Creating Military-Informed Communities

Creating Military-Informed Communities: Building the Military Cultural Competence of Individuals and Organizations Working with Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families

System Technology Requirements

Please ensure your viewing device complies with the following recommendation:

• Must be on a device that allows you to view MP4 files
• Ensure you have a strong enough internet speed to stream
• Ensure you don't have firewalls blocking the video (some firewalls block some HTTP addresses)

Description:

As U.S. veterans return from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other conflicts, many human service agencies are looking for guidance on how to offer respect and best honor the needs and experiences of our returning service members.  Today’s combat troops are surviving physical wounds that in previous wars would have killed them. Some are suffering from wounds that are invisible but no less devastating. In this unit, you will explore military culture, the combat experience and related stress effects of combat, the transitional life and experiences of the military-affected population, and strategies to assist service members, veterans, and their families.

Who should take this module:

• Frontline workers
• Managers
• Directors

Learning objectives:

• Identify aspects of the culture of those who serve
• Consider the combat experience and related stress effects of combat
• Recognize the transitional life and experiences of the military-affected population
• Identify skills and knowledge to relate to and assist service members, veterans, and their families

Meet the authors:

• Megan Edson Grandin
• Steven Samra
• Mer Otis

Stephanie Moles has been an expert Peer Specialist and an adviser to state and federal agencies in the development of cross-functional collaborations for transitional services and addiction treatment assistance. She is an industrious advocate for all women and for the growth of community programs. In 2002, Ms. Moles founded The Woman’s Heart®, a nationally designed nonprofit dedicated to providing women who suffer with addiction accessible, affordable, and innovative relapse prevention education and resources. Her program was presented to the federal agency SAMHSA and subsequently to assess barriers to services and implement programs that bridge the gaps in accessing behavioral health needs in rural and frontier settings in Alaska and Wyoming. Ms. Moles founded one of the nation’s first nonprofit organizations designed to address the complex and unmet needs of women veterans, Grace After Fire. In addition, Ms. Moles’ started the I SUPPORT VETS (ISV) nonprofit organization and community readiness initiative. As a visionary problem solver, Ms. Moles blazed the trail necessary to meet the unique needs of these women. The agency’s multifaceted programs now provide peer support and resources to help a wide range of issues.  Additionally, Ms. Moles has mentored women of all ages through the transformative process from addiction to recovery for over 22 years. She has developed intervention and re-intervention support programs that increase access to services for women. She emphatically believes that peer support and collaborative business partnerships are viable and effective adjuncts to behavioral health therapies.  While her work primarily focuses on creating and implementing operational efficiency strategies and critical change management, Ms. Moles’ background and education include experience and expertise in the fields of marketing and communications, psychology, group dynamics, and public relations. Ms. Moles had extensive experience working in the corporate business world prior to her move to the nonprofit sector.   

Megan Edson Grandin, MPH, is an Associate at C4 Innovations and a public health professional with experience in writing, copy editing, developing curricula, project coordination, and research, as well as strong skill in media and communications. Prior to joining C4 in 2010, Ms. Grandin served as a Senior Program Analyst at The National Center on Family Homelessness, where she co-authored several papers and reports; provided training and technical assistance to homeless service providers; and coordinated a variety of projects, including the Chronic Homelessness Initiative, the Campaign to End Child Homelessness, the Strengthening at Risk and Homeless Young Mothers and Children Initiative, and the Physical and Emotional Awareness for Children who are Homeless (PEACH) initiative. She has developed online training modules for the T3 Institute, and has experience developing curricula. Ms. Grandin received her B.A. in English from Stony Brook University, and her Master’s Degree from the Boston University School of Public Health, focused in Maternal and Child Health. 

Steven Samra, MPA, has expertise and lived experience in substance use and mental health recovery, harm reduction approaches, promotion of lived experience as critical experiential knowledge, developing and leading peer advisory councils, peer leadership, cultural competence, criminal justice, and effective outreach and engagement for challenging populations. He serves in leadership capacities for multiple recovery, substance use, mental health, peer involvement, and homelessness focused initiatives. 

Mer Otis was the Deputy Director of SAMHSA’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) contract with C4. In this and prior roles, she has provided oversight to the planning and implementation of training and technical assistance (TA) related to recovery supports, behavioral health, and co-occurring disorders. She helped to identify and translate best practices and training resources, state of the art tools, and pertinent literature for TA under SAMHSA’s Co-Occurring Disorders Integration & Innovation (CODI), Homelessness Resource Center (HRC), Services in Supportive Housing (SSH), and Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) contracts. 

Module facts: 

• Subject: Military-informed communities
• Length: Most can complete in 1 hour
• Course type: Asynchronous, home study
  • Participants will watch pre-recorded videos and be quizzed on the knowledge they learn afterwards
• Content level: Introductory
• Covered topics: military-informed communities, veteran services, vets, veterans
• Fees: $50 (unless a basic or advanced subscriber)

Refund and Cancellation policy:

Access is automatically provided to this module once purchased. Therefore, no refund will be given. For special circumstances, C4 may cancel your registration and move your credit to another module of equal value. 

Accommodations 

If you need accommodations for disability, please contact Program Manager, Marsha Kubyshko at training@c4innovates.com.

Grievances 

If you would like to report a complaint, please contact Associate Director, Rachel Ehly at rehly@c4innovates.com. 

Related resources:

• Veterans and Homelessness: Building Community Supports
• Understanding Trauma in Female Veterans
• eBook: Safety in Support