Community Foundation Releases Study on Northern Virginia’s Veterans

Commits to multi-year funding collaborative to support coordination of services

The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, in partnership with the United Way of the National Capital Area and with the support of Deloitte Consulting, released “Supporting Our Region's Veterans,” a report that assesses the demographics and network of support services available for post-9/11 war veterans, transitioning service members, and military families in the Northern Virginia region. The report is one of a series of publications commissioned by the Community Foundation to inform, inspire meaningful dialogue, and increase philanthropic and public investment surrounding critical community needs. It was developed to gain a more sophisticated, data-driven understanding of support available to Northern Virginia’s veterans, and to provide the Community Foundation, United Way NCA, and other local community-based organizations and philanthropists with the insights needed to strategically target and coordinate grant dollars toward the greatest needs. The full report can be downloaded here.

Deloitte Consulting invested over $80,000 in pro-bono support to perform the research and publish the report, leveraging their considerable skills, knowledge, and personal dedication to produce a study that will serve as a tremendous resource not only to government service providers, but to nonprofit organizations and to philanthropists working to meet the needs of local military veterans.

The basic findings of this three-year study indicate that although veterans in our area are well supported at the macro-level with access to a wide variety of government and nonprofit services, there are several ways that the local philanthropic sector can target its dollars to better support the needs of Northern Virginia’s veterans at the micro-level. Veterans in particular find services to be overly complex and sometimes difficult to access. Greater coordination between government and nonprofit providers to create a seamless web of services would improve the lives of veterans and military families.

As an immediate response, the Community Foundation has issued an RFP through its Military Fund to support coordination of services for military veterans in the region. Applications were due on May 28th, and a committee of volunteers is reviewing the proposals to make a recommendation to the Board of Directors before June 30, 2014. This grant is intended to coordinate the efforts of service providers and streamline access to services.

The Community Foundation has publicly committed to long-term support of this initiative by joining over 30 philanthropic organizations and corporations through the Philanthropy-Joining Forces Impact Pledge, a national initiative with pledges totaling more than $170 million over the next five years to support veterans and military families. It is also working in partnership with individuals, corporations and other philanthropic organizations to collaborate on its grantmaking initiatives.

“Northern Virginia is home to one of the most densely populated veteran communities in America. We are investing in an initiative that supports veterans and their families in a very direct way,” said Ellsworth. “By partnering with government and nonprofit organizations and collaborating with funders in the region, we are fostering relationships amongst service providers and helping veterans navigate the rich support services available to them in Northern Virginia.”