WYAKIN WARRIOR FOUNDATION

At the Wyakin Foundation (Wyakin), the focus is on strength rather than struggle. Wyakin emphasizes the process of applying the cultural strengths of the veteran experience – discipline, loyalty, selflessness – to create success in the academic setting as a precedent for success beyond. Wyakin serves the men and women who have served us by engaging enrolled veterans in a six-tenet program that guides its Warriors on their road to success. This support allows veterans to develop and build on critical skills and achieve a renewed sense of purpose and self-identity.

Our program supports community engagement and academic success as a precedent for professional success, giving each veteran the tools to complete their education and prepare for success in a civilian career, through delivery of six foundational tenets:
• A Multi-Faceted Mentoring Program: Community leaders engage, challenge, and support Warriors while reinforcing the concepts and skills that will impact the fulfillment of each his/her career potential.
• Professional Skill Development: Warriors attend a monthly professional development series that focuses on topics related to Warrior interest, personal growth, career planning, and financial stability.
• Educational/Financial Assistance: We provide Warriors access to performance-based financial support, in order to help alleviate personal financial challenges that are obstructing their progress on their path towards success.
• Community Impact: We avail Warriors to the benefits of conceptualizing and executing a meaningful project that reawakens their service ethos and impacts their community in a positive way, while providing project management experiences designed to fully prepare Warriors for fulfilling post-military careers.
• Robust Networking: The greater-Wyakin community creates opportunities for Warriors to foster active and mutually beneficial relationships throughout the community as individuals and ambassadors of the Wyakin program.
• Wyakin for Life: We maintain an ongoing dialogue with Wyakin alumni; monitor progress and engage graduates in the Wyakin mission.

The Wyakin Foundation is led by a group of highly dedicated professionals with robust lived experience in both the military and civilian sectors. We pride ourselves on being exceptional stewards of the support we receive, and we aspire always to the highest levels of fiscal and fiduciary responsibility.

At Wyakin we are proud to have a highly skilled staff with diverse backgrounds, education, and areas of expertise. We meet the Warrior where they are at in their transition- physically, emotionally, financially. We know that every Warrior’s journey is unique and our services and support are tailored to meet the specific needs of each individual. It is our high-touch approach that allows us to build meaningful and lasting relationships with each veteran in our program, and it is because of these relationships that we are able to help them transition into a healthy and successful civilian life.

In human terms, what we have accomplished is in many ways incalculable. The meaningful change we’ve helped create for the veterans we’ve served has, in turn, created change for their families, neighbors, co-workers, and fellow veterans. Our belief is that there are no small changes; meaningful change always resonates.

Continuous improvement in the effectiveness of our programs has allowed significant growth in the number of veterans served and the quality of outcomes realized.

The success of the Wyakin program ultimately lends itself to a reach that is both broader and more personalized. Expanding the program to additional communities throughout the country remains a high priority, as does developing programs for transitioning veterans in areas of special interest (such as those seeking STEM degrees or vocational certifications) and those at higher risk (such as those veterans recently released from incarceration). With 200,000 veterans separating from the military each year, the opportunity (and need) for comprehensive transition programs like Wyakin is great.

Social Impact Statistics:

• Warrior Engagement opportunities
In 2019, we will create over 4,000 opportunities to engage with our active Warriors on an individualized basis. This includes:
-Over 400 individual mentoring sessions
-Over 400 individual counseling sessions with our social worker
-Over 1,300 person/hours of professional development curriculum
-Over 2,500 networking opportunities
-Additionally, we will have over 600 engagement opportunities with Wyakin alumni.

• Depth of Engagement
-On average, we serve each Warrior for 2.9 years (not counting ongoing service to our alums, which is in perpetuity). Cumulatively, we have provided over 140 years of service to active Warriors since our founding.

• Community Engagement
-In 2019, nearly 100 active volunteers will contribute over 1,300 hours of time to serving our Warriors.