The Veterans & Family Support Program is comprehensive Program. At its heart is a strong emphasis on assisting veterans, service members and their families and promoting veteran and military suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
Unmet Needs (National Military Service and National Veteran Services) The VFW Auxiliary has many options in our scouting report to provide support to our veterans and their families. National Veteran Services provide service officers both pre and post discharge. Veteran Service Officers are crucial in making sure veterans receive their earned benefits and entitlements. Think of them as the trainers, preparing veterans to manage and adapt to civilian life. National Military Services aids those currently serving. These are more like the coaches looking over the playbook to find the right call for the situation. National Military Service programs include the VFW’s Military Appreciation Program (MAP), Adopt-a-Unit, care packages, VFW Financial Assistance, "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” and the Student Veteran Support Grants. Financial assistance is needed, as no one heals mentally or physically when they are on fourth down, with no time outs, less than two minutes in the fourth quarter and out of range of a field goal. We also need to be familiar with available skilled military suicide prevention and mental health awareness initiatives.
The Auxiliary’s Veterans & Family Support Program is more than fundraising for VFW programs. It is also a call to action for our veterans and military families within our communities. We encourage continued support of those programs financially and with service. We also challenge you to find ways to be more supportive of mental health and suicide prevention strategies in your Auxiliary and in your community for veterans and their families. In other words, do not just be the cheerleader; be the super fan, the band, the announcer, the security, the janitor or whatever it takes to get the veteran and/or family member the resources they need when they need it.
Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Awareness Aren’t we all a "veteran of a veteran” in some way? We joined not just to honor our veterans, not just to take care of and advocate for our veterans, but also to find a community of support for family members like us. The Post is a safe place for the veteran. The Auxiliary should be a safe space for their families. Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) and mental health awareness will be our focus this year. Our focus is on promotion of the resources we have to help those struggling and to educate the public on them as well. Be their "Hail Mary” pass with fractions of a second left on the clock. The play you call could be holding a veteran/military resource fair, asking a qualified speaker to address your meeting about suicide prevention, PTS and Secondary PTS or promoting the 988 (then press 1) Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline.
