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Impact of the Warrior to Citizen Campaign
Since May 2007, a growing number of citizens and communities have been doing work to support the reintegration of Minnesota's returning veterans as part of the Warrior to Citizen Campaign.
- Warrior to Citizen groups in communities. Groups in St. Paul, Bloomington, Burnsville, Farmington, Lakeville, St. Cloud and Rochester, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church (Eagan), North Heights Lutheran Church (Arden Hills), and the University of Minnesota, have taken a number of actions including organizing teachers and police for awareness training, offering workshops and person-to-person services for military families, and hosting community events designed to create awareness about returning veterans and help them and their families connect and reconnect to neighbors, jobs, and services.
- Campaign working group. The Center for Democracy and Citizenship convenes a growing coaition of individuals
from diverse organizations to strategize, share information, and coordinate statewide and cross-community efforts.
- Oral history project and exhibit. A diverse group of citizens collected the stories of 30 Minnesota veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and designed a traveling exhibit that has been displayed at the University of Minnesota, Augsburg College, Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Minnesota State University Mankato, and in Farmington, Lakeville, and Perham.
- Embedded journalist experience in 2008 and 2009. Journalism students were placed with Minnesota National Guard soldiers during summer training exercises in 2008 and 2009 to simulate and give both groups exposure to a week-long embed experience. Students produced high-quality video and written news reports for publication and earned college credit, and soldiers and commanding officers described the embed as a positive and useful learning opportunity.
- Policy reform. The Warrior to Citizen Campaign involved members of the judiciary in exploration of a veterans specialty court, and involved lawmakers, members of the judiciary, and others in reform of the Power of Attorney agreement to protect service members from financial abuse; legislation changing the POA form passed in 2009.
- Media outreach. The Warrior to Citizen Campaign creates awareness of the community’s role in veterans reintegration with frequent mention in community weeklies and dailies, organization newsletters, radio interviews, and the By the People blog. The March 2008 cover story of VFW Magazine described the Warrior to Citizen Campaign as one way states are filling gaps in veterans benefits.
- In-kind contributions from businesses. Through the Warrior to Citizen Campaign, Imation donated 3,000 thumb drives to the Minnesota National Guard to distribute reintegration materials to returning soldiers; Zep Manufacturing contributed more than 100 cleaning kits to Family Assistance Centers; and Northwestern Health Sciences University created Warrior to Citizen Free Health Clinics, through which more than 60 recent veterans and spouses have received more than $30,000 worth of massage, acupuncture and chiropractic care.
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