Paulding County Rotary Club president, John Grant brought the meeting to order and covered all calendar events approaching the Club with updates and progress reports. Mr. Grant introduced Steve Schiffman of Operation Not Forgotten.
Mr. Schiffman introduced himself and thanked the Rotary Club members for the opportunity to share information with them about his cause and the purpose of this non-profit group. Operation Not Forgotten is a national organization of volunteers dedicated to bringing a better quality of life to our veterans and their families.
It is common knowledge and no surprise to anyone that our veterans come home to a very disorganized and woefully inadequate Veterans Administration. Our military servicemen and women undergo much trauma, both physical and mental, during combat. The VA can barely manage to accommodate adequate medical treatment for our veterans wounded in the line of service, and there is almost no psychiatric help available. In addition, most of the medical doctors at the VA are not servicemen and have no common ground with the patients they treat.
As a nation, and a government we are failing to meet the desperate and growing needs of our servicemen and women. Of our veterans 85% have families and 80% of them come back from service poor. This fact compounds the anxiety with those already suffering from PTSD. The suicide rate among veterans both men and women is extremely high and climbing. The homeless rate for veterans is also growing at an alarming rate. This crisis is happening throughout the United States - even here in Paulding County.
The mission of Operation Not Forgotten (ONF) is to provide services that support the well-being of veterans and their families. ONF connects veterans with other veterans -- buddies they can trust. The purpose of Operation Not Forgotten is to measurably enhance and improve a veteran's quality of life and functioning in four areas: mental, emotional, social, and spiritual. Under the umbrella of Operation Not Forgotten, they are implementing Vet Life Community. Vet Life Community is a network of local weekly support meetings - veterans helping veterans face to face - offering the tools necessary to assess current levels of functioning and determine what, if any, help veterans may need as they transition back into life outside the military. Meetings are free for all participating veterans and their loved ones.Vet Life Community is designed to create a confidential, community-based meeting placeto help veterans and their families. These groups will use the Vet Life Step By Step Handbook and other materials, and each participant will be offered the opportunity to take an online Quality of Life Assessment™ and work with a life coach, all at no cost to the veteran.
Mr. Schiffman has partnered with Bethany Baptist Church in Dallas, Georgia to provide a meeting place for veterans. Paulding Vet Life Community meetings take place every Thursday (6:30 p.m.) at the Bethany Christian Church Parsonage Annex Building located at 3264 Villa Rica Highway, Dallas, GA. 30157. Currently meetings are for male veterans only. Family meetings will start soon. If you would like to be trained as a Life Coach, participating in meetings, donate, or find out more about Vet Life Community and Operation Not Forgotten, call or email 770-947-8606 / . Website: www.OperationNotForgotten.com