Community leaders who assist military families gathered at Fayetteville Technical Community College for a town hall event entitled A Community Conversation: Supporting Our Military, Veterans, and Their Families to discuss issues affecting servicemembers, veterans, and their families living in Fayetteville and the surrounding area. The event celebrated two years of collaborative efforts by partners from private corporations, local government, churches, and other nonprofit groups. Panelists shared success stories and identified areas for improvement, noting that there was a need to […]
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Established in January 2013, the Veterans Writing Collective at Methodist University provides veterans a safe and supportive forum to express themselves and share their experiences in writing. The group is focused on the mechanics of writing; however, many members describe their participation as therapeutic. Membership is free to all active duty and retired military personnel, as well as their families. A similar group has been started at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Information on the UNC Pembroke program […]
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Since opening in June 2013, the North Carolina National Guard’s Employment and Education Center (EEC) has successfully assisted nearly 200 soldiers, airmen, and eligible North Carolina Guard dependents find work. The EEC teaches Guard and their families how to get the most out of their education benefits and connects them to potential employers. The Center links employers and servicemembers, offers workshops on building resumes, and provides interviewing skills. Services are open to all North Carolina National Guard members and qualified […]
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In the recent CBS 60 Minutes segment, The War Within: Treating PTSD, therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are featured. These therapies aim to help the nearly one in five veterans who suffer from PTSD. Clips from the program include the personal experiences of veterans who share their stories about the effects PTSD has had on their lives, and how participating in therapy has helped them. To access this story, click here.
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The fourth annual Forward March Conference held in Fayetteville on November 14-15 educated participants about the challenges military families face through the deployment cycle and how communities can come together to support the needs of these families. Over 250 attendees representing 85 agencies, 16 North Carolina Counties, and 5 U.S. states listened as speakers and panels shared information, resources, personal experiences, and research about military families. More than two dozen breakout sessions offered trainings to professionals on topics including early […]
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Wake Technical Community College has been awarded a grant to develop a retraining program that focuses on older veterans and female veterans, two populations experiencing higher than average unemployment. The program, which expects to begin next year, has a goal to match the skills of veterans with certification programs to see if they can aid the veteran through the educational process quickly. Wake Tech has seen a surge in student veterans on their campuses in the past four years, with […]
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Veterans who get in trouble with the law in Harnett County now have a special Veterans Treatment Court that will take into account their military backgrounds and unique problems. The Harnett County veterans court is the first of its kind in the state. It will operate similar to drug treatment courts and sobriety courts established in some counties. Those courts defer punishments, such as jail time, for misdemeanors so long as the defendants comply with programs to treat their underlying […]
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Marine Jason Bunce of Jacksonville shares his personal experience transitioning from being on active duty status to becoming veteran. Bunce, a medically retired Marine staff sergeant who served six combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last eleven years, acknowledges that the transition can be challenging, noting that it takes time to adjust to the slower, less regimented pace of civilian life. Grant Beck, commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in Jacksonville reinforces this sentiment stating, […]
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Two Marine Medal of Honor recipients visited Camp Lejeune to advocate for mental health treatment. Retired Maj. Gen. James E. Livingston and retired Col. Barney Barnum, both living Medal of Honor recipients, spent Tuesday and Wednesday touring Camp Lejeune and talking to Marines and sailors about combat stress and post-traumatic stress disorder. During an evening dinner, the two took time to encourage spouses, as well as their husbands, to seek treatment if they need it. Both the general and colonel […]
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The W.G. (Bill) Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury opened a new transitional living residence for veterans on the Brenner Avenue Campus. The residence will serve as a stable living environment for veterans who are in need of dual work and mental therapy. Veterans enrolled in the program will spend six to eight months in the house learning budgeting skills, how to grocery shop, and how to prepare their own meals. The program is structured to transition veterans from an […]
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