Dear Volunteers,
Thank you to all who were able to attend the Buddy-to-Buddy Volunteer Veteran Retraining Webinar on August 5. It was our first venture into web-based training and we’ve gotten largely positive feedback so far. It was an interesting and fun experience, and great to have Adam Jando as our speaker for the mental health and suicide prevention portion of the training. We sent a recording of the webinar to you all last week and more info about it is included farther down in this newsletter. If you’re more than 3 years out from your initial training or retraining, please make sure to view the recording; we will be following up if you haven’t! I sincerely hope this effort helps you better serve our veterans and service members.
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As I’ve mentioned in our support calls, one of the greatest strengths of our volunteer corps is how active you are in the veteran community, even beyond Buddy-to-Buddy. Every time you help a veteran or service member, even if it isn’t through a call from our office or while you’re wearing your Buddy-to-Buddy hat at an armory or event, please remember to log those interactions in the website. Many of you already do so, but I know there are many who understandably forget. Every time you help someone who put on the uniform, it is part of our greater effort to provide peer support and improve the quality of life of our veterans.
Thank you for all that you do. Enjoy the nice weather while it lasts!
Bill Bryan
Program Manager
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We are thrilled to welcome these new volunteers to our team this month!
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Darius Frierson
Air Force Veteran, Ypsilanti
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Donnie Towns
Army Veteran, Boyne City
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Tim Wiza
Navy Veteran, Milan
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Month in Review | July 2019
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Number of service members and veterans assisted:
73
Concerns identified:
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This past month, financial and housing/homelessness concerns were the top two issues you handled.
Top interaction log submitters:
Paul Jingozian - 41
Steve Alguire - 16
Richie Roberts - 11
John Bombetto - 8
Robert Calhoun - 7
Fred Honerkamp - 7
Ron Springer - 7
Number of drill/outreach events attended:
50
Most drill/outreach events attended and logged:
Barbara Brennan - 5
Fred Turk - 3
Cliff Tholen - 3
Thank you for taking the time to submit your logs and using the website to communicate with us. These submissions are key in helping us continue to serve Michigan’s veterans.
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This Month's Training Anniversaries
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The following volunteers are celebrating their training anniversaries with the program this month:
Eight Years!
Richard Edmonds
Seven Years
Delia Baker
Three Years
Bianca Racine
Bill Stead
Two Years
Brandon Dunlap
Keven Johnson
Richard LeAnna
Steve LeAnna
Ron Zaleski
Thank you for your service!
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Brush Up On Your Skills By Retraining
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Has it been a while since you went through New Volunteer Training?
A lot has changed. Do you think you might benefit from going through it again?
If so, we have two great options for brushing up on your skills: an online recorded webinar or in-person training.
Retraining Webinar:
If it’s been three years or more since you went through our volunteer training, please watch the recording of our recent Retraining Webinar
here
.
The entire webinar is just over an hour long. Before you watch the webinar, please take the pre-training mental health and suicide survey
here
.
After watching the webinar, please take the post-training mental health and suicide survey as well as the general training survey
here
and
here
, respectively.
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In-Person Training:
You can retrain by attending an upcoming New Volunteer Training. We offer these on a near-monthly basis either at our office in Ann Arbor or at various sites throughout the state. Free lunch provided!
Currently, our next scheduled in-person training will be on
Friday, September 13
at our office in
Ann Arbor
.
Contact us to schedule an In-Person Training.
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Interested in Representing Buddy-to-Buddy at an Event?
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Below are some upcoming events where we need volunteer coverage:
August
- Sat., Aug 24: Suicide Prevention and Motorcycle Awareness Event in Milan
- Sat., Aug 24: Northwest Michigan Veterans/Military Expo in Cadillac
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September
- Fri, Sept 6: Homeless Stand Down in Bad Axe
- Wed., Sept 11: UAW-Ford Michigan Assembly Plant Education/Health Fair in Wayne
- Fri., Sept 13: Veteran Mental Health Summit in Kalamazoo
- Sat., Sept 21: Out of the Darkness Ann Arbor Community Suicide Prevention Walk in Ann Arbor
- Sun., Sept 22: West Michigan Veterans’ Coalition and the Freedom Cruise in Comstock Park
- Sat., Sept 28: Fort Clarkston Military and Family Day in Clarkston
October
- Fri., Oct 4: St. Joseph County Veterans Stand Down in Centreville
November
- Sat., Nov 2: Soar Like and Eagle Veterans Conference in Pontiac
- Sat., Nov 16: Veteran Resource Fair in Detroit
Ongoing
- Mondays, Warriors to Work in Detroit
- Wednesdays, Warrior Wednesdays in Detroit
If you would like to represent Buddy-to-Buddy at any of the events above or some other veteran-focused event in your community, contact Amy Kienast at
amkienas@umich.edu
or (734) 998-5829.
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Resource Highlight:
Everyone for Veterans
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Everyone for Veterans
is a national grassroots effort by volunteer dental professionals who provide free dental care. Veterans and spouses of veterans who have been deployed to combat/conflict areas and who have financial challenges and are low-income are eligible.
Learn more here
.
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Do you know anyone who would be a great B2B Volunteer? Requests for assistance from Buddy-to-Buddy are increasing and we need more volunteers in these locations:
Adrian
Ann Arbor
Bad Axe
Big Rapids
Clare
Dearborn/Dearborn Heights
Detroit
Farmington Hills
Flint
Hillsdale/Coldwater
Jackson
Redford
Rochester Hills
Southfield
Wyandotte/Trenton/Riverview
Ypsilanti
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If you run across someone who would be a great volunteer, please contact Amy at (734) 998-5829 or
amkienas@umich.edu
and let her know, or you can have them fill out an application
here
.
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Collecting Info about Veterans Day Events & Holiday Help for Service Members and Veterans
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Veterans Day is only 3 months away!
Please forward any Veterans Day events and discounts to Amy at
amkienas@umich.edu
so she can start a compiling a list that she'll later share with you.
Many organizations have special programs around the holidays to provide meals and gifts to military and veteran families. Quite often applications for these programs have to be submitted by early fall for a family to ask for assistance. If you know of any organizations offering these special holiday programs, please send that info to Amy at
amkienas@umich.edu
so she can compile a resource list.
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If you know any veterans who enjoy nature and the outdoors but don’t have the means to head up north and/or rent a cabin, tell them about
Camp Liberty
and its upcoming Open House event! Service members and veterans can attend this free event with their families, enjoy a BBQ lunch, tour the grounds and cabin, and learn about various outdoor activities that the camp has to offer.
Click here
to view the event flyer.
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Need Any New Program Supplies? Let Us Know!
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Are you running low on program materials? Are you unsure about whether the materials you have are the most current versions? If so, please contact Jamie Majer at (734) 998-5825 or
jmajer@umich.edu
and the supplies you need will be ordered and sent to you as soon as possible.
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Bill Bryan, Jamie Majer, Paul Jingozian, Amy Kienast, and Mark Lindke at the grand opening of Buddy's Pizza in Plymouth. Buddy's donated $1 for every pizza sold during the first week at this location to our program.
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Volunteers John Bombetto (L) and Mo De La O (R) with Geoffrey Devereaux at VFW Post 1370 in Pontiac.
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Amy Kienast at the Ann Arbor VA Hospital.
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Don Olson at Region 9 VCAT's VetFest in Brighton.
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Dick Overton at the Kalamazoo Vet Expo.
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Mark Lindke and Barbara Brennan at the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show.
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Ken Wood at the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show.
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Buddy-to-Buddy Volunteer Veteran Program
2025 Traverwood Dr., Suite C | Ann Arbor | MI | 48105
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