Gold Coast Veterans Foundation
Leave No Veteran Behind
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The foundation was established in 2006 to address the critical, unmet and underserved needs of the 42,000 veterans in our community. During a 3 year strategic analysis, 9 specific needs were addressed. These included veteran homelessness, veterans access earned financials and/or health benefits, veteran unemployment, untreated or unresolved PTSD, chemical dependence, mental health, financial self sufficiency and education. Our solution was to create a new, transformative model of care purpose built to address those issues which place veterans or veteran families in harms way. The final solution is appropriately named, the Veterans Connection. The model of care and strategic approach to veteran care also unveiled an new approach to disrupting and ending veterans homelessness. To prove this models efficacy, the organization hired a homeless veteran, completed his formal training and education which included a B.A. in Phycology, and advanced drug and alcohol training.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Veterans Connection
The purpose of the Veterans Connection is to create and nurture a support network that connects veterans to each other and the community. This network consists of volunteers, donors, and other local veteran service providers. Our carefully designed programs target specific areas of concern in order to reduce incidences of substance abuse, homelessness, and incarceration. Transitioning back into society can be difficult. The Veterans Connection provides opportunities for successful reintegration by empowering our veterans and equipping them with the essential knowledge, tools, and skills needed to become valuable, productive members of our society.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Continuum of Care Member 2020
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of homeless participants engaged in housing services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Veterans Connection
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Homeless outreach program launched in 2019, led by a formerly homeless veterans. This organic program engages with 90% of the homeless veterans in the county. 60% of those cases are self orginiated.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The end to veteran suffering and homelessness. To that end, we have crafted a novel, innovative solution that has proven over 36 months to be the single most effective weapon against veterans homelessness, "Mobile Veteran Outreach". A new program launched in 2019 to combat and eventually end veteran homelessness with a new modality of care.
This program is about to launch into it's fullest evolution, "Veterans' Village". An innovate ways to fully "HEAL" and house veterans with 100 % of all required supportive services and partner agencies on-site. The pending new facility will provide bridge housing with integrated supportive services for 100 veterans and their families. The program integrates many healing elements, including the use of organic structures, log cabins and a camping environment with many elements clinically proven to reduce PTSD, a common denominator in 99% of the veterans in our care.
We intend to create a new NATIONAL BLUEPRINT for ending veteran homelessness, Veterans Village in 2023.
Vin Scully, our Voice of Veterans Village outlines the program in this fully articulated animation and voice over.
https://gcvf.org/veterans-village/
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Phase I: Evaluate the first 13 years of the organization's performance. Identify strengths and weaknesses. Adapt new programs to address underserved areas. Eliminate programs which are ineffective or a replication of services within other local nonprofits.
Phase II: Create strategic plan to implement 9 new programs identified during Phase I. Prioritize veterans needs and implement solutions to those individuals or communities most at risk of death, injury, deprived of services, underserved, directly discriminated against.
Phase III: Integrate and refine all programs, create an integrated model of care for the pursuit of ending, deep rooted, systemic issues which either cause or directly contribute to veterans homelessness and suffering. Engage the single greatest threat to veterans at risk, 'Veteran Homelessness". Engage with a new purpose built program led by a formerly homeless veteran. Demonstrate 36 consecutive months of measurable results via Continuum of Care HMIS homeless centralized bases.
Phase IV: Design, Build and Implement Veterans Village, the definitive new national blueprint for ending veterans homelessness. Integrate with community partners via Continuum of Care and it's 59 partner agencies. Engage RAND Corporation to begin the process of a formal review of our modality of care. Provide evidence based support from 2019 through 2022 for analysis. Prepare strategic planning for the launch of the veterans village. Enlist support for elected officials. Transform the problems of the larger systems of care from within, by repairing the "cracks" which exist in all partner agencies.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, many of those we serve have medical condition which are private and confidential.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Gold Coast Veterans Foundation
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2023
Dennis Murphy
Amgen
Dennis Murphy
Amgen
Bill Camarillo
Agromin
Bob Lunde
Lunde Lopez Realty
Joe Black
JSL Technolgies
Robert Lewis
Ablon, Lewis, Bass & Gale
Rudy Reisender
CTS Choice
Brent Reisender
Gold Coast Property Management
Dymond James
Amgen
Leana Thomas
Amgen
Niel Smith
Amgen
David Krehbiel
Attorney
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/20/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.