Chief Jerry Collins and Dr. Mariya Leyderman join Carry On from Louisville, KY to talk about the VALOR program (Veterans Aspiring to a Life Of Reform), a program at the Louisville Metro Correctional Department (LMDC) to help veterans reform their lives while in jail and position them for success upon release.

Our guest today, Mike Erwin has dedicated his life to serving the nation and empowering people to build positive relationships.

A graduate of The U.S. Military Academy at West Point serving in three combat tours with the First Cavalry Division and 3rd Special Forces Group. His service includes deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Kandahar, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He earned two Bronze Star Medals from these tours. 

Following his third deployment, Mike attended the University of Michigan and while a graduate student, founded Team Red White & Blue (Team RWB), a non-profit health and wellness community for veterans.  Mike led Team RWB until 2013 before stepping back to focus on his role as board chair.  In November 2019, he returned to the Executive Director role where he currently leads the organization’s 232,000 members.

Mike continues to proudly serve the nation as a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves, assigned to the Pentagon in support of the Army Chief of Operations’ office, led by Lieutenant General Jim Rainey.

Brad Long, Executive Director of the Veterans Housing Development Corporation (VHDC) joins us to talk about affordable housing for veterans.

Different veterans have different needs, and some just need a little extra boost to be able to own a home, and ultimately pay less or the same as what they were paying for substandard rentals. 

Listen for more details about how veterans are finding affordable homes in California!

In this episode, Oscar Romero joins us to talk about art. He'll explain how he got involved with art, and how he found it can be used to help others and provide avenues of expression.

Oscar was born in El Salvador and raised in California. He studied under David Hardy at the School of Classical Realism in Oakland, California.

He served four years in the Navy, and 4.5 years in the Coast Guard. He provides Art Therapy events at our very own Mather Veterans Village, and his wife, Sabrina Romero, is a Housing locator for Nation’s Finest under the Supportive Services for Veterans and Families program.

The book Oscar Romero references in the podcast is Grand Central Winter: Stories form the street.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/63651.Grand_Central_Winter 

National Ice Cream Day is around the corner on Sunday, July 17th.

Local ice cream parlor, Let’s Chill opened just a couple months ago in Coral Springs, Florida - owned by veterans Cristina & Ricardo Braga. Cristina is a registered nurse and Ricardo is a law enforcement offer. Cristina and Ricardo are both U.S. Army combat veterans, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They join us to talk about balancing business ownership with demanding jobs, and how their military experience helped them with the discipline to do just that.

Shelli Cramer has been a Nutrition Services Coordinator with Nation’s Finest – Eureka for the last five years. She worked in catering prior to coming to Nation’s Finest, and she’s also a mom who loves to cook.

People like Shelli make sure that veterans at our permanent supportive housing facilities have access to nutritious and balanced meals that meet the needs of each veteran while considering dietary restrictions and food allergies.

Jean Durham is a retired Marine Corps Officer who now coaches executive leaders. Jean first enlisted in 1999, starting her career as an aviation operations specialist. Among many duty locations in this role, she deployed to Al Assad, Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007.

After that deployment, Jean was accepted to the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program at Savannah State University where she earned her bachelor's degree and her commission as a Marine Corps Officer.

As a lieutenant, and eventually as a captain, Jean served as a public affairs officer in numerous locations such as Paris Island, Camp Lejeune, Norfolk, VA, and overseas duty in Libya.

Jean now works as an executive leadership coach with Intelligent Leadership Executive Coaching, and joins us to share her story of transition from the Marine Corps to the world of business.

Suzanne Gordon joins this episode to talk about how she encourages others to speak up with elected officials to ensure the VA is properly funded into the future. She also shares her advice for choosing the right charity to support when your goal is to help our military veterans. 

In this episode, Clive Stephenson joins us to talk about how veterans can take better care of their health. 

Clive was the NCOIC of the Family Medicine Service at Brook Army Medical Center, Ft. Sam Houston, TX. He graduated the Interservice Physician Assistant Program in 2006 and went on to work as a Battalion Physician Assistant then as an Orthopedic Physician Assistant until retirement in 2015. He continued working in this role at WBAMC treating Active Duty, National Guard, Reservists, Veterans, and dependents in the Ft. Bliss area. 

PA Stephenson stresses three simple strategies to maintain your physical health:

1. Stay active, and keep moving

2. Watch your weight

3. See your primary care provider AT LEAST every 6 months (more frequently depending on age and medical conditions)

John Perales joins this episode to talk about mental health, both for the veterans we serve, and the mental health providers themselves.

John has worked in various roles as he progressed from being a high school teacher, to principal, and eventually superintendent. He also taught as an adjunct at the college level - and has been a member of the team here at Nation’s Finest since 2019. He is currently the Human Resources Director for Nation's Finest.