You Can Help Us Solve a Crisis
Depending on the health and wellness issues veterans face, treatment needed outside of what their insurance covers typically costs between $5,000 to $7,000 per veteran.
My name is Steve Freeman, and I am a retired CPA and the Treasurer on the Board of Directors for Veterans Health + Wellness Alliance (VH+WA). I am sharing with you about a real crisis that so many of our country’s post-9/11 veterans are in that our organization is helping to solve, with the help of people just like you.
In my many decades as a CPA in public practice preparing income tax returns, I noticed that most all of my veteran clients had a similar economic disparity in their formative years as younger men and women returning to civilian life after service in our military. After serving four years or more, they are at the age where civilians in the same age bracket have been working for a number of years or have graduated from college and are moving up the ladder in business.
Typically, the skills and learning that was required for their military career seems to be very specific to the military. This can make it difficult for veterans to come out of the military and directly obtain jobs that would pay well and allow them to use their specific skillset in the civilian job market.
What ends up happening is that veterans have to begin retraining for a new job in the civilian job market usually in their middle- or late-20s, when they generally do not have as much parent or financial support for schooling and are living out on their own. They do have the GI bill which helps with some of the cost.
And here is the problem that many of our post-9/11 veterans have faced upon returning to civilian life…
The war doesn’t always end when their time in-service does.
The time and economic disparity they deal with puts them at severe risk when it comes to any kind of medical condition, mental wellness challenges, or symptomatic issues they have as a result of serving our country if their insurance doesn’t cover what they need or it doesn’t last as long as their needs are.
Most veterans simply don’t have the current economics to handle these events.
When you donate to our organization, you are helping us solve this crisis and giving our post-9/11 veterans in Tennessee the ability to overcome the financial barriers to care beyond what insurance companies will pay for. We come alongside and give them access to a variety of services through trusted local providers.
All at no cost to them.
From the start when each of our veterans receives their initial clinical evaluation, VH+WA’s preferred healthcare practitioners and support service providers help address the root cause(s) of the veteran’s struggle and equip them with the tools needed long-term.
Along the way, Veterans Health + Wellness Alliance is kept apprised through a simple, confidential form provided by the practitioners and support servic providers that identifies just two things -- whether forward progress is being made or if a change of direction needs to occur for the veterans they are providing services for.
And, if both parties agree, we are always happy to connect a donor to the specific veteran(s) they have helped through their generosity. This is a wonderful thing and helps build community, relationship, and trust!
As I mentioned,, depending on the issues the veteran is facing, treatment costs generally run between $5,000 to $7,000 per veteran. Would you help us cover the cost of serving one or more of our post-9/11 Tennessee veterans whether through a one-time or monthly donation?
Visit our giving page at www.vhwa.org/donate to make a life-changing difference in the lives of those who have served our country.
Steve Freeman serves as Treasurer on VH+WA’s Board of Directors. His hobbies include racecars, welding, astronomy, tennis, and playing a variety of musical instruments. He and his wife, Ilene, enjoy concerts and outdoor adventures in theirRV, as well as road trips across the country and visits with their kids and grandkids.