Book Signing to Benefit Soldier On
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Memorial Day Marathon Races
Soldier On will be volunteering at the Memorial Day Marathon Races in Lenox, MA on Sunday, May 26! There will be runners sponsored by Soldier On as well as many volunteers from the organization participating on race day! The races start at 8 AM will go until about noon. Local entertainment and vendors will be present at Tanglewood from noon to 5. There will be a Soldier On table with materials and a representative at the Berkshire Bank tent… stop by and show your support!
Visit http://www.memorialdaymarathon.com/ for more information on the races and events!
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Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community featured in FHLB Boston’s Advisory Council 2012 Annual Report
Soldier On and the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community in Pittsfield, MA were featured in FHLB Boston’s Advisory Council 2012 Annual Report.
Download the featured Soldier On story here,
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Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community featured in FHLB Boston's Advisory Council 2012 Annual Report
Soldier On and the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community in Pittsfield, MA were featured in FHLB Boston’s Advisory Council 2012 Annual Report.
Download the featured Soldier On story here,
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Soldier On’s Jack Downing Attends Veterans Service Organization Round Table
Early this week, Soldier On president and CEO John (“Jack”) Downing was invited to attend the first HVAC Veterans Service Organization Roundtable of the 113th Congress. Chairman Jeff Miller (FL-01) hosted this off-the-record discussion on Tuesday, April 16, amongst veterans service providers in Washington, DC. Jack was one of 30 representatives in attendance. Attendees were a compilation of veterans service agencies, HVAC members and congressional staff. The discussion that took place addressed perennial veterans-related challenges such as VA’s benefits claims backlog and mental health care access.
“VSOs give veterans a voice on Capitol Hill, so it’s important for us to listen to what they have to say,” Miller said. “Today’s event was a great opportunity to have a candid discussion about what our committee has been doing to improve the lives of veterans, our priorities for the 113th Congress as well as those of the VSO community. The input and support of America’s VSOs has been invaluable to our work at the committee over the past two years, and I look forward to strengthening our partnership as we work to ensure our veterans receive the care and benefits they deserve.”
“I would like to thank chairman Jeff Miller and his colleagues on the Veterans Affairs Committee for their willingness to listen and implement the changes that will begin to create a more rapid and dignified response to each veterans disability claim,” said Jack Downing. “Government works best when our elected officials listen and then hold the appropriate institutions accountable.”
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Success Story: Tom Clark
Tom Clark, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, didn’t follow the usual path to veteran homelessness.
It wasn’t drugs, alcohol or jail that sent this college graduate into a downward spiral. It was perfectionism, an extreme preoccupation with neatness and a need to control his environment that devastated his personal relationships and created major suffering and stress in his life.
“I was on my third try attempting to live with the same woman when she sent me packing again,” Tom recalled. “Even though we had been together over 10 years, we just couldn’t live together because I had such a need to control everything. I ironed her clothes, did the shopping, house cleaning, laundry, cooking and organized the whole house to where it looked more like a museum than a home that was lived in. If something was scratched, stained or dented, or in any way ‘not perfect,’ I tossed it out. I emptied the trash four or five times daily. My only motto was, ‘when in doubt, throw it out.’ That poor woman had to come home after a hard day at work and check the dumpster for her prized possessions that I considered excess debris and timeworn scraps.”
Tom found it difficult to relax, and despite excelling in his work, he could not understand why his private life always unraveled. It wasn’t because he wasn’t intelligent or motivated. Tom earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Amherst College and both a master’s degree in Social Work and a Non-Profit Business Administration degree from Boston College. He had worked as a correctional officer, counseling supervisor and program manager for two different organizations. He earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and taught martial arts for six years. Still, his behavior had led him to homelessness.
In 2010, after the death of his father, Tom boarded a train from California to his native Massachusetts to help settle the estate. While in Massachusetts, he discovered Soldier On during an online search for veteran’s assistance. Once he settled into the Soldier On program, Tom worked with a psychotherapist who diagnosed him with OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder). Although he initially denied he had this problem, Tom gradually began to accept his situation and agreed to work on his struggles under one condition – that he be allowed to do so without medication. Soldier On supported his decision and Tom has shown dramatic improvements in his ability to interact with people on a collaborative and interpersonal level.
Tom currently serves as an outreach case manager for the Soldier On SSVF (Supportive Services for Veteran Families) federal grant in eastern and upstate New York, helping fellow veterans to access support services to avoid homelessness. He also continues to see a therapist on a regular basis at his place of employment at no charge. At Soldier On, Tom has served as a committee member, resident staff member and General Manager of the Pittsfield facility.
“Not only did my associations excel and improve after Soldier On, but the relationship with my partner in California is now healed,” Tom said. “We are both extremely happy and grateful to Soldier On, and plan to spend the rest of our lives together. I could not have achieved this without Soldier On. I was allowed to set my own pace, address my issues and continue to work in a supportive environment all at the same time. I knew that if I fell, I would be picked up, brushed off and set back on track by people who truly care about you as both a struggling veteran and an at-risk human being.”
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New Director Chosen For Women’s Wellness Center
Virginia Lieblein has been appointed as the new Director of Wellness for the Soldier On Women’s Program Wellness Center. Virginia comes to Soldier On after serving as Director of Wellness for Emerson Hospital for 8 years. With a strong background in creative program management and development as well as networking and proficient computer skills, Virginia has both the skill level and experience to bring the Wellness Center dream to reality.
Virginia will be working closely with the Soldier On Women’s Program team to bring health and wellness experiences to the women veterans who reside in our transitional program. Encompassing “mind, body and spirit” the program will enhance the residents’ lives by giving them the chance to try different exercise experiences including yoga, walking, running and aerobics. Classes offering a wide array of creative experiences such as jewelry design, painting, silk screening, scrap-booking and wood burning will be offered. Virginia’s main goal will be to analyze each resident’s schedule and give her the opportunity to try new experiences that will open doors for employment, reengagement with family and general all-around happiness and fulfillment.
Please join the Women’s Program team in welcoming Virginia to the Soldier On family. We can all benefit from embracing a life of health and wellness!
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New Director Chosen For Women's Wellness Center
Virginia Lieblein has been appointed as the new Director of Wellness for the Soldier On Women’s Program Wellness Center. Virginia comes to Soldier On after serving as Director of Wellness for Emerson Hospital for 8 years. With a strong background in creative program management and development as well as networking and proficient computer skills, Virginia has both the skill level and experience to bring the Wellness Center dream to reality.
Virginia will be working closely with the Soldier On Women’s Program team to bring health and wellness experiences to the women veterans who reside in our transitional program. Encompassing “mind, body and spirit” the program will enhance the residents’ lives by giving them the chance to try different exercise experiences including yoga, walking, running and aerobics. Classes offering a wide array of creative experiences such as jewelry design, painting, silk screening, scrap-booking and wood burning will be offered. Virginia’s main goal will be to analyze each resident’s schedule and give her the opportunity to try new experiences that will open doors for employment, reengagement with family and general all-around happiness and fulfillment.
Please join the Women’s Program team in welcoming Virginia to the Soldier On family. We can all benefit from embracing a life of health and wellness!
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2013 Difference Makers – John Downing
NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WGGB) — Transitioning homeless veterans into homeowners. Tonight, we introduce you to John Downing, one of this year’s Difference Makers.
John Downing’s passion is serving our nations veterans by making them feel at home.
As the president of Soldier On, Downing has worked tirelessly to restoring the diginity and purpose of our nation’s homeless veterans.
“In our program, we have no rules. Our job is to make you successful to the degree that you want success and to the degree that you want to return to the center of your life. So what we have been able to do and started to do was we deliver services where you live,” Downing says.
And many of the veterans that Solider On works with are now just be shuttled into shelters. They are being offered the chance to own their own home.
Downing adds, “If you could own where you lived, you probably wouldn’t leave. Now, that magical fact worked for us so what we decided to do was figure out how we could build affordable housing that you could own and that will have sustainability and ‘controlability’ for the rest of your life.”
Soldier On builds condos and works with veterans to help them have an actual ownership stake, all the while bringing much needed services right to there door.
And in this era of budget cuts and austerity, Soldier On is proving that their model reduces the long term costs.
“With the model of home ownership and services being delivered where you are drives down – over the lifetime of a homeless veteran – the long term medical care costs by 300 percent.”
Downing works alongside a dedicated staff of young people who share his commitment to those who have served our country and being there whenever they are needed.
“You can’t do this work on an 8 to 5 basis. This is a seven day a week, 24 hour a day challenge. Our people are homeless 24 hours a day. Their lives have been broken for years. They need us to be there when they need us,” Downing notes.
To view video and read the entire story, visit http://www.wggb.com/2013/03/20/2013-difference-makers-john-downing/.
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Building Support: Sustain our Station, Support our Soldiers
A campaign in support of Soldier On & New England Public Radio, made possible by Berkshire Bank.
Soldier On is partnering with New England Public Radio in a radio campaign that will support the 16 unit transitional housing building for women veterans and their children that we are breaking ground on in the fall. For every donation that you make to the radio campaign, Soldier On will receive a 2×4 to go towards the construction of our building. Visit nepr.com/contribute or call 1-800-639-8850 to give. The campaign is ten days long, lasting from March 6 to March 16. Tune in to NEPR, 88.5 FM or 640 AM, or contact Maggie Porter, mporter@wesoldieron.org, to learn more! A special thank you to Berkshire Bank and the Berkshire Bank Foundation for their support and for making this radio campaign possible!
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