Jan
18, 2016
Creating Serendipity for Veterans in Whitefish
The COMMIT Foundation was honored to once again partner with the Whitefish Veterans Support Team (WVST) for their biannual program. COMMIT and WVST began working together last summer after WVST expressed an interest in providing more than just a getaway for its program participants.
COMMIT works to create serendipity for high performing Post 9/11 Veterans by bringing people, perspective, and opportunity into their lives. We meet veterans where they are and build solutions around them.
“Our goals for the Whitefish program were to enable the Whitefish Veterans Support Team to have an even greater impact in the lives of these warriors and to ensure that the Whitefish community is equally understanding of invisible wounds and their profound presence in our veteran population,” said Anne Meree Craig, COMMIT’s Executive Director. COMMIT is providing its one-on-one transition assistance to the veteran attendees and their spouses before, during, and after the WVST events. Veterans will participate in this work for approximately three to six months, receiving highly individualized service and attention. Veterans will work to identify their strength and skills and to focus their career choices while COMMIT will rely on a trusted and reliable network of resources to open up doors and opportunities that otherwise might not be readily available. Services to the veteran include one-on-one transition assistance, a professional survey for the service member and their spouse, which not only identifies strengths but also helps with communication. Finally, each veteran receives a series of executive coaching sessions with a certified coach.
While in Whitefish, the veterans and their spouses spent time with highly experienced local professionals from the private sector. COMMIT does not believe that mentorship can be forced but knows that thirty minutes of quality dialogue can change someone’s perspective and thus their trajectory. The discussions with the mentors focused on undetermined paths, serendipitous moments and how to overcome unexpected challenges. It served as a powerful lesson that reinforced integrity, family, and the passionate pursuit of a meaningful career. “Our mentoring sessions are where the magic happens,” says Craig. “By harnessing the power of candor, the human spirit, and relationships, we enable veterans to put their best foot forward.” Participants left Whitefish with a renewed sense of confidence and excitement to move forward through their transition period. “The week was truly more than we could have asked for,” said one participant. “Many of us entered into the military as teenagers and now as forty-somethings are facing a world that we know very little about and have seldom participated in or experienced. [The program] served as a light at the end of the tunnel. It helped to show the potential opportunities that are out there if you are willing to open up to them and utilize the same determination and dedication that each of the veterans there have put into their military careers.”
Read More
