Entering November implies Veterans day is fast approaching and provides a day as a society to honor all of our veterans who have served in U.S. War.
In California there have been major efforts by communities and families to stretch the spot light on veterans to shine throughout the year. One major effort that started in June of 2007 has been the California State Wide Collaborative started a mother of a marine, Mary Ellen Solano. She started the efforts when she witnessed firsthand, how many veterans were falling through the cracks in society.
The mission of the collaborative is to be a strong voice advocating for a wholistic, compassionate continuum of services, treatment and care for our service members, veterans, families, care givers and care providers. The statewide meetings provide a forum to share information and education, raise awareness, focus outreach and promote strategic partnerships that will streamline and improve access to health and human services for veterans. By building fully integrated partnerships of Federal, State, Local and Community, the collaborative hopes to best support our military and families.
The goal set by Mary Ellen is to “have a county collaborative in all 57 counties in California.” With each community bringing unique needs and services for veterans. Currently, there are have been several collaborative that have branched out from the state wide to meet those needs locally including Placer county, Alameda/East Bay, San Joaquin, Monterey and new ones that are forming in Ventura, Santa Rosa and six other northern California counties.
By continuing to tighten our communication and efforts in California, we can better work to assure that individuals and veterans don’t fall through the cracks but rather can connect with the close nit network that has been created.
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