Empowering Veterans in Both Urban and Rural Communities By Jim Lorraine, President and CEO of America’s Warrior Partnership Veterans, their families and caregivers all face unique challenges based on their individual situations. Yet regardless of where a veteran lives, the best support they can receive often starts with a local leader who knows the community and understands how to access the most appropriate resources and services. This focus on local leaders is part of the foundation of our Community Integration service model, which empowers communities with the tools and partnerships to design a program that proactively and holistically serves their local veterans. The goal is to ensure any community can connect veterans with available resources and opportunities, whether that community is in a dense urban city or a remote rural town. One of our newest programs is an example of how service providers in remote communities can empower veterans. That program is the Diné Naazbaa’ Partnership, one of the first community-based initiatives dedicated to empowering the Navajo Nation’s military veterans, their families and caregivers. Led by our own Inann Johns, the program is currently conducting proactive outreach to the estimated 15,000 veterans living in the Navajo Nation. The team is educating these veterans on the opportunities that exist locally in Apache County, Arizona, while also connecting them with available support services. Inann serves as the “boots on the ground” for the Diné Naazbaa’ Partnership, which means she is physically in the community serving as a valuable resource for both veterans and veteran-serving organizations. With a clear understanding of the programs that serve Apache County, Inann ensures that veterans know where they can go for assistance with anything from applying for benefits to housing assistance. For local organizations seeking resources for a veteran that they cannot provide in-house, Inann connects those organizations with national programs through the America’s Warrior Partnership Network (The Network) to fill the gaps in local services. In the short span that the program has been active, Inann and the team have already connected with more than 100 veterans of the Navajo Nation to educate them on available resources. 44
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / APRIL 2020
