Governor McCrory Forms Public-Private Partnership To Help Transitioning Veterans And Their Families | Eastern North Carolina Now

Walmart Foundation Donates $1 million to Governor McCrory's Initiative

    Raleigh, N.C.     Governor Pat McCrory announced today the Walmart Foundation has donated $1 million to a public-private partnership designed to help newly separated veterans transition into civilian life in North Carolina. The Pew Research Center reports that during the past 10 years, 44 percent of veterans have had difficulty re-entering the civilian world.

    "We want veterans to choose North Carolina as their new home. Veterans enrich our workforce because of the skills and discipline they received throughout their military career and their leadership skills will strengthen the communities in which they live," Governor McCrory said. "I want to thank the Walmart Foundation for assisting us in helping newly separated veterans get off to a good start in their new civilian life."

    The public-private partnership is being led by the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs through its NC4VETS initiative. Already, partnerships have been formed with NCServes, a network of service providers for veterans and their families. NCServes is deployed by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University.

    "The purpose of this partnership to ease and streamline the access to services an individual veteran and family members need," said Ilario Pantano, North Carolina Veterans Affairs Director. "NC4VETS has tremendous reach, and by partnering regionally with NCServes' community-based networks, we have a winning formula to attract veterans and help them make North Carolina their new home."

    NCServes will kick off in the Research Triangle area later this month with additional consulting support from Accenture, and will be implemented in all 100 North Carolina counties during the next three years.

    "The public private partnership with NC4VETS will ensure resources are aligned at the state and local levels to improve the lives of veterans and their families across North Carolina," said IVMF's Managing Director of Community Engagement & Innovation Jim McDonough, who oversees the NCServes program. "We look forward to expanding our service region across the state, starting in the Raleigh/Durham area."

    Governor McCrory said the Walmart Foundation's support comes at the right time given that many military members are projected to separate from their respective services in North Carolina.

    "The Walmart Foundation draws on Walmart's particular strengths to help people, in partnership with others. We are privileged to collaborate with Governor McCrory, the IVMF, and other outstanding organizations in collective action for good," said Kathleen McLaughlin, president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president of Walmart Sustainability. "Our veterans have already given so much to our communities, and in turn, we hope to help create a more seamless transition into civilian life."

    Today, North Carolina is home to over 770,000 veterans, 116,000 active duty service members, 22,000 Reserve Component members and their families.

    For more information about NC4VETs, please visit NC4VETS.com.

    For more information about NCServes, please visit NCServes.org.

• Contact: Crystal Feldman
•     govpress@nc.gov