Carry On

Voices of Service, an inspiring vocal quartet includes retired Master Sgt. Caleb Green, retired staff Sgt. Ron Henry, Sgt. Maj. Christal Rheams and Sgt. 1st Class Jason Hanna.

Voices of service uses their platform to increase awareness of what music can do for service men and women who are coping with post-traumatic stress and other invisible/visible wounds. They have been singing together for six years. Their journey and purpose have now reached a new dimension.

After their successful competition in Season 14 of America’s Got Talent where they placed 5th, they’ve been able to create national awareness about the struggles our service members, veterans, and their families go through when dealing with visible and invisible injuries.

Voices of Service recently released their debut EP Album “Rise” which is now available for purchase.

In today's episode, we unpack the emotional side of transition from an academic perspective.

Emily Knitter is a U.S. Army veteran and third-year Counseling Psychology Ph.D. student at the University at Buffalo. After being medically retired from service, Emily struggled with the transition. She found her footing at St. Bonaventure University while pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. There she served as Student Veterans of America (SVA) chapter president. 

Through her current program at UB, and in partnership with Veteran Affairs Mental Illness Research, she is working to help improve the transition out of the military for other service members. It is her goal to ignite conversation around the “emotional” side of the veteran transition journey.

The transition from military to civilian employment can be overwhelming. Have you asked yourself what you do not want to do in addition to what you would like to do? Have you identified the skills and knowledge you want to build to fit new career goals? Navy Veteran Josh Duntz joins us today to talk about transition and how companies like Shift are available to guide veterans through that process.

Many large corporations have teams assigned to help veterans apply for employment, and also to help veterans succeed after being hired.

Retired Marine Colonel Beau Higgins is a Senior Manager on Amazon’s Military Affairs team. Beau is responsible for elevating the strategic impact of the considerable investment Amazon has made in the US Military veteran community. The Military Affairs team is responsible for creating scalable veteran programs, developing policies and strategic planning for military recruiting and outreach efforts, and focusing on hiring, developing and retaining the best and the brightest military talent available for positions within Amazon.

Listen now to hear about what Amazon is doing to employ veterans and sage advice for those looking for a new position.

The webinars Beau discusses in this episode can be found here:

https://amazonmilitarywebinarseries.splashthat.com/ 

When people ask us at Nation's Finest, "What do you do?" it's easy to start listing programs and services. In reality, what we do goes deeper than a list of services. We help veterans when they need it most, and assist them in becoming self-sufficient again. One veteran shares his story today, and explains how Nation's Finest helped him.

Andre Jones is a U.S. Army Veteran who has lived in the Yuba County, CA area for 12 years. After getting an education and serving in the military, Mr. Jones became a pillar in his community by coaching football and softball for local high school and college students. He was also a limo driver for 30 years.

This past year, Mr. Jones found himself homeless for the first time in his life. When he lost his house, it was a struggle to find housing due to the recent fires in Northern California. Thankfully, he ended up getting connected with a Case Manager from Nation’s Finest, who arrived just in time to help him find a place to live.

That Case Manager is Shelly Forbes, also here with us for this episode. She works at the Nation’s Finest-Chico location for our SSVF (Supportive Services for Veteran Families) program, which provides case management to veterans and their families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Shelly befriended Mr. Jones, encouraged him, and helped him get approved for his own apartment that he is now living in.

This is our first episode of 2022, and also the beginning of our 50th anniversary at Nation's Finest! 

We have two of our long-standing board members on the program today, along with our President and CEO. Together we plan to talk about what has changed over the years, and what hasn’t changed so much.

Long-time board member Jim Larson is a US Army Veteran and retired CEO of California State Central Credit Union.

Fellow long-serving board member Larry Connolly is a Marine Corps Veteran and retired philanthropist.

Our CEO, Chris Johnson has been with Nation’s Finest for almost three years, and has been in the nonprofit sector for nearly thirty years.

We hope you enjoy this discussion with all three of them, sharing how Nation’s Finest has, and will continue to help veterans find their way home. THEN, NOW, ALWAYS.

In our final episode of 2021, our guest, Army Veteran Bobby Herrera talks about turning struggle into opportunity. He encourages everyone to ask "Why is this happening for me" instead of "Why is this happening to me" regarding hardship in our lives. 

This week, we speak with Crystal Ellington about some of the challenges minority servicemembers and veterans face. We also talk about military response to sexual assault and the changes Crystal advocates for her in her work.

Co-found of Women Veterans Magazine, Melissa Washington talks with us today about empowering female veterans.

Army veteran Patrick Nelson joins us to talk about PTSD, survivor's guilt, and living a life of purpose and meaning.