The Corporate Connection Needs Your Input
June 2013 E-Newsletter
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans created the Corporate Connection (CC), in partnership with The Home Depot Foundation, to help America’s businesses increase access to housing, employment and family stabilization services for homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. While businesses serve as one focus of CC, community-based organizations play an essential role in reaching out to the private sector. The CC helps private companies know more about how volunteering, donations, veteran hiring initiatives, or other charitable outreach can make an impact on veteran homelessness; however, without the knowledge and support provided from local organizations, these collaborations cannot succeed.
The Corporate Connection offers several resources to support local organizations, including:
Briefing Papers: targeted subject matter briefs to help facilitate strategies and tactics in marketing and outreach to the private sector.
Veterans Housing Portal: information on how businesses, community-based organizations, and public agencies can convert abandoned and foreclosed properties to safe, affordable veterans housing.
Consulting Services: CC provides one-on-one assistance, guidance and direction in developing specific programs to reach the private sector.
In addition, members of NCHV receive VIP status when registering with Good360. Good360 helps nonprofits achieve their mission through product donations from the private sector that include Bed Bath & Beyond, Tempur-Pedic, IBM, Walmart, Disney, and The Home Depot. The VIP status afforded NCHV members includes a 20% discount on most administrative fees.
The Corporate Connection interviewed Marie Lopez of the American GI Forum- National Veterans Outreach Program in San Antonio about her organizations relationship with Good360. Ms. Lopez used Good360 to order a shipment of Tempur-Pedic beds for their 80 transitional beds and 60 single room apartments. Since the standard package of beds did not fit their needs, Ms. Lopez contacted Good360 to see if they could modify the delivery. After some further discussions, the delivery arrived as expected with the requested sizes. In all, Tempur-Pedic delivered over 130 beds. Many of the residents at the American GI Forum- National Veterans Outreach Program are Vietnam veterans who have back health issues and a number of them have mentioned how much the mattresses are helping their backs.
This is just one of the resources the CC highlights on a regular basis. But it remains imperative that community-based organizations communicate their needs so we can better serve our homeless veterans. It is through conversations that we learned the need for steel-toed boots and tools to help veterans obtain employment. It is through conversations that we learned that an organization needed help developing a housing project recently approved by the city government. It is through conversations that we learned business suits were a pressing need.
The CC receives calls and emails on a regular basis from businesses looking to make a difference for homeless veterans. While each business has unique goals, by knowing more of what your needs are at the local level, we can better facilitate a relationship between the private sector and the local organizations that will make a difference for our veterans.
This summer CC will be publishing several additional briefing papers highlighting nonprofit and private sector partnerships that are successfully addressing the needs of homeless veterans. If your organization would like to start your own conversation, please contact the Corporate Connection at ageary@nchv.org, 202-546-1969, or visit our website at www.nchv.org. For additional background and information, access the CC newsletter archive at http://bit.ly/12S268O.