vocap2019

DEAR VALUED VETERAN SUPPORTER, What an amazing year at the Veterans One-stopCenter ofWNY! And it’s all attributable to our passionate staff and dedicated group of financial and service supporters. When I started my role as President and CEO in late 2017, my staff and I set out to position the organization as the premier veteran service agency inWesternNewYork by improving service quality, expanding our scope of services, stretching our service area and enhancing our financial resiliency. To those objectives, we’ve achieved and surpassed our goals. The Veterans One-stop Center has grown steadily, ensuring and providing the most comprehensive services and programs to every military member and their families. As we complete our 7th year of operation, we have welcomed over 12,000 veterans and their families through our doors, a number that we’re incredibly proud to report to our benefactors! In 2019, the VA awarded the Veterans One-stop Center the “Supportive Services for Veteran Families” (SSVF) grant of $250,000 to maintain the end of veteran homelessness in WNY. SSVF allows the Veterans One-stop Center to provide safe and stable housing to veterans. We quickly house veterans and their families who are homeless, keep them fromslipping into homelessness, and promote housing stability and sustainable, permanent housing. This important service is the solution that keeps veterans off the street and inwarm, safe homes. Our veteranpeer support program, thePFCJosephP. Dwyer Program, has expanded aswell, receiving funding frombothErie andNiagara County. Sincewe began facilitating theDwyer program, it has connected over 3,400 veterans to one another. In 2019 alone, the programserved our veteranswith over 300 free events. It is an essential program, critical to helping veterans make the seamless transition frommilitary to civilian life while being supported by other veterans. A community is only as strong as themembers who reside in it. It is the responsibility of the whole community to support the members who need help, especially those who have served for our country. We have developed an extensive partner network in the Western New York region that is as dedicated as we are to empowering and helping the brave men and women who served our nation. Our case managers seamlessly connect veterans to our partners who provide comprehensive supportive services, andwith over 100 partners, our network is inclusive and all serving. With the continued vision of a collaborative partner network, I workedwith the VA and a fewkey veteran community leaders to revitalize the WNY Community Veterans Engagement Board (CVEB) which addresses veterans’ issues and improves coordination of services between the VA and the WNY non-profit community. At the end of 2019, we had 60 non-profit organizations partneredwith the VA to surface and seek solutions for veteran issues. Thank you for being part of our journey and growth, and helping us support the courageousmen andwomenwho have risked their lives defending our nation. It is an honor to be the organization that veterans, servicemembers, and their families reach out to for help during their military service and their return to civilian life. To every veteran we encounter, we would like to leave them with this message, “Thank you for your courage, selfless dedication, and sacrifice to this nation. Your service inspires our service.” ChuckMarra President and CEO Veterans One-stop Center ofWNY BOARD OF DIRECTORS Harry Schultz* CHAIRMAN NAVY VETERAN Chris Wopperer* VICE - CHAIR MARINE CORPS VETERAN Pat Finucane* T REASURER AIR FORCE VETERAN Margaret Braun SECRETARY Tamekia Slaughter-Smith* ARMY RESERVE VETERAN Hank Sokol Michael Burns* NAVY RESERVE Guy G. Berry* MARINE CORPS VETERAN Scott Kaczmarek* NAVY VETERAN Jason Jaskula* ARMY VETERAN *CURRENT OR FORMER MILITARY

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