MOAA Mentorship: How a MOAA Foundation Grant is Helping Veterans Succeed

MOAA Mentorship: How a MOAA Foundation Grant is Helping Veterans Succeed
Col. Larry Zinser, USMC (Ret), a member of MOAA’s Charlotte-Metrolina Chapter, serves as a mentor to Mitchell C. Robinson, a former Army captain, under a program funded by a MOAA Foundation Community Outreach grant. (Courtesy photo)

By MOAA Staff

A MOAA Foundation grant has allowed a North Carolina MOAA chapter to connect with transitioning servicemembers in its community, building generational relationships and helping veterans navigate a difficult time in their lives and careers.

The MOAA Charlotte-Metrolina Chapter received a MOAA Foundation Community Outreach grant last year after submitting a top-scoring application. The money has helped establish and operate a mentor/mentee program for transitioning veterans through a partnership with the Charlotte-based Veterans Bridge Home (VBH), a nonprofit that connects veterans to area support services.

[RELATED: MOAA Announces Online Giving Campaign to Help Local Military Communities]

“Our chapter was very fortunate to be awarded a maximum $5,000 grant,” said Col. Ron Morgan, USMCR (Ret), past chapter president and membership program coordinator. VBH helps the chapter identify and train members that participate in the program, Morgan said; as of January 2019, there are 14 active mentor/mentee pairings in a pilot program, including seven chapter members serving as mentors.

How You Can Help

Through March, all donations made online to the MOAA Foundation at MOAA.org/Foundation will be used to fund similar grants for MOAA councils and chapters serving military members and veterans, and their families, in their communities. In 2018, the MOAA Foundation also received a major grant from the Express Scripts Foundation directly supporting the Community Outreach grant program.

These grants target assistance efforts in one of nine areas of critical need: Housing, food assistance, employment, health (including behavioral health), family support, community reintegration, financial assistance, legal assistance, and transportation.

Please consider a donation to help fund the vital community work undertaken by MOAA's council and chapter members, whose local efforts embody MOAA's motto, “Never Stop Serving.”

How Can MOAA Help You?

Council and chapter members interested in applying for a MOAA Foundation Community Outreach grant can do so here, but act fast - applications close Feb. 28. Get more information about the grant process (including application criteria) here, and learn more about the Foundation here.

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