Nonprofit To Focus On Serving Oklahoma Veterans Through Various Programs

After more than 80 years serving Northeastern Oklahoma, the nonprofit Community Service Council is transitioning to a new focus serving veterans. The organization is now going to be known as Oklahoma Veterans United.

Community Service Council ran many programs in the community for many years. As time went on, CSC said many of those programs went to other organizations or became their own nonprofits.

CSC said its veteran programs really became the focal point of the organization. It's the reason for the transition to Oklahoma Veterans United, which will allow it to highlight the fact that it is a veteran-facing organization with a main focus centering on veterans and what they need.

Rachel Runfola is a veteran and the CEO of Oklahoma Veterans United. She said it's important for Oklahoma Veterans United to provide these services because many veterans are dealing with big issues.

"They come back with some tremendous things that they are dealing with that have not ever been problematic because usually they were able to save people in the battlefield in our current time, where before, they would not come back. They are having to maneuver a lot of different situations that we just haven’t seen in the past. So it’s important as an organization to be able to be there to serve those folks," Runfola said.

The organization is going to focus on its rapid re-housing program, expanding suicide prevention resources, and employment opportunities for veterans.

Oklahoma Veterans United has the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program to connect at-risk veterans to upstream suicide prevention tools.

It also has the Veteran Employer Network which provides Oklahoma employers with opportunities to create veteran ready cultures.

Leaders said another initiative is called "Right Face" which will ensure incarcerated veterans pending release will have housing, employment and other vital resources secured.

"I will say it’s just almost like the continuum of care, if you will, of making sure that our veterans are getting taken care of from the moment they get here, to until they are established and thriving in our communities," Denise Reid, Oklahoma Veterans United Board President said.