Veterans Employment Committee Meeting

November 20, 2013: 10:00 AM
Brunswick Location TBD

Meeting Minutes from SWIB Veterans Employment Committee Brunswick Landing, Building #27, Resource Room 20 November 2013, 10am ? 12:30pm

Member Attendees: Steve Wallace, SWIB VEC Chair & Executive Director, Southern Midcoast COC, Fred Webber, SWIB Chair, Dennis Wellman, ESGR Director, Bob Traill, Bonney Staffing, David Stearns, Dale Carnegie, Bob Carr, Director, Technical Innovations LLC., Debbie Kelly, Maine Director, VETS, Nathaniel Grace, Community Liaison, MMCN, Larry Duquette, Employment and Training Coordinator, Veterans Inc.

Guests & Interested Party Attendees: Joy Johnson & Bonnie-Kate Allen, Embrace A Vet, Col Andrew Gibson, MMCN, ME ARNG, Peaches Bass, Labor Program Specialist, SWIB

Staff: Auta Main, MDOL BES Veterans Program Manager

Agenda and Discussion Topics:

Chair ? Steve Wallace: Welcome and Opening Remarks • Steve opened the meeting with round the room introductions and shared his own vision of tying the wonderful diversity of programs available to Veterans together - a task that MMCN has also taken on in the past couple of years.
◦ Pulling resources together for the broad reach of our diversity of veterans has long been a challenge. Steve?s hope is that together we can improve access for service members, veterans and their families, as well as employers. Chair ? Steve Wallace: Approval of Meeting Notes from September 17, 2013. • No outstanding discussion simply a motion (seconded) to accept and pass as written • Voted and passed as written

SWIB Chair ? Fred Webber: Announced that Steve Wallace received the Chamber Executive of the Year Award from the Maine State Chamber of Commerce. Copies of the award write-up were distributed. Congratulations to our fearless leader, Steve Wallace!

SWIB Chair ? Fred Webber & SWIB VEC Chair Steve Wallace: Introduced Guest Speakers, Joy Johnson and Bonnie-Kate Allen from Embrace A Vet. Joy shared her story. ◦ First she applauded the efforts of everyone in the room - amazing organizations serving veterans. Great news is that everyone wants to help Maine?s veterans! ◦ Her personal story. Joy is a social worker by trade. She met and married Greg Johnson while they were both students at the University of Maine Orono. He was soon drafted and together they began a 36 year Naval journey. Greg eventually became an Admiral/4 Star General before retiring in the late 1990s, when they made the decision to return to Maine.
◦ Upon their return, Joy kept hearing the statistics on the increasing # of suicides for military veterans, 22 reported suicides per day ? a number that crept into the recesses of her mind, a number that haunted her ? a statistic she wanted desperately to change. ◦ As fate would have it, Joy was soon introduced to Dr. Frederick Shotz, a Naturopathic physician, who was having tremendous success utilizing the EFT therapy (Emotional Freedom Technique) ? that includes a tapping process and tapping points on the body. Through this connection, she met his wife, Bonnie-Kate, who later became a partner in growth and implementation of the Embrace A Vet vision. ◦ Embrace A Vet was founded in 2002 and became a 501c3 in 2013. ▪ The organization coordinates and implements free healing and wellness retreats for veterans in Maine who have been diagnosed with PTS (D) or TBI. ▪ To participate, the veteran must be accompanied to the retreat by a significant person in their life (a spouse, partner, or other family member or friend) ▪ Typically six couples are invited to a retreat, which lasts 1 week or less in length. ▪ During the retreat, educational sessions are provided by Dr. Shotz and Bonnie-Kate ▪ One on one sessions are conducted for the veteran and his/her significant other (family or friend) ▪ One of the goals is to help the veteran realize that the PTS and/or TBI are not mental illnesses. These are physiological responses / fight or flight to the trauma the veteran has endured. There are a number of alternatives for moving beyond the PTS. EFT is a process that has proven to help. ▪ The retreat also introduces the veteran and their family/friend to a broad range of other healing modalities to include: yoga, reike, massage, nordic walking, Native American healing, art therapy and acupuncture to name a few. ▪ The retreats are held in different places ? most recently at a lodge in Grand Lake Stream, Maine ▪ A PCL-M / PTS(D) assessment tool is used to evaluate the success of the program and is administered 3 times (before, during and after the retreat). In every case to date, levels of PTS have diminished significantly following EFT treatment and retreat activities. ▪ Embrace A Vet also offers special program through the Equine Therapy Center in Windham, as well as administering a PAWS for PEACE program where shelter (companion) dogs are placed with veterans. ▪ In February 2014, Embrace A Vet is planning to offer its first EFT training for professionals who work with veterans to expand the use of this amazing tool/therapy. ▪ Funding for Embrace A Vet comes from a diversity of sources, including an annual barn party that features very moving stories/testimonials from veterans and family members who have participated in the workshops and the EFT process. Products are also sold on the website to raise funds.
▪ The VA has been interested in learning about the success of the EFT process for veterans with PTS and TBI, but until scientifically validated studies have proven its success, they are reluctant to jump on the EFT bandwagon. There are, however, several VA therapists who are experimenting with the process for veterans, as well. To Dos:
- SWIB VEC committee members will get the word out about Embrace A Vet to the veterans they work with. - Embrace A Vet will keep in touch with Auta Main and Fred Webber with dates for the February EFT training and upcoming retreats. Auta will circulate info to SWIB VEC members. SWIB VEC Chair Steve Wallace: Introduced SWIB VEC Vision, Mission and Goals Discussion ◦ Review of the new SWIB VEC Vision, Mission and Goals (see below) with committee members and guests ◦ The new vision takes a 3 pronged approach, addressing the needs of employers, service members, veterans and their families. Military spouses often have to put their own careers on hold due to military travel. Goal is to keep opportunities for career advancement on the radar for service members, veterans, spouses (and families). ◦ SWIB VEC members and guests applauded and supported the new goals, calling them succinct, smart and achievable

SWIB VEC Vision/Mission/Goals 9/17/2013 Vision: To increase the percentage of service members, veterans and their families employed in Maine. Mission: To improve training and employment opportunities for service members, veterans and families. Goals: • Build employer awareness of the advantages of hiring service members, veterans and their families. • Build service members, veterans and their family?s awareness of employment opportunities and training. • Develop policy recommendations to increase effectiveness and efficiency of employment and training programs for service members, veterans and their families.

SWIB VEC Chair Steve Wallace: Introduced Outreach Subcommittee?s Notes (below) & Discussion ◦ To reach our goals (above) we need to begin to develop a marketing plan to get the word out ? a Veterans Outreach Campaign of sorts. ◦ Set a goal to launch PSAs by Memorial Day or Veteran?s Day depending on how quickly next steps go. ◦ Develop a tagline i.e. ?Thank-you for serving ME? or something that is memorable To Dos: Invite a couple of marketing professionals to next SWIB VEC meeting on January 22, 2014. - Auta to invite: Nancy Marshall Communications (Nancy Marshall), Burgess Marketing (Meredith Burgess), VIA (John Coleman), Encompass Marketing (Candace Sanborn) or others. The goal is to brainstorm strategies for a Veterans Outreach Campaign (with input from a couple of professionals) and to put a price tag on them for future prospective fundraising. DREAM BIG!

SWIB VEC Outreach Subcommittee Finding veterans to make them aware of resources available has been identified as a major challenge for many veterans services organizations. The SWIB VEC Outreach Subcommittee met on October 23, 2013 and created a multi-pronged outreach plan that might include some or all of the following: 1. Outreach Pilot with Maine National Guard and Reserve Members (4,000ish members) 2. PSAs ? a BIG SPLASH in the media (TV, radio, social media) including a spokesperson for the cause (suggestion: General Libby). Message: There is a job for everyone! 3. Outreach through Maine?s Chambers / consistent message & process a. Possibly ask Dana Connors MSCC to meet with us 4. Outreach through Motor Vehicle. They offer a relatively new Veterans License Option ? At renewal; they will take a photo of the Veteran with a flag behind them indicating Veteran?s Status. If the veteran wants to make the change before their license renews, they can do this for $5.00.

SWIB VEC Chair Steve Wallace: Introduced SWIB VEC Membership & Suggestions for New Members ◦ To Dos: SWIB VEC members offered to invite the following people to our January 22, 2014 meeting: ▪ Teresa Pattle ? IDEXX / Nathaniel Grace ▪ Karen West ? C&P Management / Bob Carr ▪ Greg Johnson ? Retired Navy Admiral / Fred Webber and/or Joy Johnson ▪ Lisa Winger ? Jackson Labs / Dennis Wellman ▪ Joyce LaRoche ? Maine State Chamber / Auta Main ◦ Other SWIB VEC membership info ▪ Joy Johnson ? Embrace A Vet / Join SWIB VEC as interested party ▪ Invite Ed Kenyon ? General Dynamics/BIW to join us for 1 or 2 meetings

SWIB VEC Members and Guests: Updates ◦ Bob Traill, Bonney Staffing - received the Seven Seals award from Southern MidCoast Chamber for service and support to veterans. Congratulations Bob! ◦ Larry Duquette, Veterans Inc. - Veterans Inc., was awarded the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) grant for Maine in summer 2013. While their home office is located in Worcester, MA, their Maine hub is in Lewiston. They provide services statewide. They are currently rehabbing a building in Lewiston that will soon provide shelter for homeless veterans. Gap funding is available for emergencies. Training funds and transportation are also available to qualified veterans. ◦ Dennis Wellman, ESGR ? Employer Support of Guard and Reserve awarded one of their Above and Beyond Awards to Bonney Staffing and to Bob Traill at this year?s 42nd Annual Joshua Chamberlain Award Presentation & Veterans Gala (November 13, 2013) of the Southern Midcoast Chamber of Commerce in Brunswick. ◦ Debbie Kelly, Director, Veterans Employment and Training ? As we think about marketing, lets? remember the importance of success stories, especially those focused on employment ? how hiring veterans increases retention and employers experience less absenteeism. Both Debbie and Dennis provide USERRA services, working with veterans and employers to try to avoid ?investigations.? Most employers want to do the right thing and in most cases it?s a simple misunderstanding of rights under the law. Typically these cases are resolved before they go to the investigation phase.
◦ Nathaniel Grace, Maine Military & Community Network (MMCN) ? Is coordinating a group of representatives from several organizations who will be conducting the Point in Time Survey (Homeless Veterans) the week of Jan 27-31, 2014. Will keep members posted. ◦ Auta Main, Veterans Program Manager, BES, MDOL ? Shared that at a recent Veterans Quarterly Staff meeting the new VETS Regional Administrator, Dana Bourne, informed them that DOD and DOL are making final plans to SHARE the DOD database of veterans with DOL. This has long been an issue and will be a huge benefit for Veterans - DOL, its Vet Reps and CareerCenters. One of our biggest outreach challenges has been obtaining contact information for veterans who are separating from the military. DOD anticipates final approval of the data sharing within the next 18 months.

The meeting adjourned at 12:30pm 2014 Meeting Dates: January 22, March 19, May 21, July 16, September 17, and November 19

Attachments