Cape Fear Veteran Resilience Project to host town hall for veterans and families
NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — The Cape Fear Veteran Resilience Project plans to host a town hall meeting on Thursday to address issues that matter most to veterans and their families.
The town hall will bring together veterans, their families, and community providers — to talk about issues that matter most to them during a panel discussion.
While US service members are celebrated on Veterans Day, behind the pomp, many struggle with transitioning from military life to civilian life.
“It’s not getting better,” says Jim Blair.
President of the Cape Fear Veteran Resilience Project, Jim Blair, says it formed with one mission in mind.
“We wanted to prevent, or reduce, suicide here in the region, and so we wanted to start addressing some steps here in the region that will help the veterans coming out here, or the active-duty service,” said Blair.
The organization wanted to enhance suicide prevention by creating the Community Veterans Engagement Board.
“We bring areas, companies that are, people that are interested in identifying gaps and trying to fix them,” said Blair.
One solution was to survey veterans and their families, and caregivers.
Data showed that some of the most important issues were networking, employment opportunities, help with benefits, and another one that was no surprise.
“It reinforced what we already knew. Mental health is arguably the leading issue that we have to tackle. Luckily, we have a lot of good resources,” said Blair.
Some of those resources come in the form of agencies like Coastal Horizons, Trillium, and Veterans Affairs.
They’re also getting a boost from corporate America.
“Companies like GE are really looking out there for veteran employees because they see the benefits that these guys have. They’re team players, they’re willing to take risks, and they can be decisive, this kind of thing, and that’s what a lot of employers are looking for,” says Blair.
Blair says this town hall is just a steppingstone.
“We can wait to get this going, but I think it’s important to mention this is a start. So, this is the first sort of town hall in this region that I know of, with this kind of scope, and this kind of support from the partners like the VA and the others, and so we’re going to take this and move forward from it,” said Blair.
The town hall meeting is being held at the New Hanover County Senior Center at 2222 College Road in Wilmington from 4 to 6 and will be moderated by WWAY’s Jessica Keisling.
