No Greater Love--Peace and Justice for Vulnerable Veterans

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POINTMAN SOLDIERS HEART MINISTRY
No Greater Love! Peace and Justice for
Vulnerable Veterans The Veterans Outreach and
Stand-Down Center
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WHO WE ARE
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WHAT WE DO
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MISSION STATEMENTThe Pointman Soldiers Heart
Ministry (PSHM) is a tax-exempt Veteran Service
Organization based in faith. PSHM is a search and
rescue resource ministry. We provide spiritual
support assist with acquiring individual and
group benefits for ALL Veterans and their
families. Our mission is to help secure veterans
benefits and healthcare for vulnerable veterans
using voter education so they may maintain their
dignity and honor as citizens.
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President Barack Obama is Bringing Home Our Iraqi
and Afghanistan Soldiers
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ARE OUR COUNTIES READY?

• OUR SOLDIERS ARE COMING HOME WITH
• SUICIDE
• DEPRESSION
• DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
• HOMELESS
• MENTAL ILLNESS (PTSD, TBI)
• NO VET PREFERENCE
• SUBSTANCE ABUSE
• INCARCERATION

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The Pointman Soldiers Heart Ministry Veterans
Outreach Stand-Down Center
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THE CASE THE NEED

• 84,000 veterans live in Philadelphia with more
  coming home every day.
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?featureplayer_embedd
  edvHFGZ-3dpen0

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The CASE THE NEED

• 1. There is no Veterans Affairs Office serving
  the County/City of Philadelphia.
• the state requires county commissioners to
  appoint a director of veterans affairs, whose
  duty is to oversee those obligations assigned to
  the county by law. It is up to the county to
  budget to ensure the position is filled!
  (Examination of Rural County Veterans Affairs
  Offices by The Institute of State and Regional
  Affairs, Penn State, 2011)

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THE CASE THE NEED

• 2. The city has no KNOWN OR PUBLICIZED program to
  assist, facilitate or advocate for veterans and
  their families obtaining benefits for their
  patriotic and honorable service, pursuant to
  Senate Bill 915, PN 1436 was signed into law as
  Act 66 of 2007.

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THE CASE THE NEED

• 3. The City of Philadelphia has not conducted a
  formal needs assessment of their veteran
  citizens?
• 4. The City of Philadelphia does not promote and
  educate families about benefits veterans earned?

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THE CASE THE NEED

• 5. The City of Philadelphia does not promote and
  educate families about benefits veterans earned?
• 6. The City of Philadelphia account for any
  services to veterans during any time frame in
  reference to measurements of quality, outcome,
  and the impact of those services?

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The Case The Need

• 7. The City of Philadelphia is un-ready to assist
  and serve veterans returning home from Iraq and
  Afghanistan!
• 8. The City of Philadelphia must to hold hearing
  on matters relating to veterans unemployment,
  homelessness, veteran disability, and
  incarcerated veterans.

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PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR VULERABLE VETERANS

• SUICIDE PREVENTION COUNSELING
• PTSD GROUP COUNSELING
• TBI SUPPORT
• ADVOCATE EDUCATE FOR USE OF VETERANS BENEFITS
  EARNED
• STAND-DOWN SUPPORT FOR HOMELESS VETS
• UPGRADE OF MILITARY DISCHARGES
• SUPPORT FOR INCARCERATED

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Triumph Baptist Church, May 19,2012
• Identified 111 Veterans and 12 spouses
• Conducted 15 Intakes
• Former U.S. Congressman Admiral Joe Sestak,
  Keynote Speaker.

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Church of the Advocate, Saturday, June 9, 2012
• Identified 17 veterans and 3 spouses
• Conducted 9 Intakes

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Deliverance Evangelistic Church, June 16, 2012
• Identified 23 Veterans and 6 spouses
• Conducted 11 Intakes

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Greater Bethlehem Temple Church, July 14, 2012
• Identified 3 Veterans
• Conducted 3 Intakes

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Christian Stronghold Baptist Church, June 30,
  2012
• Identified 13 Veterans and 3 spouses
• Conducted 5 Intakes

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Church of the Holy Redeemer, July 21, 2012
• Identified 5 Veterans and 1 spouse
• Conducted 4 intakes

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH
• Intake via Office Appointments with PSHM Veteran
  Service Officer
• Identified 17 veterans and 2 spouses
• Conducted 17 Intakes and 2 spouses

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• TOTAL RECON OUTREACH
• VETERANS 189
• INTAKES 64
• SPOUSES27

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2012 POINTMAN PEACE JUSTICE

• RECON OUTREACH OUTCOMES
• POINTMAN MEMBERSHIPS 40
• EMPLOYMENT REFERRALS 4
• DISCHARGE UPGRADE ASSISTANCE 3
• DISABILITY CLAIMS FILED 36
• SPOUSE AND FAMILY BENEFITS 2
• MILITARY MEDICAL RECORDS 5
• INDIVIDUAL INTAKE PLAN 64

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BEYOND MEMORIALS AND WELCOME HOME

• No Greater Love For The Survivors!
• Peace and Justice for Vulnerable Veterans
• RECOGNITION, RESPECT
• APPRECIATION PROMOTION

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Veterans Fight Changes To Disability Payments

• Advocates for the nation's 22 million veterans
  fear that the alternative inflation measure would
  also apply to disability payments to nearly 4
  million veterans as well as pension payments for
  an additional 500,000 low-income veterans and
  surviving families.

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Mental Ailments are Being Misdiagnosed and
Discharged

• As many as 31,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans
  nationwide may have been improperly discharged
  for personality or adjustment disorders, even
  though they may be suffering from
  service-connected disabilities such as
  post-traumatic stress disorder, the signature
  injury of the wars.

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Sexual Assaults

• According to DoDs Sexual Assault Prevention and
  Response Office, about 19,000 service members a
  year experience sexual assault, and the vast
  majority go unreported, in large measure because
  the victims believe nothing will be done or are
  afraid of retaliation or being labeled a
  troublemaker.

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HOMELESS UNEMPLOYED

• We're here today as part of outreach and because
  there is an issue with homeless veterans that's
  going to become worse as more veterans return!
  Unemployment among veterans is double the
  national average!

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DISABILITY CLAIMS BACKLOGGED

• The VA backlog of disability claims passed the
  900,000 mark this week, amid growing anger over
  the departments inability to make a dent in the
  pile.
• On 3/25/2013 disability claims backlog hit
  903,286, an increase of about 8 percent, or 7,448
  claims, from the previous week. 70 of the claims
  in the current backlog, or 633,589 claims, had
  been sitting more than 125 days.

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DISABILITY CLAIMS BACKLOGGED

• VA is shamefully slow to help vets
• I A vets filing claims with the VA in New York,
  Philadelphia, or Los Angeles, you will wait an
  average of 600 days.
• Claims backlog to increase until VA completes
  deployment of its paperless new system by 2015.
  Known by its acronym VBMS -- should be renamed
  VBMess,

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THE GREATEST INSULT!

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan
  thinks the U.S. should put an end to military
  funeral honors. Most veterans did nothing
  heroic anyway.
• We all might not have been heroes, but we all
  served!

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No Greater Love!Peace and Justice for
Vulnerable Veterans

• WHAT DOES PEACE AND JUSTICE FOR WAR VETERANS MEAN
  TO YOU?
• HOW DO YOU SHOW YOUR LOVE?
• WILL YOU LET YOUR SAY BE SO?

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OUR VISION

• The vision of PSHM is Vulnerable U.S. Armed
  Forces Veterans operating a center for Vulnerable
  U.S. Armed Forces Veteran with services
  encompassing a holistic support apparatus,
  including spiritual ministry.
• We envision this center operating with a public
  consciousness and understanding of Peace
  Justice, and what the social consequence of war
  and military action are.

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For the vision is for an appointed time, but at
the end it shall speak, and not lie though it
tarry wait for it because it will surely come
it will not tarry. Habakkuk 23