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Community Blueprint

About

The Community Blueprint is a community change process and planning tool to help local leaders assess, identify and more effectively deliver resources to improve their community’s support for veterans, active military, and their families.

The Blueprint was created through the involvement and expertise of 55 non-profit organizations, military family service organizations, and senior government officials.

The Blueprint highlights 8 issue areas that represent the most critical needs of veterans, active military and military families: behavioral health, education, employment, family strength, financial-legal services, housing, reintegration, and volunteerism.

Leveraging volunteerism as an under girding strategy, the Blueprint offers a suite of training, tools, and resources that help communities develop a “network mindset” and includes "promising practices" or targeted actions that can be taken within these areas.

Are you a community leader and want to get involved? Follow these three steps!

Step 1. Understand the Needs

Step 2. Take Action

Step 3. Connect with the Network

The Community Blueprint Network (CBN) is led by Points of Light Institute and is guided by an Advisory Council made up of national experts. These individuals serve as volunteer council members and meet bi-monthly to provides guidance on the overall strategy as well as the development of tools and resources that are being deployed and implemented across communities.

Community Blueprint Network Advisory Council

Barbara Van Dahlen - Give an Hour

Bonnie Carroll - Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)

Chris Marvin - ServiceNation: Mission Serve

David Sutherland - Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Office

Geoff Deutsch - Armed Forces Services Corporation

Jim Knotts - Operation Homefront

Joyce Raezer - National Military Families Association (NMFA)

Kate Sylvester - America's Promise Alliance

Koby Langley - Corporation for National and Community Service

Mark Smith - Blue Star Families

Mary Keller - Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)

Norb Ryan - Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)

Robert Reeg - American Legion Auxiliary

Robert Verhey - Veterans Innovation Center

Ross Cohen - U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Sherri Brown - American Red Cross

Spencer Kympton - The Mission Continues

The Community Blueprint tool (which is being rolled out in phases) is being developed and implemented by our wonderful and talented VISTA members. We thank them for their service!

The Why

While there is tremendous public support for the needs facing America’s veterans, service members and their families, far too many of our service members still struggle.

They report that seeking support services is confusing, overwhelming and sometimes embarrassing.

There are many reasons for our inability to provide consistent and comprehensive care and support to our military community. Issues affecting current service members and their families are complex and multifaceted and effective interventions require quick, sophisticated, and well-orchestrated action.

Educate

The Community Blueprint is focused on eight key areas. Take a few minutes to educate yourself about these issues and why they are important.

  • Behavioral Health - “PTSD can happen to the bravest warriors. It can and does happen to the toughest warriors. PTSD is also not new. In the Civil War, it was called 'soldier's heart.' In World War II, they called it 'shell shock.' Today we know what PTSD is and how to treat it. Some of the deepest wounds suffered in war are not visible. And some of those who suffer the deepest losses never step onto a battlefield. They are the spouses and children who are left behind. ...We must care for all the families who have borne the most terrible cost of this war." ~ U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

  • Education (K-12) - “Military children continually amaze us as they rise to the challenges of military life. It’s a life of frequent moves, changing schools, leaving friends and making new friends.” ~ Robert L. Gordon III, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Military Community and Family Policy) 

  • Higher Education - “The contributions that our servicemen and women can make to this nation do not end when they take off that uniform. We owe a debt to all who serve, and when we repay that debt to those bravest Americans among us, then we are investing in our future." ~ President Barack Obama
  • Veteran Employment - “For too long, we have been investing billions of dollars training our young men and women to protect our nation, only to ignore them when they come home. For too long, we have patted them on the back and pushed them into the civilian job market with no support. Our hands-off approach has left us with...one in five of our nation's heroes who cannot find a job to support their family and who do not have an income to provide the stability that is so critical to their transition home. ~ Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-WA)
  • Military Spouse Employment - “[Military spouses] face employment challenges of their own, because it’s hard to build seniority at a job when you have to move every couple of years. It’s hard to sustain a career when you have to keep meeting new state licensing and certification requirements. It’s hard to impress employers who often view a resume with multiple jobs as a red flag rather than as a reality of military life.” ~ First lady Michelle Obama
  • Family Strength - “It helps that families such as ours realize we're never alone, as I've seen this year how powerful the support of the community can be: A local restaurant provides pizzas at a welcome-home event; a minor league baseball team, the Wilmington Blue Rocks, dedicates a game night in support of our troops; one of our schools adopts a military unit… There are just so many ways that each American can lend a hand and make a difference.  ~ Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden
  • Financial Management and Legal Assistance - “The Department of Defense firmly believes that personal financial readiness of our troops and families equates to mission readiness.” ~ Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Dr. Clifford L. Stanley
  • Housing Stability and Homelessness Assistance - “We are in a tough fight. I know it, you know it. Resources alone won’t end veteran homelessness – people will. Determined, dedicated risk-takers who know the causes; who know what may work and what definitely won’t; and who know how to deliver a mission that’s complex, complicated, rife with bureaucracy and historically long on promises and short on delivery. People will deliver. People like you." ~Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki 
  • Reintegration -“Our men and women in uniform stand watch abroad and more are readying to deploy. To each and every one of them, and to the families who bear the quiet burden of their absence, Americans are united in sending one message: we honor your service, we are inspired by your sacrifice, and you have our unyielding support. And just as they must have the resources they need in war, we all have a responsibility to support them when they come home.” ~ President Barack Obama
  • Volunteerism - “Our young troops and their families have done everything their country has asked of them. Their lives have been changed forever by war, but their dreams haven’t changed at all. They want to raise their children, own a home, go to school, find work and even find new ways to contribute. Most of all, they want to be good citizens. They want to reconnect and renew their relationship to their local communities. Let us ensure each of them has ample opportunities to do so. We will have a stronger generation of veterans and a stronger nation for it.”-Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Michael Mullen (ret.)

Additional Resources:

Act

Implement One or More Promising Practices

For communities who want to enhance their support of veterans, service members and their families, this material provides a list of practices identified by experts in the feild as important activities that communities should implement. These tools were developed through the generous contributions of over 55 experts from the non profit, business and government sectors. Before you dig in learn more about the Community Blueprint Network Tools.

Promising Practices

Create a Community Action Team

Create a Community Action Team to increase community collaboration and coordination of services. This manual serves as a guide for groups to navigate and move through the various phases of the community action planning and activation process.

Volunteerism Promising Practices

Behavioral Health Promising Practices

  • Annual Anti-Stigma Campaign:  Encourage veterans and their families to defy stigmas and seek help.
  • Provider Training: Train local health providers on special issues on PTSD/TBI and other veteran issues and resources.
  • First Responder Training -  Train police, fire rescue, school personnel, and ERs about issues and resources that affect members of the military community.
  • Ease of Access to Care - Make it easy for veterans, service members and their families to access mental health care.

K-12 Education Promising Practices

  • School Transfers - (Coming Soon) Adopt systems to ensure easy acceptance of transcripts and credits of a relocating military child.
  • School Training - (Coming Soon) Train schools to identify military children and inform them on the issues and resources. Until this document is live, check out the Ready, Set, Go Training
  • Community Resources - (Coming Soon) Implement programs that welcome and support military children.
  • Annual Media Campaign - Celebrate the contributions and sacrifices of the military child.

Higher Education Promising Practices

  • Career Counselor Training - Train counselors about special military issues and resources.
  • Mentoring - Offer mentors to student Veteran, service members and their families.
  • Scholarships- (Coming Soon) Offer special financial programs for student Veterans, service members and their families.
  • Welcome and Integration- Develop and implement strategies to identify and support military-connected students and families.

Employment Promising Practices

  • Job Fairs - Implement job fairs focused on Veterans, Reservists, National Guardsmen, and their spouses.
  • Training: Reverse Bootcamps - (Coming Soon)
  • Employer Practices - (Coming Soon) Employers adopt military-friendly practices.
  • Annual Media Campaign - Outreach to raise awareness to the benefits of hiring a veteran.

Family Strength Promising Practices

  • Social Service Outreach - (Coming Soon) Formal military outreach efforts by local non profits
  • Child Care - (Coming Soon) Provide child care and respite for families during deployment and recovery from wounds.
  • Annual Media Campaign -Thank families for their service and highlighting local and government services.

Financial Management and Legal Assistance Promising Practices

Housing Stability and Homeless Assistance Promising Practices

 Reintegration Promising Practices

  • Welcome Program - Outreach to Veterans, service members and their families entering into the community. 
  • Mentoring Program - Provide a mentoring programs for Veterans moving into the community.
  • Annual Media Campaign -Thanking local veterans for their service and highlighting resources.
  • Coordination with Yellow Ribbon Program - (Coming Soon)

Connect

Become Part of the Community Blueprint Network

We encourage anyone and everyone who wishes to create change with and for the military community to connect to the CBN.  The Community Blueprint Network is premised on collective action. We believe that we are better together. We also believe that part of making a commitment to better the lives of Veterans and their families is making sure that we are sharing our "bright spots" and our missteps with others doing this work so that we not only have an impact in our own backyard but rather that we have an impact in this entire great nation. We ask that participating communities in the Community Blueprint Network make the following commitments:

  • Invite the military community be a part of the conversation. If you are doing work in your community to better the lives of Veterans and their families then it only makes sense to make sure that they are by your side in that effort!  Be sure that the military community has a seat at the table and allow them to be part of the solution. The military community is an asset that can and should be leveraged.
  •  Utilize existing collaboration structures and processes when possible.  Some participating communities have already organized coalitions or groups of stakeholders focused on the military community and/or veteran’s matters. Other participating communities may have a natural individual leader or organization to serve as the hub for CBN work. As a participating community you have a responsibility to leverage these structures as much as possible to benefit the military community.
  •  Develop a concrete plan of action and move forward with a sense of urgency.  Successful participating communities will go beyond gathering diverse stakeholders for information sharing and networking.  They will develop action plans with goals and objectives, target outputs and outcomes.  They will assign tasks to specific individuals or organizations.  They will set timelines for completion, move forward with a continued sense of urgency, and hold each other accountable so that you are able to meet the needs of our military community.
  • Share your results and good news.  In order for the CBN to scale it is imperative that participating communities monitor and report their progress (and challenges) in making community change. Not only is this a good habit for the community’s own monitoring, it is also a vital step for making connections with other communities undertaking the same change processes.  Finally, progress reporting is essential for the CBN’s sustainability, as we need to show evidence of positive outcomes to the private and public organizations and individuals that are investing in you and us. As a participating community you will be asked to collect data and complete a brief report twice a year to the Points of Light.

Benefits for Community Blueprint Participating Communities

Communities participating in the Community Blueprint Network can expect to receive the following benefits of participation:

  • Community Blueprint Network Tools – Participating communities may utilize the full suite of online tools to support your military community development planning, implementation and monitoring.  The tools you see are free to anyone but once you become a part of the CBN you will have access to a new suite of resources.
  • Training Opportunities – Participating communities will have access to online and in-person training for free! Examples include: Community Organizing Methods, Orientation to Veteran and Military Culture, or Effective Fundraising Strategies.
  • Networking Opportunities – Participating communities will have opportunities to build relationships and learn from others doing this work in other communities. This includes in person and virtual opportunities. One of these opportunities is during the Monthly Blueprint Community Calls. These are held the third Thursday of the month from 2 - 3:00pm ET. Call – In Information: 1-800-832-0736 *9792933# We will talk about lessons learned, successes, and challenges. Points of Light is excited to document these lessons learned so that they can be shared with future Blueprint sites.
  • Individualized Consultation – Participating communities have access to members of the CBN national advisory council and Points of Light (POL) staff for individualized consultations by phone or in-person.  The level of consultation can be customized to the community’s need, and could include a one-time phone call to facilitation of a multi-day in-person planning session, to attendance and speaking at a CBN launch event. To request this assistance, email Tricia Thompson at tthompson@handsonnetwwork.org.
  • Recognition – Participating communities will be recognized for their military community organizing efforts on the CBN website, print and online publications and events organized by POL and its national organization partners.
  • National Service Resources – Participating communities may be able to acquire a full-time, full-year national service participant to support CBN implementation.  For further information, email Bob Reeg at rreeg@alaforveterans.org.
  • Cash Resources – Participating communities may have access to cash resources to support CBN operations or to undertake CBN-related service projects.  Stay tuned for more information! We are working diligently to secure funding to pass through to sites.

Express Interest in Starting a Community Blueprint Site

Current Blueprint Communities

Alabama

  • Huntsville, AL - Still Serving Veterans

Delaware

  • State of Delaware - POL - Delaware Health and Social Services, Division of   State Service Centers, State Office of Volunteerism

Florida

  • Miami, FL - American Red Cross
  • Jacksonville, FL - Points of Light/HandsOn Jacksonville

Georgia

  • Valdosta, GA – Military Officers Association of America
  •  Macon, GA - Points of Light/Volunteer Macon

Indiana

  • Fort Wayne, Indiana - Points of Light/ RSVP of Allen County, Inc.

Nevada

  • Southern Nevada, POL-United Way of Southern Nevada

North Carolina

  • Fayetteville, NC - Give an Hour

Texas

  • Tyl er, TX - Military Officers Association of America
  • Huntsville, TX - Military Officers Association of America

Virginia

  • Hampton Roads, VA - Give an Hour
  • Williamsburg, VA - Veterans Innovation Center
  • Farfax, VA - Points of Light/Volunteer Fairfax

Washington

  •  Seattle Washington - Points of Light/United Way King County
  •  Bellingham, WA- Points of Light/Whatcom Volunteer Center

 

Tools

Welcome to the Community Blueprint Network (CBN)! Points of Light Institute and our many CBN partner organizations have developed a set of online support tools to support communities implementing the Blueprint.

ABOUT CBN

Tools in this section provide an introduction to the overview of the Community Blueprint Network. These documents aim to answer such questions as:

ACTION PLANNING TOOLS

Access the Community Blueprint Action Planning Tool

This tool will assist leaders in assessing the military community’s needs, selecting impact areas, selecting and implementing promising practices, and measuring the impact to the community.

Take online courses to learn how to mobilize and lead others in service!

You may also want to check out the Community Guide to Develop an Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee.

FUND DEVELOPMENT, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Tools in these sections provide strategies and templates for raising contributions to support CBN activities, and to increase public awareness of the military community in your area, and the CBN-related activities underway to support them.

Community Blueprint Video PSA 1

Community Blueprint Video PSA 2

Community Blueprint Audio PSA 1

Making the Case: Securing Community Foundation Support

EVALUATION

W.K. Kellogg Foundation Evaluation Handbook

SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES

Tools in this section provide informative additional information on the military community and the eight impact areas.

National Resource Directory

Warrior Gateway

211.org

Military Family Member Profile

Service Member Profile

Veteran Profile

Nine Tips for Honoring Veteran Employees

12 Easy Ways to Support Military Families

Monthly Blueprint Community Calls

Blueprint calls are held the third Thursday of the month from 2 - 3:00pm ET.

Call – In Information: 1-800-832-0736 *9792933#

These meetings will be a time for Points of Light to give sites updates on progress and opportunities but the majority of the time will be used for sites to share and learn from each other.  We will talk about lessons learned, successes, and challenges. Points of Light is excited to document these lessons learned so that they can be shared with future Blueprint sites.