April 24-28, 2023 is Military Saves Week! Military Saves is a component of America Saves, and as a participant in the Department of Defense Financial Readiness Network seeks to motivate, support, and encourage military families to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth. If you want to participate as an organization, getting started is easy! Even if you don't formally participate, you can create displays or provide links on your website to share this valuable resource.
For all the information you'll need to get started you can view the Military Support Organizations training webinar for Military Saves Week.
The Connecticut State Library, Division of Library Development is working on partnering with local, state and national veteran's agencies, organizations, groups and the library community to identify and connect veterans and military families with services and programs.
The Libraries and Veterans Forum has developed a toolkit that libraries and other organizations that serve military members and veterans in their community can use to get ideas for programming for this often forgotten segment of our communities.
NEW!! Sharene Brown, spouse of Air Force Chief of Staff Charles “CQ” Brown Jr., announced a “Five and Thrive” initiative to address what she sees as the top five quality of life issues facing airmen’s and Guardians’ families. She developed the plan with her Thrive Team, a group of spouses, according to an Air Force press release.
She published a digital Thrive guide with information on child care, education, health care, housing and spouse employment.
White House Proclaims November ‘Veterans and Military Families Month
Saying that military and veteran families “do so much and ask for little,” President Joe Biden has declared this month National Veterans and Military Families Month.
“Throughout November, we show our appreciation to the spouses, partners, children, caregivers and survivors of our service members and veterans for their selfless sacrifice on behalf of the nation,” he said in a formal proclamation. “Supporting military families is a national security imperative.”
Community Salute is an initiative of the Institute of Museum and Library Services aimed at strengthening the ability of libraries, archives and museums (LAMs) to respond to the needs of veterans and military families.
IMLS engaged FSG to document how LAMs work with veterans in their local communities and to identify ways to foster innovations to improve those services. Several exciting opportunities have been identified for LAMs to open doors for veterans and military families and to forge stronger bonds with their communities and peers.
The Community Salute work has followed the trail blazed by the Community Catalyst Initiative. IMLS conducted research and interview sessions, and hosted a meeting in San Antonio, Texas, to explore how LAMs can provide meaningful support for the nation’s more than 22 million veterans and their families.
As a result of the San Antonio meeting and the information gathered from veterans service organizations, foundations, and veterans, IMLS and FSG produced five resource documents. Tailored for LAMs, the documents provide qualitative and quantitative approaches to help museums and libraries bring people together and better serve veterans. The resources include a selection of topics, discussion-starters, data gathering, and facilitation tools that can be used to start or guide community development work.”
The CT Department of Veterans' Affairs provides contact information on programs and services available to Connecticut veterans, Active Duty, National Guard and Reserves.
Click here for more information.
Contact information:
860-240-8467
Committee on Veteran's Affairs
State Capitol Building, Room 509A
Hartford, CT 06106
For further information, click here.
Contact information:
State of Connecticut, Department of Veteran's Affairs
287 West Street
Rocky Hill, CT 06067
860-616-3600
For a full listing of contacts, click here.
or visit the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs
MilitaryOneSource is a one-stop site with information about military life questions.
Veterans Crisis Line provides confidential help through a toll-free hotline, online chat or text.
eGO is the Connecticut State Library’s statewide library eBook platform, currently being rolled out to libraries.
Take look at a sample of recently added titles for the military community available through the Palace App which is scheduled to launch in December 2021.
2020 Census: Counting All Military Service Members and Their Families in 2020
A library journal article, "At your service" by April Witteveen, November 2, 2016 describes how an estimated 19.4 million veterans were living in the United States according to a 2014 American Community Survey, and how academic and public libraries can serve the needs of this population. Featured is the California State Library's "Veterans Connect @ the Library" initiative.
An August 31, 2016 School Library Journal article by Linda Jabobson demonstrates how, "Libraries provide stability for military children and families."
The Illinois Library Association developed a Military Families & Children Toolkit which features a booklist for children & teens as well as a booklist and program ideas for adults.
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