To Business Matchmaking Participants and Other Veteran Owned Businesses
Welcome to the National Veterans Foundation
A Message from Martin Sheen
Since the National Veterans Foundation's Founder & President, Captain Meshad returned from Vietnam, he has been credited with being the “Paul Revere of Trauma” and working with the government to create the Vet Center program that now serve veterans in every state with 300 locations. He is one of a handful of experts who are responsible for the long overdue awareness of PTSD and the demands that condition makes on our entire nation.
30 years ago, Shad started the National Veterans Foundation. 400,000 veterans have experienced benefits from that group. The most compelling aspect is their crisis hotline, the Lifeline for Vets, where veterans that are trained to help other veterans process 10,000 calls a year.
It’s believed that the 22 veteran suicides per day may be a low number since some states with large veteran populations were not included in the VA report from which the 22 number originated. Even if only one hero took his or her own life, there would be need for concern.
The NVF is expanding the crisis line to 24/7 which will enable our trained Veterans counselors to handle about 25,000 annual calls from Veterans seeking assistance.
At the same time, the NVF is leading the campaign to address the unfortunate issue reflected in the statistic that 4 times as many female vets are homeless in proportion to their active-duty total when compared to men on the streets.
There are major corporations that do outstanding service by hiring vets, offering Vet owned companies contracts, supporting a wide range of Vet related community activities and more. But, the strange economy of recent years has diminished corporate participation and so we are asking veterans in business around the country to make a small donation that will help us deal with a giant problem.
A $100 donation to the National Veterans Foundation is, of course, tax deductible and will pay for 2 more suicide prevention crisis interventions by the foundation. Our goal is to secure donations from 10,000 Veterans or Veteran owned companies, thus raising $1,000,000 for the needed expansion of the hotline, the training of the veteran counselors and the equipment necessary to provide round-the-clock help for our brothers and sisters who are desperate.