Who Are We

BULLETIN: SW-BTYR committee members and volunteers are encouraged to register for the upcoming training summit. Please scroll down for information or click here go directly to the registration page.

Twin Cities Southwest Yellow Ribbon Coalition includes the cities of Edina, Excelsior, Hopkins, Minnetonka, St. Louis Park and Wayzata. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is a comprehensive program that creates awareness for the purpose of connecting service members and their families with community support.

Southwest Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is a group of community volunteers coming together to try to build a cooperative of communities who qualify as Beyond The Yellow Ribbon Communities. We intend to meet monthly on the last Thursday of the month in different cities. Scroll down on this page to see the meeting schedule and to learn more about us.

Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is the statewide organization that provides community support for military servicemembers, guard, reserves, veterans and their families. For instance, when a servicemember is deployed, Beyond the Yellow Ribbon provides community support by connecting the deployed servicemember’s family with sources for medical care, mental health counseling, tutoring and counseling for children in school, financial counseling and household chores such as lawn mowing, raking, snow shoveling, shopping, or just a cup of coffee and a visit, and much more. While deployed, the military servicemember’s main concern is often his or her family. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon provides the network of support that allows the servicemember to focus on the job at hand by helping the family to maintain a quality of life that is as normal possible.

Want to get involved? Go to the Email page of our site and add your name to the announce list.

WE’RE ALREADY BEING CALLED UPON TO HELP

Since our kickoff meeting in September, we have been called upon to help with the following:

  • We helped a female veteran who had been living in her car to find an apartment. And she now has a SNAP card to buy food.
  • We are helping to move a hospital bed from a home in Wayzata to the apartment of a veteran in St. Paul

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR VETERANS

Change Your Stripes. Most job seekers jump into the deep end by writing a resume and searching the internet. There is a better way, and this two-hour event will teach job seekers how to define their dream, write a resume that works and network for success. March 21, 2013, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Centennial Lakes Park, 7499 France Avenue, Edina MN 55435. For more information and to sign up, visit the website at http://www.arbez.com/changestripesMar21. Sponsored by Thrivent for Lutherans.

Job Fair. Hosted by Congressman Erik Paulsen is hosting on April 19, 2013.  We have over 50 companies already signed up to participate.  We are also co-hosting the event with Army PaYS.  The Job Fair will be open exclusively to Veterans/Active Military from 12:00 to 1:00 PM and the general public from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. The job fair will take place at Normandale Community College, Kopp Student Center, 9700 France Avenue, Bloomington MN 55431. You can find out more information here:  http://paulsen.house.gov/job-fair-2013

Barrett United Moving & Storage has jobs for veterans. Call John Orme for details at Phone: (800) 879-1283, Direct: (952) 828-7911 or John.orme@barrettmoving.com.

Helmets to Hardhats (H2H) is an organization that helps military members get into the construction field. I own a construction company that is registered with the Helmets to Hardhats organization. It is a great resource to help service members find work in the construction field. It is a non-profit organization that is free to use. I would be willing to sit down with anyone that needs help with it and give them some information about H2H or the construction field.  For more information, visit the website at http://www.helmetstohardhats.org or contact BM1(SW) Jesse Bruns at 651-491-5407

TRAINING SUMMIT FOR SW-BTYR COMMITTEE MEMBERS AND VOLUNTEERS

Share and learn best practices from Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Networks across the state. As leaders in your communities, your participation is essential to sustain the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program. This will be the first of seven Yellow Ribbon Training Summits to help sustain, educate and provide support to your Yellow Ribbon Networks. For more information and to register, visit the website at http://www.beyondtheyellowribbon.org/rsvp.

WHO WE ARE

Executive Committee:
Co-Chairs:                                         Mary Brindle, Jocelyn Northenscold
Meeting Schedule:                         Dennis Madden
Recording Secretary:                   Derek Northenscold
Communications:                          Jason Gadd
Web Presence:                                Gypsy Rogers

MEETING SCHEDULE, ACTION PLAN SECTIONS, ACTION PLAN GOALS

Thursday, May 30          SW-BTYR Coalition 7 to 9 p.m.
Location to be announced
Action Plan: Business, Employers

Thursday, June 27          SW-BTYR Coalition 7 to 9 p.m.
Location to be announced

Thursday, July 25          SW-BTYR Coalition 7 to 9 p.m.
Location to be announced

Action Plan Sections and Committee Liaisons
Education/Youth:                          Jocelyn Northenscold
Social Services/Medical:            Mary Brindle
Business/Employers:                   Gypsy Rogers
Veterans/Civic Orgs:                    Dennis Madden, Ray Moonen
Faith Based Orgs:                            Rachel Hause/Jocelyn Northenscold
Public Safety/Judicial:                 Derek Northenscold
City Leadership:                              Jason Gadd/Mary Brindle
Community Volunteers:              All
Overall Steering Cmte:                  Mary Brindle and all

Schedule of Action Plan Goals
The idea here is to complete each section of the Action Plan in the month that is shown.
January, 2013             City Leadership (City/Government/Elected Officials)
February, 2013          Veterans/Civic Organizations
March, 2013                Public Safety/Judicial
April, 2013                   Faith Based Orgs
May, 2013                     Business/Employers
June, 2013                    Social Service/Medical Providers
July, 2013                    Education/Youth
August, 2013               Community Volunteers, Overall Steering Committee

ACTION PLAN PROGRESS

Government/Elected Officials

The January 28, 2013 meeting focused on the Government/Elected Officials section of the Action Plan. When complete, this section will include information from all six cities. Please continue to complete the section for your city. Bring a printed and electronic copy of the information to the next meeting. We will add a Contacts page with email access in the next week.