AmeriCorps - Veterans and Military Families - Education and Wellness

The service commitment of the veteran doesn’t end on the battlefield, but continues after their return home. Veterans not only have the capacity and skills to help address problems in communities, there is also therapeutic value which aids in their reintegration back into the community following their military service, by being of meaningful service to each other and to the community at-large.

As a part of its mission to engage all Americans in service, and as directed by the 2009 Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, the Washington Commission for National and Community Service partnered with the Washington Department of Veterans Affairs to launch the first Vet Corps program in the nation to engage veterans in AmeriCorps national service positions. While voluntarily serving as AmeriCorps members in the Vet Corps, veterans continue their mission to their county through their civilian national service experience as they make a positive difference in communities across Washington State.

During the Vet Corps’ first two and one-half years of operation, AmeriCorps members provided services to more than 7,000 veterans, active duty military members or their family members by helping them navigate the higher education system and take full advantage of the benefits they are entitled to under the G.I. Bill. Members also played a vital role in connecting their peers to health care, housing, jobs, other benefits, and helped to start 15 veteran affinity groups on college campuses to create a safe and supportive community for veterans.

One unique aspect of Washington’s Vet Corps program is supporting soldiers assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion (WTB) who will be transitioning out of the military. Two Vet Corps members conduct in-takes and out-takes on hundreds of soldiers assigned to the WTB to assess their needs and then track them upon discharge for 30, 60, 90 and 180 days to ensure connection to critical services.

Another feature of the Vet Corps program that stands out is its hidden therapeutic value. Through participation in the Vet Corps program - as a veteran seeking guidance or as an AmeriCorps member - veterans feel a rich sense of camaraderie and shared mission through meaningful service to each other - and to the community at large. There seems to be an internal shift; a subtle awareness that something was missing or incomplete, and there emerged an impulse to turn their attention toward creating healthy, meaningful connections with other veterans.

Please watch the public service announcement featuring Timm Lovitt, an Iraqi war veteran and Vet Corps alum, as he talks about how volunteering helped him and how national service can be a powerful tool to help veterans readjust to civilian life.