Today is Giving Tuesday – We appreciate your support

Giving Tuesday

Today we have the opportunity to change a much deserving veteran’s life for the better!

This Giving Tuesday you are undoubtedly receiving a plethora of requests from many of the organizations that hold a special place in your heart. Just like so many other organizations that are spearheading initiatives heading into the holiday season that are worthy of your time and contributions, we too here at SoldierStrong are requesting the immediate support of red, white and blue-loving patriots to help us change a veteran’s quality of life forever.

Last year SoldierStrong launched a new program by partnering with the iconic Dean Kamen and his company, Mobius Mobility, to deliver the iBOT ® Personal Mobility Device to our nation’s heroes. Dean is an engineer, inventor and businessman, who is perhaps best known for his invention of the Segway. However, we here at SoldierStrong believe that one of his most important pieces of work is the iBOT ® PMD – if you haven’t seen it in action yet then we want to make sure that you know just how incredible it truly is!

The iBOT ® PMD removes many barriers so that those who are confined to a wheelchair can more easily enjoy everyday activities again – often these are activities that most of us take for granted. The iBOT ® PMD allows for improved mobility, social interaction and the ability for users to experience the world around them at standing level. Activities like dancing with your spouse, going up and down stairs, having conversations at eye level, traveling on a variety of terrains like beaches and sidewalks, and even being able to take a dog for a walk, are not only made possible but they are made enjoyable again.

Imagine not having the ability to partake in these activities and the added stress this inability could potentially cause on your everyday life, as well as the everyday experience of loved ones. With the iBOT ® PMD those limitations are removed! The technology is changing the lives of veterans from across the country for the better and in turn, reflects what SoldierStrong values and strives for. Our focus as an organization is to provide life-changing, revolutionary equipment and groundbreaking therapy to our nation’s heroes.

Last year through the generous support of Americans from across the country, SoldierStrong was able to donate an iBOT ® PMD to a veteran just in time for Christmas. In fact, when U.S. Army Veteran Peter Townsend received a donated iBOT ® PMD, he had this to say: “It’s amazing the type of terrain this thing can travel on. I’ve been outside almost non-stop with it. This machine has truly been life changing. It makes me feel like a new person. I’m doing things I haven’t been able to do for years and I am so thankful.”

On this Giving Tuesday, we know of another deserving veteran that is in immediate need of the iBOT ® PMD. Our greatest hope is that we will be able to donate a device to him this Christmas. And you have the ability to help us make this a reality today!

The price tag on the iBOT ® PMD is $35,000, which can make it extremely difficult for many veterans to purchase on their own. But when broken down, it is more than doable for SoldierStrong to make these donations with the help of our loyal supporters. We only need 1,000 patriots to contribute $35 today in order to surprise another veteran in need with their very own iBOT ® PMD this Christmas. We believe with your help this wish will become a reality!

Today, SoldierStrong humbly asks that you make a huge impact in the life of this veteran by giving your very best gift. Whatever amount you give, we value your support. The life-changing donations we make are only possible because of the generosity of people like you that want to give back to those that served our great nation.

We kindly implore you to give your best gift to this initiative! Whether your gift is $15, $35, $100 or even $1,000, all donations are critical to our efforts. Perhaps you might even be blessed with the ability to fund the cost of an entire iBOT ® PMD.

Whatever your giving capacity is, we are forever grateful for your support to help us gift a true American hero with their very own iBOT ® PMD. Let’s work together this Giving Tuesday and give back to our nation’s heroes. Together we can make it happen!

Cutting The Red Tape Surrounding Veteran Employment

Continuing Education

Cutting The Red Tape Surrounding Veteran Employment

By Chris Meek

The Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the military unemployment rate fell from 6.4% in September to 5.5% in October. As those stats hopefully continue to trend downward in the coming months, leaders and communities across the country cannot lose sight of the fact that there are still a number of veterans that continue to face unemployment as the pandemic rages on and winter looms.

Dan Goldenberg, executive director of Call of Duty Endowment, recently cited “red tape” as one of the most consistent causes of current unemployment experienced by veterans. According to Goldenberg, a pervasive example of that red tape is state licensing requirements for civilian jobs in a number of key professions. Licensing requirements can hamper the attempts of veterans to successfully transfer skills obtained in the military to the civilian workforce. Careers where licensing requirements are most common include health care workers, skilled tradesmen, manufacturers, real estate agents, educators, truck drivers and a number of other respectable and valuable professions.

Not only do we owe it to our nation’s veterans to remove the “red tape,” where it just makes sense, surrounding several career fields but it makes practical (and economic) sense as well. Afterall, why would states not allow men and women who served as medics for our nation’s heroes overseas to continue to provide medical services to civilians here at home? Sure, the act of providing medical services on the front is not wholly the same as providing medical services to those visiting the ER, but still the core concepts remain the same and should be leveraged when possible and practical, especially during a time when health care practitioners are in short supply and high demand.

Service allows individuals to develop a unique set of not only leadership skills but a plethora of additional skills that can be applied to a number of professions. It’s simply a missed opportunity not to take advantage of the skills that veterans have to offer from their time in service – it not only hurts them but hurts our country and industries.

So what exactly can be done to cut red tape for veterans? As with so many things, it will require a synergistic effort from state and local governments, nonprofits, national corporations and even local businesses.

Political leaders can follow the Governor of Michigan’s lead by enacting state legislation that allows veterans and their families who hold out of state licenses to automatically qualify for in-state licensure. This is a first step but by no means the only action that can or should be taken. Perhaps state’s can also enact legislation that would allow licenses to be waived for veterans with active duty experience equivalent to work in specific career fields. And if they aren’t already, fees associated with obtaining occupational licenses should be waived for veterans in each state. Call your governor’s office, local representatives and senators today to request that they look into the logistics of enacting similar measures in your state.

With the government, even on the state level, this process obviously takes time. However, there are steps that can be taken in the meantime to help make finding employment easier for veterans. The HR departments of national corporations can make a commitment to better educate themselves on the benefits of hiring veterans and how to go about doing so. If you think your workplace is missing the leadership and skill sets of veterans, speak up and let them know! Change only happens through action and letting HR know that they may be overlooking a key population that could serve to elevate the company will hopefully result in a precedent for considering more veterans for future employment.

Lastly, it’s important to remember that a number of veterans looking for employment, particularly those who enlisted in the military directly after high school, have never searched, applied or interviewed for a job as a civilian. I would encourage the many successful programs and nonprofits that provide veterans with employment resources to place an extra emphasis on helping veterans to convey and verbalize to potential employers how exactly their success in the military can translate directly to a successful civilian career when preparing for interviews.

Though some action items may be small or slow-going, with a little patience and a lot of persistence they collectively could pay dividends in the future.

Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation, SoldierStrong Donate Robotic Exoskeleton, Virtual Reality Treatment System to Help Vets Take Next Step Forward

The Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation and SoldierStrong today announced donations to the Orlando VA Healthcare System to help injured veterans take their next steps forward in life. The donation included a robotic exoskeleton, which aids in the rehabilitation of veterans who have spinal or brain injuries and can help a paralyzed person walk while using the robotic suit, and an innovative virtual reality system that assists in the treatment of veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress.

“The heroic service of our country’s veterans often includes life-long sacrifices related to their physical and mental health,” said Dick and Betsy DeVos. “SoldierStrong’s revolutionary SoldierSuit technology provides fulfillment and restores joy to veterans by allowing them to reap the physical and emotional benefits of completing everyday activities we take for granted, like getting a cup of coffee, unloading the dishwasher, or walking home with kids from school. We are humbled to be able to provide a SoldierSuit and BraveMind system to the Orlando VA and are deeply grateful for everything veterans have done to protect and uphold America’s freedom.”

Mr. Brady Atomos, one of the many Veterans that will reap the benefits of this immense donation says, “I would like to extend my gratitude to the gracious contribution the donors have given. This machine will change the lives of the veterans that will have the opportunity to train in it. Physical disability is a dramatic shift in life, and the experience to get back even a tiny fraction of what was lost is an enormous stride forward. You have granted hope to many people who have been put in what seems like the face of impossible odds of recovery. Thank you very much.”

SoldierStrong’s BraveMind virtual reality system allows veterans to recreate scenes of war to help them open up about their experiences and work through their emotions with a therapist. The VR equipment gives therapists the ability to customize the world in the virtual reality headset to carefully match an incident’s setting, including sights, sounds and smells.

SoldierStrong, a Stamford, Conn.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to providing advanced medical technologies to help injured veterans lead full lives, has donated virtual reality (VR) hardware and software systems to 22 VA medical centers across the country as part of its focus on reducing post-traumatic stress.

“Virtual reality treatment shows promise in two key areas,” said SoldierStrong co-founder Chris Meek. “It is both clinically effective, and it reduces the stigma that many service members feel about seeking treatment for their post-traumatic stress. With the rise in popularity of virtual reality in non-medical settings, such as video games, entertainment, and even the workplace, there’s convincing evidence that younger veterans will be more inclined to seek treatment using VR techniques than other methods.”