VetREN QUARTERLY

Our Palmdale neighborhood has paved streets, street signs, and we have 10 more houses framed and roofed. It is nearly ready to house its first full phase of families!

JUNE 19, 2021

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

Please meet two of our new Veteran families that will be joining our Palmdale neighborhood: the Johnson and Tymony families are working on completing sweat equity hours and getting to know their soon-to-be neighbors on our zoom group sessions.

We continue to have outstanding virtual workshops and drumming sessions with the children. In April, we delivered Easter lilies to celebrate spring.

Warren Tymony

The Johnson Family

The trauma-informed programs in our Veteran Enriched Neighborhood® program are designed to fit the needs of our many Veterans and military families who process trauma in different ways. Some use art and group conversation, others might benefit from assistance and companionship from a trained service animal, and sometimes people need a more meditative setting such as gardening or bonsai trees. Our program is designed to help families discover what works best for them.

During this time of virtual meetings, some of our Veterans had a harder time finding connections in group settings, so we designed our new Neighbor-to-Neighbor program. This program connects two Veterans in the community in a workshop that gives them the opportunity to dive deeper into their Autobiographical storytelling. They meet in two-hour sessions every week and discuss the "branching points of their lives;" how they feel about money, family, death, and much more. This setting allows for a close-knit relationship between two Veterans and allows them to connect on a deeper level without the challenges of having to speak up in a crowd in a virtual setting. This new program has been a great success with our first two homeowners, Daryl and Robert, who happen to be next-door neighbors. They discovered they both have a love of trains and are excited to be living next to each other and moving in very soon.

In our trauma-informed art program, we have the Veterans focus on process not product.

As the Veterans discover more about themselves with the help of their fellow Veterans they also begin to build friendships with their future neighbors.

Once they are fully moved in, not only will they have a brand new home but a built-in community of friends.

One of the workshops conducted is called “Stepping Stones,” in which the objective is to give the Veteran a chance to identify something from their past to leave behind and identify what they want to go toward as they grow.

In the workshop called Monster In Me, the objective is to provide Veterans with the opportunity to reflect on their personal experiences, whether in combat or civilian life. To explore difficult emotions in a safe way and give voice to the feelings that may be hidden inside by creating artwork that represents the “monsters” within them.

This Veteran's piece represents the duality of her emotions, the good, the frustration, and notably her daily emotions. While she has to maintain a good facade, in reality, she is living in a dark, cloudy place.

This quarter, we are highlighting our new partnership with Union Bank. They have provided funding to support our Palmdale project, and the services we provide to Veterans and military family members. Union Bank Home Loans is a leading mortgage lender in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona with production at a $10 billion annual pace. They are especially focused on servicing Veterans as a leading company offering VA home loans.

Thank you Union Bank, and we hope to have your employees volunteer on our site soon!

Union Bank is a full-service bank with a rich history of investing in our clients, communities, and colleagues throughout the West Coast for more than 150 years. Union Bank provides a wide range of personal and business banking products as well as wealth management services. With 300 branches in California, Oregon, and Washington, Union Bank remains committed to serving the needs of its local communities. As a member of the Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s largest financial institutions, Union Bank holds our clients’ best interests to heart and remains committed to investing in their success.