NM Veterans Integration Centers (VIC)
Helping Veterans & Families, Beyond the Battlefield
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our organization aims to help address the growing problem of homelessness and insecure housing among Veteran families in New Mexico. In 2018 US HUD reported that NM was one of four states where the homeless Veteran population increased in the last three years (16.7%). And with 23% of New Mexicans living in poverty, approximately 15-18% of them are Veteran families. And, even in a year where our state had a $2B revenue, Veteran homelessness had $0 approved to reduce the overall population. Even in this situation, the VIC is trying to provide the best possible resources and opportunities to NM Veterans and their families so that we can end Veteran homelessness once and for all in NM.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Transitional Housing Program
Transitional housing options that enable Veteran families to build an achievable plan leading to stable housing and financial independence. Generally provided from 9 to 12 months in length.
Rapid Re-Housing
The third tier of housing stability, Veteran families are moved into permanent housing options and continue to be provided comprehensive wrap-around services for up to 9 months.
Emergency Housing Program
Provide immediate housing to literally homeless Veterans and their families in a supportive and safe accommodations. Generally for up to 7 days, this allows staff to evaluate the Veterans situations and transition them into other housing programs. We also provide funds to other orgs already helping Veterans that may not have access to funding for the same need throughout NM
Nutrition Education and Food Pantry
Provides over 1100 Veteran and non-Veteran families with essential food sources in the impoverished 87123 zip code. Each family is provided a 3-day meal box based on their family size. Nutrition education and cooking classes are provided to enrolled Veterans in our programs.
Donations and Move-In Program
Up to 85% of our donations, including furniture and other items, are re-distributed to Veteran families in our programs turning a "house" into a "home". The only program in NM doing this, we provide all furniture when Veterans move into permanent housing options. We also provide move-in services using other Veterans as labor to help give back to our Veteran community.
Operation Warrior Recovery
Using a certified Peer Specialist, with lived experience, we provide a "battle buddy" to each client so that they can ask questions, express concerns, or have a lending ear to listen to their struggles and help them succeed in recovery
Operation Warrior Recovery - Counseling Support Program
The VIC now provides in-house counseling services for individual and group therapies. We apply a modified IOP approach that focuses on the struggles that led to the Veterans homelessness. We do not administer medications, but rather focus on the comprehensive approach to addressing the complex issues that can make a Veteran homeless, and plague them for years when not treated. We also offer telehealth for those Veterans in remote areas that cannot make it to our offices.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
CARF 2018
CARF 2019
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of service recipients who are employed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Families
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
numbers are in overall clients served
Average number of service recipients per month
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Veterans, Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of veterans with PTSD served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
PTSD can be from a wide range of situations and does not only represent those who served in combat
Number of households that obtain/retain permanent housing for at least 6 months
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Actual number of households and includes all housing programs
Number of families assisted with rent or mortgage to avoid eviction
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Families
Related Program
Rapid Re-Housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Context Notes
Actual number of families provided Homeless Prevention services through our Rapid Re-housing program.
Number of households furnished
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Veterans, Families
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Over 90% of our donations go directly back to the Veteran community to furnish their new homes when moving into permanent housing
Number of families served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Number of low-income households who have received utilities assistance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Veterans
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Decreasing
Number of homeless participants engaged in mental health services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Homeless people, Veterans
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of families who report that service and support staff/providers are available and capable of meeting family needs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Homeless people, Veterans
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Percent of actual clients completing surveys
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?
Our goal at the VIC is to be the premiere organization that Veteran families call for any problem. Whether it is homelessness or connection to other resources, the VIC works to provide resources and information to all New Mexico Veteran families and improve the quality of life for them through a unified network of over 100 supporting organizations working statewide to solve the problem of Veteran homelessness.
AS we continue to improve on our housing outcomes, 78% 12-months after exit, we strive to ensure that every Veteran family has the essential resources and support to make them sustainable and self-sufficient. Our approach relies heavily on our staff's commitment to provide a comprehensive approach of support and ensuring that each Veteran is able to address those needs before exiting VIC programs. We believe we can increase our housing stability rate to 85% with the support of community providers, and the financial resources to do the same.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
By applying multiple layers of comprehensive approaches to problem-solving, each Veteran family is empowered to address their issues collaboratively with their case management team. This includes addressing multiple layers of complex problems that allow the organization to walk with the Veteran in their recovery process. We believe in providing a hand-up, not a hand-out when supporting Veteran families and empower them to be productive members of society through their attainment of independence and self-sufficiency.
By evaluating our systems and tracking our Veteran families served for up to one year after exit, the VIC is able to ensure that the services, financial support and resources provided to each Veteran family are working and effective to ending homeless with continued positive outcomes.
Whether it is addressing mental illness, low education, criminal history, low job income, or other other issues affecting their ability to be self-sufficient, the VIC works to ensure that problems are solved before Veterans leave the program. By addressing their issues as they would have while in service, the VIC enables a Veteran to feel positive about their future and gain the tools necessary for long-term sustainability and independence.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We provide a wide array of services in-house, and develop strong community relationships with key service providers that enable our Veteran families to address almost any issue that affects their lives. As we continue to grow, the VIC looks for new opportunities to increase services internally allowing us to more quickly affect problems that our Veteran clients present and increase the likelihood of their successful outcomes and long-term independence.
Through peer support, we provide positive reinforcement that has been proven highly effective in the Veteran population. Because of their military training, peer support works as a method to remind Veterans that they do not walk this journey alone and always have someone to call, even if just to ask advice or lean on for moral support.
Our staff have extensive military experience, and a wealth of knowledge and training in social services, including multiple staff licensed to provide clinical support, as needed. We have strong relationships with federal and state partners that enable quick and positive interactions with other services including the Dept. of Veteran Affairs and state mental health authorities. By continuing to strengthen these networks our team members are able to increase positive outcomes and reduce recidivism.
We hope, in the near future, to establish a single site campus that can provide even more services, resources and programs internally to our organization, that can help increase positive outcomes and expand the ability for us to help more Veteran families in need, an ever growing population of the homeless.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We continue to have an increase in our long-term outcomes. We currently boast a 75% success rate 12-months after exit when the national average is on 65%. Our program outcomes continue to increase overall and the services we provide are expanding based on that success.
We have been recognized by both government and non-governmental entities for our innovative approaches to problem-solving and work to expand those opportunities through new relationships and the design of new service programs and increase funding support.
Our organizational growth has increased by 35% in less than one year, and we hope to continue this growth that will enable the development of our single campus project to become reality. We also intend to create more remote working employees who can connect with Veteran families in the most remote sections of our state and provide services where none exist.
We have and continue to maintain our CARF certification of excellence since 2012 and are always working to improve our systems and practices.
Finally, we intend to increase our partnerships with both social service agencies and private companies. This will help the organization grow and allow us to provide more services strengthening the ability of the Veteran family to be successful for the long-term.
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 identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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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 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 act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection
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.
NM Veterans Integration Centers (VIC)
Board of directorsas of 06/21/2021
Mr Henry Andrews
Chairman, NMVIC
Term: 2016 - 2021
Gerard Becker
Director
Edward Lovato
Director
Gary Peterson
Director
Charles Price
Secretary
Marti Wolf
Director
Robert O'Leary
Director
Teddy Parker
Director
Leonard Armstrong
Director
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
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/26/2020GuideStar 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 employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- 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.