It has been a very busy three weeks
at the Battle Buddy Bridge program. No day is like the last. My first week
involved attending a housing fair at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall. The building
is the site of Los Angeles County veteran services. Our program set up a booth
at the fair and helped guide veterans to various resources available at the
fair. I felt proud to be a part of something that will get roofs over veterans’
heads. It was a great first day.
The rest
of my week consisted of meetings with program manager and the other squad
leaders of B3. During these meeting we determined a course of action for my
squad. We set a timeline for creating a spreadsheet of all area National Guard
and Reserve units. The spreadsheet will contain five points of contact with
every unit within 30 miles of our Boyle Heights headquarters. The points of
contacts are made up of various stakeholders, from Chaplains to Family
Readiness Group leaders. Although I have
faced some resistance and doubt from various units, I strongly believe all will
get on board once they realize the nature of the services we offer.
The last
two weeks have been spent in training to become a peer-support specialist. I
cannot begin to convey the value of this training. It is an amazingly powerful
tool in aiding veteran reach the services they need. The training was through a
company called Recovery Innovations, based in Phoenix. I highly recommend that
anyone in the area check them out and look into the valuable training they
offer.
It’s good to hear someone that has found something that has no typical day/duties, I’ll be intrigued reading your future posts! It sounds like you’ve gotten yourself into a very rewarding fellowship, congratulations! ☺
ReplyDeleteTaylor
This program really seems worthwhile and inspirational! I'm so jealous! When you get to do work that not only benefits your skills but also builds upon the community by helping our vets that are in need, it is truly a win-win. I will continue to watch for your posts and I hope at some moment you can fill us in on the process that you went through to get in!
ReplyDeleteMarlowe,
ReplyDeleteYour internship sounds super interesting so far! I hope that you have been able to learn a lot and build lasting relationships with these veterans, as you are helping to guide them to critical services that they may be in need of. It sounds like your internship experience will be very rewarding.
There is never a typical day when your working with people. Their wants and needs today are different than they were yesterday, and they will be different again tomorrow. One of the thing that I enjoy about my internship is that know two people are the same and what they want from me, or need me to do, is different every time I pick up the telephone. I love it.
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ReplyDeleteThe Battle Buddy Bridge program sounds amazing. Your efforts are definitely a contribution that is needed and is also self rewarding. Keep up the good work and I look forward to your future posts.
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