Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations are being challenged to address current needs while planning for the pandemic’s current phase to end – and its ensuing changes.

While we don’t know how the crisis will play out, Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services is planning for the future even as we track the impacts of the pandemic on veterans and military families.

As a Center of Excellence, we are providing and coordinating technical assistance/training, resource sharing, and strong leadership to our partners who, with our ongoing support, continue to operate direct service programs.

A significant number of veterans are in the high-risk categories for COVID-19, either due to age or an underlying medical conditions. The stalled economy is jolting the 1.5 million veterans who are already living at or below the poverty line. In a terrible irony, the isolation experienced by many veterans is being worsened by social distancing, the best preventative available to us currently.

Over the past several weeks, we have been working to counter these impacts by:

• Sharing solutions with our partners to quickly connect veterans to direct-service programs and assistance;
• Providing financial counseling and education to those touched by military service through the Dixon Center/Prudential Financial Wellness Portal;
• Providing emergency financial assistance to student veterans in the Utility Workers and Teamsters Military Assistance Programs;
• Connecting with partners and civic-minded advocates to share information and solutions that will improve how we serve the evolving needs of veterans.

We feel confident that when the United States emerges from the pandemic’s current phase, veterans will have more opportunity for integration into direct-service programs for employment, training, well-being and affordable housing.

For more information on programs and services offered by Dixon Center, or to become a Dixon Center partner, please contact Sam Whitehurst, Vice President of Programs & Services, swhitehurst@dixoncenter.org.