National Veteran Reintegration Program Simplifies Life for Veteran Families with Support from the Walmart Foundation

BENTONVILLE, Ark.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University
(IVMF) recently received a $5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation
to aid in the expansion of its AmericaServes program, a model that
offers veterans the tools needed for a smooth transition back to
civilian life. The additional funding bolsters ongoing programs in New
York, North Carolina, South Carolina and supports the launch of
AmericaServes in Texas.

In the military, service members have a mission and a strong support
structure; however, when they transition back to civilian life, their
mission is not always clear and support can feel nonexistent.
Transitioning veterans and their families often have multiple needs like
employment training, housing, education and healthcare, yet
organizations are often set up to support only one.

According to the Department of Defense, more than 185,000 military
members will reintegrate into civilian life this year, and with over
45,000 vet-help organizations, veterans struggle to access the vast
ecosystem of assistance. Veteran families need a solution that
simplifies their lives. AmericaServes seeks to offer that solution.

Looking to best address this issue head-on, IVMF launched the
AmericaServes initiative in 2013 to streamline and connect the services
available in communities. The program created was the nation’s first
coordinated system of public, private and non-profit organizations—a
network—working together to serve veterans, transitioning
service-members and their families.

Heading into its fourth year, AmericaServes’s success stories are
profound as the program works to solve issues locally where actual
organizations reside and assistance takes place. For example, in North
Carolina, a U.S. Army veteran in the NCServes Metrolina area,
transitioned to civilian life after two deployments. He, his wife and
three children moved to the area for better opportunities and a fresh
start, but with no family or friends in the Charlotte area, they
struggled to find housing and appropriate healthcare. After connecting
with NCServes in early September of 2015, the family was able to find
temporary housing until permanent housing could be established. NCServes
also assisted with benefits claims and financial assistance, and they
connected the family with a local holiday corporate giving program.

“The single, greatest opportunity before us is to create significant
impact for the veteran community around systems navigation—or better
connecting veterans and their families to the wealth of government,
nonprofit and other resources available to them,” commented Mike Haynie
of IVMF.

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have a long history of supporting our
nation’s military service members. In 2011, Walmart and the Walmart
Foundation pledged $20 million for veteran reintegration programs.
Seeing the increased need for collective impact models, Walmart and the
Walmart Foundation pledged an additional $20 million in 2014 through
2019 to fund organizations capable of making systemic change in large
veteran communities.

“These are the same communities where we live and work,” said Kathleen
McLaughlin, chief sustainability officer at Walmart and president of the
Walmart Foundation. “Veterans and military families benefit when local
providers coordinate their care based on a shared vision of success.
That’s why the Walmart Foundation supports IVMF as they expand their
AmericaServes collective impact model in to new areas of the country and
help thousands more veterans.”

The $5 million grant to IVMF from the Walmart Foundation will
specifically support initiatives in Western Piedmont and Coastal North
Carolina as well as TXServes in San Antonio. Future expansion of
AmericaServes includes Washington State, Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
For more information visit americaserves.org.

About Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military
Families (IVMF)

The IVMF is the first interdisciplinary national institute in higher
education focused on the social, economic, education and policy issues
impacting veterans and their families post-service. Supported by a
world-class advisory board and public and private partners committed to
advancing the post-service lives of America’s service members, veterans
and their families, the IVMF and its professional staff deliver
class-leading programs in career, vocations, and entrepreneurship
education and training. The IVMF also provides actionable and national
impacting research, policy analysis and program evaluation; coordinates
comprehensive collective impact strategies; and works with communities
and non-profits to enhance service delivery for veterans and their
families. Read more at vets.syr.edu.

About Philanthropy at Walmart

By using our strengths to help others, Walmart and the Walmart
Foundation create opportunities for people to live better every day. We
have stores in 28 countries, employing more than 2.2 million associates
and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ
millions of people. We are helping people live better by accelerating
upward job mobility and economic development for the retail workforce;
addressing hunger and making healthier, more sustainably-grown food a
reality; and building strong communities where we operate and inspiring
our associates to give back. Whether it is helping to lead the fight
against hunger in the United States with $2 billion in cash and in-kind
donations or supporting Women’s Economic Empowerment through a series of
grants totaling $10 million to the Women in Factories training program
in Bangladesh, China, India and Central America, Walmart and the Walmart
Foundation are not only working to tackle key social issues, we are also
collaborating with others to inspire solutions for long-lasting systemic
change. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit www.foundation.walmart.com.

Contacts

Walmart
Blair Cromwell, 800-331-0085
News.walmart.com/reporter