Heroes & Leaders

This past year United Way’s Community Heroes Project has provided invaluable training for veterans, service members and their families 
 

 
It has been almost one year since we had the pleasure of launching the Community Heroes Project, a free volunteer leader training program for veterans, service members, and their families. 

Over the last 11 months, we’ve had the opportunity to train a total of 24 enthusiastic, motivated, and community-minded individuals from across the Hudson Valley with over 200 years of combined military service. These veterans, service members and military family members worked together to address and tackle pressing issues in our community.

We held three trainings in March, June, and August. We received a great deal of support, including hosting the trainings, from local colleges and other organizations, including Dutchess Community College, Mount Saint Mary College, and the Beacon Housing Authority. The three cohorts of Community Heroes varied in size, but each group participated in more than seven hours of training and discussion.

The groups were given a platform to discuss the issues they see in their community that need to be addressed. It was great to see each group bond not only over their years of service or ties to the military, but also their desire to make a difference in their community. 

The first step after discussing the issues was to choose which one of those issues they wanted to tackle. All three groups decided they wanted to work to help other veterans in the area in different capacities. They felt very passionately about helping other veterans and using their experience to assist in some way.

Throughout the rest of the training, each group learned about all the steps they would need to follow to set up a service project to tackle these issues. We discussed fundraising, budgeting, recruiting and retaining volunteers, and more. The groups even participated in some team-building activities to help them get to know each other a little better. Then they worked to devise a plan for their own projects.

Each of the three cohorts successfully completed at least one project. The first cohort participated in a clean-up in the City of Poughkeepsie and also organized a beautification project at Castle Point VA. At the VA  they did some gardening and planted some trees to spruce up the area right near one of the main entrances. 

The second cohort decided to work with SquirrelWood Equine Sanctuary, an organization that has an Equine Therapy program for veterans. Their goal was to help the SquirrelWood staff tackle tasks that they may not be able to get to as quickly, due to their small size. They helped paint fences around the farm to help protect and preserve the structures. They not only organized one, but three projects with the farm and plan to continue working together. They have formed their own group called Veterans Bridging Communities.

The Beacon Housing Authority hosted the third cohort. This group was made up of both residents and other community members. They are currently working to develop a project that will benefit the Housing Authority and its residents. The plan is for the project to pay tribute to veterans who have served, especially those who are living there.

We are so grateful for these Community Heroes and all the amazing work they continue to do for our community. We can’t wait to see what they tackle next! United Way will continue to work on behalf of veterans through Mission United.

— Emily Sassano
(Emily served as Community Heroes Project/AmeriCorps Member for the Community Heroes Project along with Brian O’Keefe. She is now  the new Development Coordinator at UWDOR.)

 

Annual Sponsors

Premier Annual Sponsors: Central Hudson Gas & Electric, M&T Bank, Orange & Rockland, Pratt & WhitneyAnnual Sponsors: IBM, Resorts World, RBT, TD Bank, Ulster Savings