SRQ MAGAZINE RECOGNIZING OUR VETERANS• JULY 2014 …

1 We salute Goodwill Manasota, Cool Today and Southeastern Guide Dogsfor their regional support of veterans in our own backyard. Read aboutthe initiatives that have made a positive impact at VETERANSSRQ MAGAZINE RECOGNIZING OUR VETERANS JULY 2014 GALLERY38 SRQ/ JULY 2014 Partnering with Goodwill has added a whole new opportunity to find well-trained, well-disciplined company prides itself on its proactive approach tohiring Veterans and 17% of our workforce are veterans, a number I hope to double with this new partnership! General Craig McKinley, Former Chief of the National Guard Bureau and Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Goodwill Manasota7501 15th Street EastSarasota, Florida 34243 Phone: American Veterans and Their is committed to serving veteransthroughout the community through the AmericanVeterans and their Families Initiative.

2 The pro-gram is built around helping military membersreintegrate into the community by utilizing a net-work of community partners to maximize localresources and services, all working to help vet-erans in need. This is done in the name of try-ing to ease our veterans transition back intonon-military employment and life. Here is a glimpse of our 2013 veterans pro-gram impact: Numbers Served: We served 329veterans through 602 different services. The topfour services requested was employments, finan-cial assistance, veteran health and benefits andhousing assistance. These four categories makeup more than 70% of the services requested Veterans & their Families Jobs & Services Fair:Organized a job fair that was attended by morethan 200 veterans and featured more than 160employers and service organizations.

3 VeteransResource Guide: We published this guide whichlists and describes veterans resources availablewithin the VA and in the local community. Thepurpose of this free guide is to assist returningveterans in simplifying their transition processby providing information right at their more than 20 categories listed alphabeti-cally by topic from employment to healthcare,from housing to veteran service can download a copy of the guide from ourwebsite. General McKinley said that this is oneof the best resource guides that he has seen inthe nation. Veterans Task Force: We also estab-lished a task force, which is a board of reveredveterans in the area whose mission is to providecommunity-supported solutions.

4 Benefits:Received designation that enables us to assistveterans with benefits, claims, disability, pen-sions, education and anything else on both fed-eral and state level. This will allow us to inter-face with the Department of Veteran Affairs,advice veterans on their claims. Goodwill ManasotaVETERANS ON THE GULF COASTG oodwill Manasotais an industry-leading, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organiza-tion that changes lives through the power of work. With the sales of donat-ed goods and philanthropic donations, Goodwill is able to assist people withdisabilities and other barriers to employment by providing job skills trainingand employment opportunities. In 2013, we served more than 16,000 people,placed 537 people in jobs and assisted 329 veterans as they reintegratedback into the civilian workforce.

5 Goodwill Manasota s economic impact backto the community is worth $ million. We accomplish our mission througha network of Good Neighbor Centers in Sarasota, Manatee, Hardee andDeSoto counties and our Mission Development Services (MDS) around NorthAmerica. We have provided opportunities through programs such as DonatedGoods Employment Services, Job Connection, American Veterans & theirFamilies Initiative, JobsPlus, Supported JobsPlus, GoodwillWorks, White GloveServices, Good Neighbor Program and Ambassadors Program. Goodwill is oneof the pioneers of the reduce-reuse-recycle movement and this past yeardiverted 37 million pounds out of the landfill. Goodwill Manasota is legallyorganized under the laws of the United States and the State of Florida.

6 Weare accountable to a local Board of Directors. Goodwill Manasota in essencebelongs to this community, and is NOT owned by any individual or company. MANASOTAJULY 2014 / SRQ39 As a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Army, I ve experienced the worst of Bosnia, Afghanistan,and Iraq. I ve survived seven explosions and came home only to face the battle of a lifetime. I broughthome a souvenir from Iraq a virus that stole my vision and left me completely blind. I gave up. I withdrewfrom family and friends, and hid behind fear and four walls. After fighting for freedom, I became a pris-oner of darkness and depression. Then I met Angel, my first Southeastern Guide Dog. As my eyes andmy friend, Angel gave me my life back.

7 Now I m with my second guide dog, George, and together we reunstoppable. George helps me fight anxiety and claustrophobia in crowds. With his help I m on the go,training for triathlons, racing sailboats, hiking in Peru, and living like I ve always lived fully, completely,and free. Kathy Champion, Retired US Army, LTC As one of the most respected guide dog schools in the UnitedStates, Southeastern Guide Dogs has been changing livesfor more than 30 years. And it starts with our extraordinarydogs. We match impeccably trained guide dogs with visually impaired individuals, providing a priceless, independent lifestyle. Our dogs learn over 40 commands, so students must learn, too.

8 For 26 days, our studentslive on our Palmetto campus, training from ourFreedom Walk to downtown Sarasota and behalf of American heroes, our Paws forPatriots program provides guide dogs for visually impaired veterans, Veteran ServiceDogs for veterans suffering from PostTraumatic Stress Disorder, and FacilityTherapy Dogs spreading encouragementin veterans medical facilities. AtSoutheastern Guide Dogs, we offer ourdogs and services at no cost to thedeserving individuals who need them,and we receive no government funding. Southeastern Guide DogsVETERANS ON THE GULF COASTS outheastern Guide Dogs4210 77th Street EastPalmetto, FL