As many of you have heard, big plans are underway for the Illinois veteran and military communities. We at the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) are partnering with the Illinois Department of Military Affairs (DMA) to create Illinois Joining Forces (IJF), an umbrella organization that allows for the increased awareness and collaboration between the hundreds of non-profit and public entities (federal, state, local) serving military members, veterans, and their families. Please download the accompanying overview document of IJF.
Because IJF is such a large endeavor and requires the engagement of so many organizations, DMA and DVA are partnering with a non-profit organization, the Impact Center, which is running a comprehensive Launch Program between now and November. As part of that IJF Launch Program, the Impact Center is conducting key stakeholder interviews and surveys, building a collaborative website which allows for active referrals of veterans, and putting together a launch summit for November 9, 2012.
At this point, we need your help!
If you are a veteran/military non-profit or public agency: The Impact Center has just launched the preliminary Illinois Joining Forces website at illinoisjoiningforces.org. Please visit the website and take a few minutes to complete the surveys identified in the "Tell Us About Your Work" section. Should your organization become an Illinois Joining Forces member late this year, the data that you enter in these surveys will become part of the online resource directory that is so essential to the IJF's success.
If you are an individual veteran: Be on the lookout for the easy navigation that illinoisjoiningforces.org will provide to veterans and service members late this year! In the meantime, please help us spread the word on Illinois Joining Forces, so that the more than 500 veteran and military non-profit organizations in Illinois have the chance to join the movement.
We at DVA will be in touch further in months to come as IJF develops and the IJF Launch Summit takes shape.
If you have any questions or comments please email [email protected].
