More than 50 veteran advocates and support organizations from around the state gather to share best practices
Caption: Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency Director Brian L. Love welcomes attendees to the first Community Outreach and Regional Engagement (CORE) Symposium, Wednesday, Sept. 18.
EAST LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) hosted their first Community Outreach and Regional Engagement (CORE) Symposium at the Kellogg Center on the campus of Michigan State University. The goal of this event is to bring together veteran advocates to establish and strengthen relationships and share what they are doing to impact the lives of veterans and their families in their communities. More than 50 attendees from across the state joined speakers, fellow support organizations and State of Michigan departments to better understand how other communities are supporting their local veterans.
"We are excited to bring this group of dedicated veteran advocates together for the first time," says Chelsea Rider, MVAA community analyst. "None of us can do the work of supporting veterans alone. It is vital that we collaborate and see what works in different communities to learn how we can best service veterans and their families. That includes finding the resource gaps around the state so that we at MVAA can work to fill those gaps."
The MVAA's CORE initiative brings together a network of collaborative partners from across Michigan to deliver targeted, localized support so that every veteran and their family can get the personalized services and resources where they live. These partners are local agencies, businesses or nonprofits throughout Michigan that have the available resources and support systems in place to address the various needs of Michigan veterans locally. MVAA relies on these partners to better understand where veteran resource "deserts" exist that allows the agency the opportunity to address those gaps.
The CORE leadership team is made up of individuals from the Michigan Association of County Veteran Counselors; regional Veteran Community Action Teams and Coalitions; American Legion; Veterans of Foreign Wars; Disabled American Veterans; Vietnam Veterans of America; regional veteran engagement officers; Buddy to Buddy coordinators; Michigan Veterans Trust Fund; Michigan Veteran Resource Service Center; Michigan Department of Health & Human Services and the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.
To learn more about the CORE initiative, visit Michigan.gov/MVAACORE. To become a CORE partner, email MVAAStrategy@Michigan.gov.
If you are a service member or veteran or the family member and need support, please contact the Michigan Veterans Resource Service Center at 1-800-MICH-VET (1-800-642-4838) to learn more about veteran benefits and resources.
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