Veterans Bridge Home Inc

THE MISSION OF VETERANS BRIDGE HOME IS: A STRONGE4R COMMUNITY. ONE VETERAN AT A TIME.

VETERANS BRIDGE HOME SERVES AS THE BACKBONE ORGANIZATION FOR NCSERVES MARKETS: CHARLOTTE, TRIAD, TRIANGLE AND FAYETTEVILLE AS A COORDINATED CARE NETWORK CONNECTING SEVICE MEMBERS, VETERANS, AND MILITARY FAMILIES TO SERVICES THROUGH A COLLECTIVE IMPACT MODEL TO IMPROVE SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH. IN 2021, VETERANS BRIDGE HOME CONNECTED 2,644 VETERAN SERVICE MEMBER FAMILIES, A 9% INCREASE, TO 6,191 SERVICES, AN AVERAGE OF 2.3 SERVICES PER FAMILY. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)THE TOP 3 NEEDS WERE: HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL ENRICHMENT WITH THESE CATEGORIES MAKING UP 51% OF ALL NETWORK REQUESTS. IN 2021, THE NETWORK RESOLVES 85% OF ALL REQUESTS FAVORABLY. VBH AND THE NCSERVES NETWORK ARE COMMITTED TO SERVING A DIVERSE POPULATION OF VETERANS THROUGHOUT OUR COMMUNITY. IN 2021, 27% OF VETERANS SERVED WERE FEMALE; 48.8% BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN, 1% AMERICAN INDIAN/ALASKA NATIVE, 4.4% IDENTIFIED AS HISPANIC/LATINO. EXCLUDING REQUESTS FOR HOUSING, THERE WERE 1,081 CLIENTS WITH 2 OR MORE IDENTIFIED CO-OCCURING NEEDS. THIS ACCOUNTS FOR 41% OF OUR CLIENTS WHO HAD MULTIPLE NEEDS ADDRESSED OTHER THAN HOUSING.

THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR'S DATA SHOWED A DECREASE IN VETERAN UNEMPLOYMENT FROM 6.5% IN 2020 TO 4.4% IN 2021 OF VETERANS 18 YEARS AND OVER. VETERAN EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT REMAINS A TOP NEED IN OUR COMMUNITY. IN 2021, VETERANS BRIDGE HOME RECEIVED 517 EMPLOYMENT SUPPORT REQUESTS AND 812 SERVICE REQUESTS. OUR ORGANIZATION WORKS WITH OVER 23 VETERAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS IN AND OUT OF NETWORK TO PROVIDE VETERANS WIT HJOB-READINESS WORKSHOPS, INTERVIEW SKILS AND ENGAGEMENT IN HIRING EVENTS. WE ALSO DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN STRONG RELATIONSHIPS WITH OVER 250 LOCAL EMPLOYERS; SOME WHO ARE NATIONAL, TO ASSIST THEM TO RECRUIT, HIRE AND RETAIN VETERAN TALENT.

VBH CONTINUES TO PRIORITIZE BUILDING SOCIAL CAPITAL FOR VETERAN FAMILIES, ADDRESSING THE SUICIDE RISK FACTOR OF ISOLATION, THROUGH A VARIETY OF EVENTS PROMOTING PERSON AND PROFESSIONAL NETWORK AND WELL-BEING. WE HAVE OVER 5,000 VETERANS IN THE CHARLOTTE MARKET ALONE. WHILE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC GREATLY IMPACTEDOUR SOCIAL ENRICHMENT EFFORTS IN THE COMMUNITY, WE WERE ABLE TO SHIFT FROM PRIMARILY IN-PERSON TO 168 VIRTUAL AND SOCIALLY DISTANCED EVENTS TO INCLUDE VOLUNTEER EVENTS. WE CONTINUE TO ENGAGE VETERANS THROUGHOUT THE COMMUNITY THROUGH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER, BY ENGAGING VETERAN EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS AND IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. (CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O)WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO PROVIDE THESE VETERANS WITH THE MEANS TO INCREASE THEIR SOCIAL CAPITAL, RESULTING IN A MORE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY AND AN INCREASED SENSE OF INDIVIDUAL WELLBEING DURING A TIME OF UNCERTAINTY PRESENTED BY THE PANDEMIC.