As part of Goodwill Manasota’s American Veterans and their Families Initiative and ongoing commitment to helping veterans, Goodwill recently assembled a Veterans Task Force comprised of local community leaders to help raise awareness of veteran issues and promote veteran services.
“We wanted to put together a group of community leaders who know about this issue and can speak freely about it. As a think tank, we think we can move forward and really help our veterans,” said Bob Rosinsky, president and CEO of Goodwill Manasota. “The least we can do is help them get back to work – from deployment to employment.”
The difficulties veterans face when returning home from active duty hit close to home with Rosinsky, whose father served in the Army in the Pacific theater, whose mother was a nurse with the FBI, and whose uncle spent four years as a Japanese prisoner of war during WWII.
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Rosinsky notes that as veterans are discharged from the military, the demand for services designed to facilitate their reintegration into their communities, families and jobs is immense. “Every time I turn around, I read another article about what isn’t happening with veterans struggling with benefits, reintegration and readjusting with their families after having been deployed,” explained Rosinsky. “The fact is that there are a lot of services that most veterans don’t even know about.”
Goodwill's Veterans Initiative provides job training, placement and employment services to thousands of veterans as well as their spouses and families. Goodwill also recently published a Veterans Resource Guide in print and online to provide veterans with a comprehensive list of locally available services.
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U.S. Army Veteran Steven V. knows firsthand how helpful Goodwill’s veteran services can be. “In my case, it was almost five years before I even started talking to anybody about getting help,” said Steven. “I didn’t know 75% of the things that were actually available to me until I actually talked to someone who knew what they were talking about and were willing to help me get to where I needed to be.”
That someone was Goodwill’s Veterans Program Manager, Christopher Davis, a 14-year Army veteran who oversees Goodwill’s Veterans Initiative.
“Chris has helped me find jobs and he introduced me to Carlos, who is the job search representative at Goodwill. He introduced me to a guy named John who is a commander at one of the local TAVs, who has been working with me on my PTSD disability,” explained Steven. “He’s talked with me about making a budget for myself, and since they’ve started helping me out with things, things have definitely gotten a lot better in my life.”
Our veteran task force has since been charged with the mission of providing a leadership role in addressing strategic issues and providing community-supported solutions to the problems facing veterans and their families concerning employment and transitioning into civilian life. The task force consists of:
John Annis of the Community Foundation of Sarasota, who is a Marine along with his wife and son
Tom Biasi, 2nd Vice President of the Military Officers Association of Sarasota and an Army veteran whose son is currently serving in Afghanistan
Christopher Davis, Goodwill Manasota Veterans Program Manager and an Army veteran
Margie Genter, Goodwill Manasota Vice President of Mission
Linda Gould, coordinator of the Patterson Foundation’s Legacy of Valor campaign and an Army veteran
Joni Hansen with Congressman Vern Buchanan’s office who serves as a veteran service rep and military academy coordinator
Mitch Helton of Northern Trust and a Navy veteran
Carl Hunsinger of the American Veterans in Manatee County and a retired Airforce command chief
John McKay, former Goodwill board member and state senator
Bob Rosinsky, Goodwill Manasota President and CEO
Greg Steube, State Representative serving Manatee and Sarasota Counties and an Army veteran
Matt Yahraus of Brown & Brown Insurance, who recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan
