Veterans & Family Support: Turning the Corner

Happy New Year!

Over the holidays, I was thinking about what I would write about in the next blog and where I might find some inspiration. As usual, my thoughts were taken over by the festivities and family traditions of the holiday season and those thoughts and plans went to the back burner.

Today, January 2, 2023, my husband and I sat down to watch the Rose Parade, another tradition I have been practicing ever since I can remember. This was an unusual parade as it was on January 2 and not New Year’s Day because there is a rule that the Rose Parade does not happen on a Sunday. Furthermore, the Tournament of Roses President was a female (fourth in its 134-year history.) What provided the inspiration, after watching the parade, was the theme of the parade: Turning the Corner. For me, starting the new year has always been a time for self-reflection, planning a fresh start, pushing the proverbial restart button; a time to turn the corner.

I thought about how the theme and parade made me feel and then began translating that theme to the Veterans & Family Support Program and how the two compliment each other. Think about it, the projects we do are literally helping veterans, service members and their families turn the corner; whether we are helping them transition from homelessness to a roof over their head, helping by pointing them in the right direction of a service officer, providing care packages to those serving overseas, providing holiday dinners to the troops or helping a caregiver seek addition support and possible compensation. No matter how grand or how small, whether feeding a hundred service members at Christmas or sending a monetary donation to National Veterans Service or Veteran & Military Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Awareness, we are helping them to turn the corner with our Hands that Serve, Hearts that Care. Let’s continue the great work we do in support of our veterans, service members and their families, and make 2023 a fantastic year!

There are so many ways to help our heroes in Turning the Corner:

• Supporting veteran caregivers
• Supporting homeless veterans and their families
• National Veterans Service
• VFW Veterans & Military Support
• Military Assistance Program (MAP)
• Unmet Needs
• VFW “Sport Clips® Help a Hero” Scholarship Program
• Veteran & Military Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Awareness