Strengthening Nationwide Support: Dixon Center for Military and Veterans Services Pillars
Part Four of a Five-Part Series: Empowering Organizations and Communities to Serve Veterans and Their Families
Background and Series Overview: Building Capacity for Veteran Support
The Center for Military and Veterans Services (the Center) serves as a central resource across the nation, building capacity with organizations, individuals, communities, and movements dedicated to providing comprehensive care, respect, and opportunities for veterans and their families.[1] At the core of our mission is the goal of closing service gaps and driving meaningful outcomes that empower both communities and organizations to coordinate support for those who have served. We emphasize deliberate actions, respectful healing, and fostering hope, all of which cultivate environments that strengthen veteran resilience and success.
This fourth installment in our five-part series details the primary strategies for creating lasting change for veterans and their families. Each section addresses vital aspects of our work, offering practical guidance and insights for advocates, organizational leaders, and community partners. Our clearinghouse model demonstrates our commitment to building capacity, equipping organizations nationwide with tools and expert advice. By disseminating best practices and encouraging collaboration, we reinforce the durability and reach of support systems at the local and national levels.
Our work is anchored in three essential pillars: Work with Purpose, Heal with Honor, and Live with Hope. These pillars guide how we equip organizations and communities to meet veterans and their families where they are — with the right resources, the right expertise, and a shared commitment to meaningful outcomes. By building the capacity of those on the front lines of service, we help create pathways through challenge and toward lasting opportunity. The result is a coordinated, community-driven approach that addresses both the immediate and long-term needs of those who have served.
Our Mission: Lasting Impact Through Service
Since our inception, our mission has been clear: to ensure that every veteran and their family receive meaningful support, respect, and opportunities from informed, innovative and integrated communities. This guiding principle informs all our programs and partnerships, shaping a vision in which veterans can flourish. We emphasize positive, measurable outcomes and work diligently to bridge gaps in services, resources, and community engagement.
The Three Pillars: Foundations for Lasting Impact
Our core philosophy – “Work with Purpose, Heal with Honor, Live with Hope” – shapes every initiative, partnership, and service for veterans and their families. These foundational principles guide our efforts to create enduring, positive changes for individuals and communities alike.
Work with Purpose: Aligning Actions to Meaningful Outcomes
“Work with Purpose” reflects our commitment to developing strategic, mission-aligned activities for veterans. Creating pathways to careers where veterans earn a family wage and have affordable healthcare and benefits. Careers that allow veterans to set and meet their future goals. Programs: Workforce Development and Career Placement, and Veteran Entrepreneurship
- Assist organizations in developing programs that put veterans on the road to productive, meaningful careers—careers that provide wages that allow veterans to invest in their families’ future, provide access to healthcare and benefits, and opportunities for advancement.
- Access to apprenticeships, credentials (licenses, certificates, and certifications).
- Increasing the impact of programs that support and encourage veteran entrepreneurs.
Heal with Honor: Promoting Dignity, Respect, and Empowerment
“Heal with Honor” stands for our unwavering dedication to veterans’ well-being. Recognizing the complex challenges they may encounter, we create healing environments rooted in dignity and respect. Through our Programs: Clearinghouse, and Wellness we partner and work with local and national organizations, empowering them by enhancing their ability to integrate veterans and their families and creating networks that foster connection, recovery, and a renewed sense of purpose for veterans. Through our work as a resource hub for organizations and individuals, those touched by military service will lead fulfilling, meaningful lives as productive members of their communities.
- We provide data and tools that help individuals and organizations drive positive outcomes for veterans and their families and help them achieve their goals.
- Connecting with direct-service wellness providers and programs supporting veterans.
- We advocate for veterans who have underlying issues that put them at greater risk of loneliness and isolation.
- Leveraging technology to increase access to wellness for veterans and their families.
Live with Hope: Inspiring a Brighter Future for Veterans and Their Families
“Live with Hope” highlights the importance of optimism and perseverance among veterans and their families. Through our Programs: Housing, and Basic Needs – we collaborate with organizations and service providers, equipping them with the tools and strategies needed to provide affordable housing solutions and to prevent veterans from becoming homeless. What’s more, our network of partners strives to address the housing crisis by creating a community of support. These include support for food security, safe housing, transportation, public health, and crisis relief.
- Creating solutions that provide opportunities for affordable housing—living in a safe, secure, and comfortable setting in harmony with a local community where a veteran can function independently and contribute to society as a private citizen.
- Resource sharing to assist with basic needs.
- Increasing the impact of organizations that combat homelessness and help veterans navigate their evolving needs.
Integrating the Pillars for Holistic Support
When united, these three pillars amplify our organizational impact. Purposeful work, honorable healing, and hopeful living together foster a culture of empowerment that extends beyond our organization. Sharing best practices and resources supports broader adoption of these values, benefiting veterans everywhere.
The Enduring Importance of Our Pillars
These pillars provide a systematic framework for meeting the ongoing needs of veterans and their families. They guide our efforts to deliver focused support, compassionate care, and actionable hope, ensuring that veterans remain valued members of society. As we look ahead, these pillars continue to anchor our values-driven approach to support.
Collaborative Partnerships and Facilitation: Uniting for the Greater Good
We recognize that true progress results from teamwork. By forging partnerships among government agencies, healthcare professionals, faith-based organizations, and volunteers, we create coordinated strategies that tap into each partner’s strengths. This collaborative method improves resource allocation and guarantees veterans receive seamless, comprehensive support.
Conclusion: Coordinated, Lasting Impact for Veterans and Their Families
In summary, our dedication to veterans and their families is built on the integration of honor, hope, and collaboration. By upholding these pillars, we create an inclusive and supportive environment where every veteran can prosper. Together, we ensure that their contributions are honored, their needs are addressed, and their futures are brightened – achieving lasting, positive change for generations to come.
https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/141852/CNAS_WellAfterService_BerglassHarrell.pdf Community (or community-based) organizations are nonprofit entities that exist to serve the specific needs of a given community—whether defined by geography, field of interest, affiliation, or affinity—and whose leadership, mission, and programs authentically reflect that community. Some community organizations officially incorporate as nonprofits with the Internal Revenue Service, while others are less formal, less sophisticated, or otherwise formed ad hoc by people working together voluntarily to effect change or create new opportunities regarding a specific issue or population. Community organizations are generally understood to be a subset of the larger field of nonprofits, including but not limited to institutional entities (like some hospitals and universities), chapters or affiliates of national organizations, faith-based organizations (such as churches and synagogues), and fraternal and civic organizations. In this report, we refer to community “organizations” and community “models.” Organizations are singular entities, usually self-governed by an appointed board of directors, operated by a paid or volunteer staff that is accountable to that board, and driven by adherence to a clear and concise mission statement. Examples vary widely, from youth sports clubs to local chapters of prominent national organizations. Community models for veteran reintegration, by contrast, are coalitions or groups of organizations—including nonprofit, civic, philanthropic, and business entities—that come together strategically and in partnership to combine and leverage resources toward a common community goal. Some community veteran reintegration models, including a few represented in the working group assembled to inform this report, have incorporated to become stand-alone organizations; others are run cooperatively—most often on a volunteer basis—by leaders from the various organizations that are members of the larger group.
