other community leaders — mayors, faith leaders and others — can request the materials at any time.

Van Dahlen says this effort will dovetail nicely with the Joining Forces initiative launched by first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden. They are encouraging individuals, organizations and businesses to support and show their appreciation for military families.

The blueprint is all about providing suggestions on how to do that. It might mean giving training to civilian mental health professionals on issues affecting military families. And the community might hold job fairs for service members and families.

But how do you decide what your military community needs?

The blueprint has suggestions on seeking input from veterans, troops and families. For example, in areas lacking bases or veterans facilities, connections could be made through Red Cross chapters or veterans service groups.

Don’t wait for them to find you. If you hear your local community is launching an effort to help military families — whatever they may call it — get your pals together and give community leaders some ideas of how to best to go about it.

A big part of this effort will be connecting people who want to volunteer with opportunities to do so.

“Our hope is, we keep connecting the dots,” Van Dahlen said.

Help connect the dots in your community.