PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — Now in its fourth year, the Calvert County Commission for Veterans and Military Families is looking to focus on outreach. At the Aug. 26 Board of County Commissioners meeting, board members outlined progress and next steps.
The commission, originally founded as an organization helping veterans in the community, changed its name to add military families to “better reflect the work we’re doing,” according to Chairman Dr. Brandon Temple.
That work includes connecting veterans and military families to key services in the area, ranging from working with the Office on Aging to help support caregiving spouses to helping new arrivals assigned to nearby bases get situated in the county. The commission has worked to add programs and services over the past four years to meet the needs of the many veterans and military families in the county.
Part of that work is making sure those people are recognized. This year, the county earned a Purple Heart County designation and a Hidden Heroes Caregiver Community designation. The commission also continued to support the Purple Star Schools program. Calvert County is home to 10 Purple Star Schools, far more than any other county in Maryland.
This year, the commission tightened its focus on outreach by increasing its social media presence and appearing at local events. The commission also partnered with the College of Southern Maryland and the University of Maryland Global Campus to promote and support their veteran events and programs. They also participated in Calvert’s Mental Health Implementation Plan activities.
Outreach has been a key part of developing the services offered by the commission and involves advertising services and embedding the organization and its work in the community. In addition to their presence at community events, the commission is hoping to improve the public’s awareness of how to access their services. They’re also working on creating and publishing a Military Families Guide.
During the presentation, Dr. Temple highlighted the challenges of connecting people with local services and getting them to take the next steps after engaging at an event or on social media, and said the group expects to continue looking for ways to conduct outreach.
“There are over 40,000 veteran-centered nonprofits in the country,” Dr. Temple said. “A lot of the time it can be overwhelming when you just type in a Google search and there’s so many options.”
Local groups can work together to point people in the right direction and get people started. “We want to pull from all of our resources,” Dr. Temple added.
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All thier “highlights” are simply a duplication of services provided by more established and respected organizations, including the military. The Navy already provides information connecting veterans and military families to services in the area. What has the Calvert Veterans And Military Family Commission actually accomplished for disabled veterans, living in Calvert County? Nothing. Where are the recommendations for reduced fees, or no fees, charged to access County parks, swimming pools, and other programs? The State of Maryland does not charge many veterans any fees to use its parks. Calvert County is all talk and no action, and only focuses on the optics.