Champions of Change

Champions of Change Blog

  • Helping Survive the Peace

    Posted by Bob Curry on May 24, 2012 at 11:00 AM EDT

    Bob Curry is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his dedication to service and his continued support for efforts to: end homelessness, boost employment and treat mental health disparities for fellow veterans.

    In 2003, while I sat with other Vietnam veterans in the waiting room at the VA for a PTSD group to begin, we found ourselves fixated on the televisions in the room. The screens, filled with images of a younger generation at war in Afghanistan and building up for an invasion of Iraq, made us re-experience the same tension of going into battle that this newest generation of warriors a half a world away were facing. We agreed this newest generation of warriors deserved better then we received, and we needed to do something about it.We had become a generation who lost over fifty thousand to combat, three times that number to suicide after the war’s end, and over ½ million veterans who became incarcerated years after our war. There are thousands of broken families, relationships, and addictions that become reality for the service men and women who returned. You’ll begin to see the true human cost of war that families and their communities, our communities, will forever bear. I knew these younger brothers and sisters fighting our newest wars who made it home would face a similar path, a path strewn with unseen, unanticipated, and unexplored challenges that would take more lives than the wars themselves unless action was taken.

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  • In Service - Veterans Helping Veterans

    Posted by Jeffery J. Hanson on May 24, 2012 at 10:50 AM EDT

    Jeffery J. Hanson is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his dedication to service and his continued support for efforts to end homelessness, boost employment and treat mental health disparities for fellow veterans.

    I have always been 'service-minded' - a wonderful gift received from my parents and one that has grown with me throughout life.  Community service, civic mindedness and engaging veterans that have honorably served and sacrificed has been a long-time calling which began in earnest during January 1990.  Upon separating from active duty in the USMC in December 1989 to attend the University of South Carolina as a full-time student, I was introduced to veterans' homelessness through VA's Student Work Study Program where I worked twenty hours a week on behalf of homeless veterans to help them secure food, travel, shelter and life's basic needs.  This was an eye-opening experience and one that always left me asking the question - how does one, who sacrifices so much and serves their country with honor and respect, find themselves is such a helpless and hopeless state?

    In part, I found answers to the question while serving in the South Carolina Air National Guard and partnering with one of the greatest F-16 Fighter Pilots I know.  We often stood on the active flight line, in the middle of the Saudi Arabian Desert, exchanging stories and life experiences and agreed that when we returned home, we would find some way to engage struggling veterans that had become homeless or who had otherwise fallen down.  Upon our return, we engaged the leadership and support of two Vietnam Veterans who each, in their own way, had fallen down and had struggled with recovery - on and off - for years.  The four of us, two Vietnam Veterans and two Desert Shield/Storm Veterans, co-founded and formed Palmetto State Base Camp, (PSBC)Inc. - a non-profit organization, incorporated in 1992, to provide transitional residential housing for homeless veterans supported by a program designed to return veterans to independent living and self-sufficiency.

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  • Leave No Soldier Behind

    Posted by Stephen E. Sherman on May 24, 2012 at 10:40 AM EDT

    Stephen E. Sherman is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his dedication to service and his continued support for efforts to end homelessness, boost employment and treat mental health disparities for fellow veterans.

    As a 91-year-old disabled World War II veteran and founder of Dorie Miller Memorial Foundation, I am honored to be recognized by President Obama as a White House Champion of Change.  I appreciate the Obama Administration for giving me a bigger voice to share how together we can make a better future for our returning and senior veterans. 

    For more than 12 years, I have tirelessly worked in the veteran community to prevent homelessness, bridge the gap for access to quality medical treatment, and eradicate hunger in the veteran community.  My daily mantra is “leave no soldier behind.”

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  • MOMENTUM: Passing the Baton of Service

    Posted by TJ Breeden on May 24, 2012 at 10:30 AM EDT

    TJ Breedan is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his dedication to service and his continued support for efforts to boost employment among fellow veterans.

    On behalf of eMerging Entrepreneurs, Inc., I am honored to have been selected for the White House’s “Champions of Change” project, as part of President Obama’s “Winning the Future” initiative.  It is a tremendous commendation to have simply been nominated, let alone to be awarded the distinction of being recognized alongside so many worthy individuals who have committed themselves to being of service to the welfare of others.  I am perhaps most excited about the prospect of joining forces with others of likeminded purpose in advocacy of those who have sacrificed so much in defense of our country. 

    Even still, the contributions that our organization attempts to make in support of our veterans cannot bare comparison to the level of sacrifice that our service-members, reservists, and their families make every day on behalf of our freedom.  Thus, I am humbled by this opportunity to share our work in an effort to galvanize support for our returning men and women in uniform, as they attempt to navigate through the difficult process of transitioning from active duty, to civilian life.

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  • The Joy of Sharing my Pain

    Posted by Samuel Luna on May 24, 2012 at 10:20 AM EDT

    Samuel Luna is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his dedication to service and his continued support for efforts to reduce mental health disparities among fellow veterans.

    My involvement in the community has been my way of sharing the blessings that I have received. Each day is an adventure with my faith, family and  community.  For many years, little did I know about the pain that lingered in the background after my military service.  Much less did I know how that pain would be turned to joy.  I am honored and humbled in being named a White House Vietnam Veteran Champion of Change.

    For about thirty five years I never knew that my life, and that of my wife and children, had been affected so much by my service in Vietnam. I was stunned when I was told that I had Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) but saw immediately the missing piece of my life. That was the start of an incredible life changing experience.  A painful journey that always had healing and hope behind each dark moment.

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  • Advocacy by a Veteran, for Veterans.

    Posted by Joey Strickland on May 24, 2012 at 10:10 AM EDT

    Joey Strickland is being recognized as a Champion of Change for his dedication to service and his continued support for efforts to: end homelessness, boost employment and treat mental health disparities for fellow veterans.

    I learned about service during my nearly 29-year military career in the United States Army first in the enlisted and noncommissioned officer ranks and then as a commissioned officer.  During that time I saw two combat tours in Vietnam, served as a platoon leader, company commander, and assistant operations officer at brigade level in the Federal Republic of Germany, and was selected to attend graduate school at Auburn University with subsequent assignment as a TAC Officer with the United States Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy. 

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