Montgomery County Veterans Coalition

our Coalition focuses our collective efforts on ensuring all entry points in our community, whether civilian, transitioning out of service, or veteran specific, have knowledge of all resources that are available in our community. Through the vast number of partnering organizations and our coordinating efforts, we ensure a veteran family receives the holistic help they need. Within our well-established network, veteran families are best served by several specialized organizations versus one single all-knowing point of entry. Additionally, we are focused on increasing a veteran’s connectedness to other veterans, the civilian population, and the community at large. MCVC keeps members and veterans connected through distribution of informational newsletters, educational workshops, and community events.

1. Communication/Education
MCVC brings the veteran community together to fuel our flow of veteran information, and to ensure information flows to and between organizations in our community. We guide systems thinking practitioners in peer problem solving conversations to create solutions for our veteran community. We provide a safe environment for workers to be involved in multi-disciplinary collaborative work to share and learn from one another. MCVC works to address existing issues, our goal is to be proactive and preventative in nature. We ensure community workers, civilians, mental and physical health professionals, are educated in areas of military/veteran culture, the unique issues of transitioning soldiers, and the issues veterans and their families face so that we may improve the quality of care veterans receive in our community.
2. Resources, Referrals, and Collaboration
MCVC builds the capacity of our veteran community through our collective impact using consulting, networking, referrals, and collaboration to address our veteran’s complex issues. There is a need to know where to get help, what is available in the community, identify gaps in service, maximize the impact of community resources, identification of complex veteran issues, and what services are needed. We guide systems thinking practitioners in peer problem solving conversations to create solutions for our veteran community. We provide a safe environment for workers to be involved in multi-disciplinary collaborative work to share and learn from one another. MCVC addresses existing issues, our goal is to be proactive and preventative whenever possible.
3. Advocacy
Montgomery County has the 2nd largest, and soon to be largest, population of veterans, as well as the largest number of 100% wounded warriors. This means that our county has unique issues that require a local advocate to be a voice for area veterans. It is important that veteran needs and desires are represented at every level of our community. Advocacy is not just being the voice for veterans, but also empowering others to find their own voice. Being a community advocate includes being a liaison to represent veterans with decision makers such as legislators, community leaders, the business community, non- profits, and various other areas of influence. It includes ensuring veterans are being recognized for the sacrifice they have made, as well as, the contribution they continue to make in our community. It requires an ultimate goal of empowering veterans and their families to advocate for themselves.

1. Communication/Education
- Identify and promote education opportunities in these areas of prevention, physical and mental well-being
- Produce and maintain an in-depth searchable online directory to provide resources to properly serve the veteran community.
- Provide online access to educational videos, webinars, and other training material
- Host a monthly coalition meeting that provides educational presentations, networking opportunities, and open discussions.
- Provide subject matter experts as speakers at MCVC Monthly Meetings and community education events
- Research relevant literature to understand veterans needs, latest advances, and disseminate new or relevant information.
- Publish educational articles in the local media.
- Use surveys and MCVC meeting open discussion times to aid in identifying issues and creating solutions.

2. Resources, Referrals, and Collaboration
- Serve as a liaison between organizations to promote and assist collaboration in order to create solutions without creating unnecessary duplications, thereby maximizing the impact of community resources.
- Produce and maintain an in-depth searchable online directory to provide resources to properly serve the veteran community
- Resource and provide solutions for community partners for complex cases.
- Create and join multidisciplinary teams with multi-mission driven organizations to address complex veteran community issues.
- Build the capacity of our veteran community through collective impact.

3. Advocacy
- Educating community workers and veterans as to their rights, benefits, and how to navigate systems
- Assisting our members in advocating for their veterans
- Advocating for individual veterans when the need arises
- Cultivate and maintain relationships with decision makers, such as legislators, community leaders etc.
- Advocate for veteran friendly legislation
- Help ensure veteran consumers have culturally appropriate services delivered in ways that respect their beliefs and values.
- Attend meeting, public hearings, conferences, community listening sessions
- Create, attend, or assist in community events that honor and/ or advocate for veterans
- Create systemic change through education, communication, and collaboration.

1. Communication/Education
Our weekly newsletter is sent to all coalition members and includes evidence based research relevant to veteran issues. Response and engagement rates for our newsletter exceed those of most other industries. Our semi-annual survey yields actionable insights regarding the state of veteran services in the community.
2. Resources, Referrals, and Collaboration
As of 2021 we have over three hundred coalition members that represent community organizations, businesses, local leaders, and veterans themselves all dedicated to the same mission: supporting service members, veterans, and their families. Average monthly meeting attendance is above 40 organizational representatives and is increasing year over year.
3. Advocacy
In 2015, MCVC partnered with the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) to create the first all-inclusive Veterans Day on the Hill since after World War II. We successfully passed 7 out of 8 proposed pieces of legislation since that time. Also, during that time we committed to the creation of Tennessee Veterans (TVET), which is an umbrella organization whose sole purpose is to create recommendations and ensure passage of veteran focused legislation for the entire state. In 2021, we are advocating for the passage of three veteran related bills by attending committee meetings, providing supporting research, and engaging legislators directly to discuss our initiatives.