Current Events/Press Releases
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The San Antonio Area Foundation aspires to significantly enhance the quality of life of our community by providing outstanding service to donors, producing significant asset growth, strengthening community collaboration and managing an exemplary grants program. A publicly supported philanthropic institution, the San Antonio Area Foundation is governed by a board of private citizens chosen for their knowledge of and involvement in the community. For over 44 years, it has successfully administered funds from individuals, agencies, corporations and others who contribute or bequeath assets for the betterment of the community. For more information, visit www.saafdn.org.
The grant totaling over $150,000 will allow for the complete tuition costs of approximately 50 caregivers or military spouses in the San Antonio region for rapid certification programs. Operation Life Transformed is focused on offering online training to military spouses and to those who are the care givers to our nation’s war wounded. This training will provide portable, flexible career opportunities in fields such as medical transcription, billing and coding and real estate.
“This is amazing! To be able to go to BAMC and say…’ Come on! Let’s get you started!’ will be the ultimate experience for me as a representative of OLT but even more so as a caregiver myself,” said Executive Director, Operation Life Transformed, Colleen Saffron upon news of the grant approval.
The TRIAD grant area includes not only Brooke Army Hospital but Ft. Sam Houston, Lackland AFB, Randolph AFB, Brook City Base and many other military communities.
“I guess our applicants from that area better start getting ready,” Saffron said later, she continued by saying “We are like Publisher’s Clearing House, you just never know when we will show up!”
AUSA and Operation Life Transformed Unite to Support Caregivers and Spouses
March 1, 2008 – Operation Life Transformed (OLT) is proud to announce the participation of the Association of the United States Army’s (AUSA) Family Programs Directorate in their spouse and caregiver scholarship program. AUSA Family Programs has
pledged to provide two, $2000 scholarships through OLT to be used to pay for online training and certification for military spouses and care givers to our nation’s war wounded service members.
AUSA Family Programs is committed to OLT’s goal of supporting military families who are managing the long term care of injured service members by providing military spouses and other caregivers with training in careers that fit well with the mobile military lifestyle. Jobs such as medical transcription, coding and billing can move with spouses and are flexible enough to allow caregivers to keep up with the demanding medical schedule of a recovering service member.
About AUSA Family Programs: AUSA Family Programs’ mission is to ensure that the interests of Army families are represented in Congress and to provide Army families with information and
resources to help them manage the challenges of military life.
The Directorate, founded in 1999, is part of the Association of the United States Army, a private, non-profit educational organization that supports America's Army. Learn more at www.ausa.org.
OLT’s Executive Director, Tania Mercurio stated, “Support from distinguished organizations like AUSA, confirms to us, that we are providing a service that is certainly needed in the military
community and that others, are willing to join us in our mission.”
Winners of the AUSA/ OLT scholarships will be announced in the near future.
For more information about AUSA Family Programs please go to www.ausa.org/family.
www.milspouse.org
America Supports You: Group Helps Vets by Helping Caregivers
Samantha L. Quigley - American Forces Press Service
2007-11-26
A Texas-based group is working to give caregivers of war wounded and military spouses the support they need as they transition from the military community to the civilian sector.
“Our goal is to empower achievement, independence, and the assurance of renewed hope,” said Tania Mercurio, an Air Force spouse who serves as executive director of Operation Life Transformed.
In working to help every caregiver or military spouse achieve that goal, the group provides virtual or classroom training and education. The training programs allow better job marketability and retention, Mercurio said.
The training focuses on fields that are flexible enough to accommodate the sometimes unpredictable schedule of the target audience. Medical transcription, for example, is 80 percent outsourced, she said.
Kimberly Ryusaki Marrerro, another executive director of Operation Life Transformed and a Navy spouse, said these types of positions work well for caregivers or military spouses.
“We have a talented, untapped pool of resources that needs temporary work,” she said. “Operation Life Transformed works with the caregiver and corporation to provide temporary placement while the caregiver is supporting the injured at a medical facility.”
Being able to find temporary employment while helping a wounded servicemember recover can help ensure the family’s economic stability, Marrero said.
The organization, which has won the Newman’s Own Award for excellence and innovation within the military community, has recently become a supporter of America Supports You.
America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
The credibility the affiliation provides groups like Operation Life Transformed in the military community is priceless, said Colleen Saffron, another executive director of Operation Life Transformed and an Army spouse.
She also hopes it will help the group network with complementary organizations.
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America Supports You
http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/index.aspx
Military Connection 12/6/07
http://www.militaryconnection.com/buzzPSAs.asp
Operation Life Transformed on Lashawn Barber's Corner Blog
"LaShawn Barber is a columnist for the Washington Examiner, and her articles, essays, and book reviews have appeared in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Christian Research Journal, Christianity Today, Today’s Christian Woman, Beliefnet.com, National Review Online, Townhall.com, and other publications"
Taken from http://lashawnbarber.com/about/
Organization Assists Texas Caregivers
Week of November 05, 2007
Operation Life Transformed in Harker Heights, Tex., provides training and education for caregivers of war wounded servicemembers to promote financial independence and well being within the military community. For more information, visit the Operation Life Transformed website at http://lifetransformed.org/default.aspx .
FRC West News, October 2007
Volume 1, Issue 1
"Walking the road with our
heroes when they cannot
walk alone...." (P.3 )
KLIF Radio!!!
Colleens on the radio!!! Wednesday Sept. 26th www.klif.com
6.20pm (CT)
Air Force Times, October 1st 2007
Congratulations to the Newmans Own Award for Military Community Excellence
(page 55)
Blogs!
http://fuzzilicious.blogspot.com/2007/08/hero-in-her-own-right.html
Bolling Aviator AFB
Bolling spouse’s nonprofit selected for 2007 Newman’s Own Award, $5K grant
Operation Life Transformed founders Kim Marrero (left), Coleen Saffron and Tania Mercurio pause with Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mrs Lynn Pace and Mrs Fisher, after receiving a $5,000 grant at the eight annual Newman's Own Award Ceremony Aug. 10 at the Pentagon. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Tim Chacon)
by Mike Campbell
11th Wing Public Affairs
8/13/2007 - BOLLING AFB, D.C. -- Operation Life Transformed, a nonprofit foundation launched in early 2007 by Tania Mercurio, wife of Master Sgt. Charles Mercurio, U.S. Air Force Honor Guard superintendent of ceremonies and protocol, and two other military spouses, was
one of eight $5,000 grant winners honored at the eighth annual Newman's Own Award ceremony Aug. 10 at the Pentagon.
Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Lynne, hosted the event, sponsored by Newman's Own, Fisher House Foundation and Military Times Media Group. The Newman's Own awards recognize ingenuity and innovation for programs that benefit servicemen and women and their families. Operation Welcome Home, a program of the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation of Denver, Colorado received a $15,000 grant as the top entry.
"We were elated to say the least, and very, very moved," Mrs. Mercurio said in describing the feelings she and Operation Life Transformed co-founders Kim Marrero, at NAS Lemoore, Calif., and Colleen Saffron, at Fort Hood, Texas shared when they learned of the instant recognition their brainchild had received from Newman's Own. "Being a new organization, it was a joyful surprise and a true honor. This type of recognition and validation for what we do is that special ingredient that pushes us all the more to continue ... and believe, without a doubt, we can make a big difference in the lives of many."
With "Walking the road with our heroes when they cannot walk alone," as its motto, the
mission of Operation Life Transformed, headquartered in Harker Heights, Texas, is to provide education and resources to our war-wounded caregivers and military spouses through private and corporate entities, and to increase awareness of the long-term needs of these families and support them as they re-enter the civilian sector.
Since its birth in March 2007, Mrs. Mercurio said Operation Life Transformed has already helped 20 families in various ways including donated online businesses, computers, computer programs, travel agent certification courses and books.
"We have a goal of training 200 spouses and caregivers within our first year, and we are on our way of achieving or even surpassing this number," she said. "We have partnered recently with some large companies, Operation Remax and AAMT (American Association for Medical Transcripts) to name a couple. We truly believe in working with other nonprofits and organizations as well to form a united international network to enhance one another's causes. The more people that know about us and share our vision and purpose, the more people we can help. We have tremendous ongoing support from our family readiness centers; they are among our greatest advocates."
Mrs. Mercurio, who said Operation Life Transformed would use its $5,000 grant to "train and educate," will be joining co-directors Mrs. Saffron and Mrs. Marrero at the AAMT annual convention in Reno, Nev., Aug. 15-18, to talk about military spouses and war-wounded caregivers entering the medical transcript field.
"This 12-month (medical transcript) course normally costs $3,000,"she said. "With the generous support of some of our corporate partners, we are piloting a program to train 100 spouses and 25 caregivers in the immediate future, and we will be offering full grants to our military spouses and war-wounded caregivers. Our spouses and caregivers can work from home and earn a good hourly salary once they have completed training. This is a very exciting time for us."
For more information on Operation Life Transformed, visit their Web site at http://lifetransformed.org or e-email them at contactus@lifetransformed.org.
Military Times
Newman’s Own awards help troops and families
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Aug 13, 2007 19:51:56 EDT
When Mike Conklin heard about a severely injured warrior returning to his hometown of San Ramon, Calif., he gathered a group of people together to ask the question, “What is our responsibility?”
They soon had a plan to pick up where the Department of Veterans Affairs’ responsibilities ended in helping Spc. Jacob Brown.
“I said, ‘I’m going to get him a home, and a car,’ ” said Conklin, father of three Army Rangers, one of whom was injured in Iraq in 2003.
The community put together a support system for Brown that succeeded so well they decided to help another injured service member. In the past three years, the effort evolved into the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation, which Conklin founded to help other caring communities connect with permanently disabled service members.
And for its efforts, the organization can count on part of its funding this year from Newman’s Own, the grants program run by actor Paul Newman to recognize charitable efforts that support the troops.
“The heart of America is tall, it is wide, it is deep,” Conklin said today when he accepted the award in the ceremony at the Pentagon. “They love our soldiers.”
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace told the ten groups that won awards that although the U.S. government clearly serves and supports its troops, there are still huge gaps in taking care of service members and their families. “You are the ones who have identified those gaps and have volunteered to fill them,” he said.
When he visits the troops, someone always asks him whether America still supports them, and said he will be asked that when he travels next week to Djibouti, Korea, Japan and Hawaii. “I will point to today as one more living example of the fact that yes, the American people are with you and do care about you.
“It’s true whether or not that particular American is supportive of the current conflict and the way we’re conducting it. It’s about appreciation of the men and women serving our nation, and it’s about your compassion for them and their families.”
Ten organizations received grants totaling $75,000 in the competition, which is sponsored by Newman’s Own, Fisher House Foundation and Military Times Media Group.
This year’s grants bring the total to $432,000 given to 99 programs since the annual competition began in 2000, aimed at providing funding to programs that improve the quality of life for the military community.
......
All winning programs this year emphasize helping wounded troops and their families.
That includes the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, http://www.semperfifund.org, which receives two grants totaling $15,000 for two separate programs. Their specialized equipment program, providing special gear that has a dramatic impact on Marines’ quality of life, received a $10,000 grant.
For example, the group has given two iBOT wheelchairs to service members at a cost of $23,000 each. “But that one chair gives the service member the chance to work and have quality of life ... it gives them the independence and confidence to get back out there,” said Karen Guenther, founder and executive director of the organization.
The program also helped purchase a treadmill for a blind Marine who wanted to keep in shape and couldn’t run on the streets anymore, she said.
The fund’s family support program, which received a $5,000 grant, offers financial assistance to Marines injured in combat and training and to their families, who travel long distances and often have to quit their jobs to be at their Marine’s bedside.
“We’re in the trenches with the wounded,” Guenther said. “The hospitals trust us. They know we get the checks into the hands of the families within 72 hours, and in emergency it could be in a couple of hours.”
Guenther said the group has evolved from a few Marine spouses and $500 three years ago, to 90 volunteers around the world. Thanks to donors worldwide, they have given $13 million to help in 5,000 cases.
“The network of spouses keeps us going, and people know the money they donate will go to the service members.
“But I feel like we’re just getting started,” she said. “There are so many needs. It touched our hearts that we were able to receive these two grants.”
Other groups receiving grants:
$10,000
* “A Warrior’s Wish,” Hope for the Warriors, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., which grants special wishes to severely injured service members. Examples are all-terrain wheelchairs given to two disabled service members so that they could enjoy the woods and outdoors again, said Shannon Maxwell, vice president and co-founder of the organization, and wife of a wounded Marine.
$5,000
* “Wheels for Warriors,” Operation Support Our Troops, North Kingstown, R.I., which purchases and customizes vans to meet specific needs of disabled service members who have been severely injured in Iraq or Afghanistan.
* “Operation VALOUR IT,” Soldiers’ Angels, San Antonio, which provides specialized wireless laptops and training to the severely injured services members at Brooke Army Medical Center.
* “Operation VALOUR IT,” Soldiers’ Angels, Pasadena, Calif., which provides these specialized laptops to major military medical centers on a national level.
* “Wounded Family Assistance Program,” Operation First Response, Inc., Culpeper, Va., giving wounded families grants of up to $750 to help in immediate financial crisis.
* “Operation Vet Tech,” The Volunteer Center of RI Capitol Region RSVP, Providence, R.I., providing a self-sustaining computer lab at the Providence VA Medical Center to offer technical training to active-duty military, veterans and their families.
* “Life Transformed,” Harker Heights, Texas, providing training and education, small business opportunities, educational materials, computers and mentors for wounded service members and their caregivers.
* “Wounded Warrior Wives,” Operation Homefront — Texas, Fort Sam Houston, with funds for day care, meals, transportation, and professional facilitators to build the morale of spouses of the seriously wounded.
There were 99 entries in this year’s competition.
July 1st 2007
Listen to Colleen interview Sunday July 1st 2007 with Talking with Heroes!!!!
www.stardustent.com/twh1.htm
Blogged!!!!! June 28th 2007
Life Transformed to be featured on
Patriotic News!
May 2007--Patriotic News
Patriotic News--Life Transformed is provides education & resources to war wounded & their caregivers through private or corporate entities or donations. The non-profit company increases awareness for long term needs of soldier’s families & support them as they re-enter the civilian sector. We provide training & education for an easier transition, both physically & mentally into the workforce. A Caregiver & wounded warrior will be trained & credited for positions so they can re-enter the workforce.
Life Transformed is a foundation that encourages private & public sectors to actively participate in the transformation of a wounded warrior & family to a civilian professional.
Who is a "Caregiver?"
A caregiver of wounded can be a spouse, fiancé, parent or a brother, sister, aunt or uncle. When a soldier is wounded, his whole family is impacted. Although grants are wonderful, soldiers & their families must begin to prepare for a transition to civilian life. They must develop a skill & find a job flexible to allow for the recovery process. This can take years, as well as vitally needed. financial support for the future. That’s where we come in.
Caregivers often give up current employment or schooling in order to care for their war wounded. Life Transformed brings training, certification & work for home or office based opportunities for soldiers & their caregivers to equip them for their new life.
For more info call: 254-213-0179
or 703-286- 7648 at: http://lifetransformed.org.
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