Olson: Female veterans face steep climb back to employment when they return from war

By Kimberly Olson
Special to the Star-Telegram

Sara was living in her car in the parking lot of a local grocery store -- certainly not the place that this military veteran thought she would find herself after returning from two tours in Iraq. Unfortunately, hers is a story that unfolds for some women veterans.

If you met Sara today, you would scarcely believe that just four months ago her car was her home and that she was wondering where she would get her next meal. What happened during those four months was that Sara experienced outreach from a fellow veteran and found meaningful work.

Those of us at Grace After Fire who interact daily with veterans quickly discover a powerful truth: Work makes them well. After years of constant deployments and relocation, most veterans want work that sustains a family and is in a place where they can put down roots. Our veterans are smart, brave, tenacious and experienced men and women, and they don't want or need a handout. "Let me earn my way," or "I can do it myself" are common refrains.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/02/15/3738227/olson-female-veterans-face-steep.html#storylink=cpy

First Annual Grace After Fire Women Veterans Summit

Discover Your Grace: The Power of Women Veterans

Experts will lead focused sessions on issues of importance to Texas women Veterans from every branch of service, all designed to facilitate successful transition from battlefield to families, workforce, and communities. Sessions will include small group discussion with experts in health and wellness, family resilience, gender-specific medicine, fashion, entering the workforce opportunities, the latest in brain research on post-combat challenges, avenues to access for care, and peer-to-peer model focused on women.

Read more about the 2012 Women Veterans' Summit...

[ Register for the 2012 Discover Your Grace Summit ]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2/14/12
Contacts: Susan Flyzik or Paige Hendricks This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 817-924-2300 or 214-390-5775
or Lisa Skier, Grace After Fire This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 817-682-6694

Supported by Texas Veterans Commission grant, non-profit
Grace After Fire connects with women Veterans, launches new
program, thanks Texas cities for commemorations in March

(Fort Worth, TX) Following the lead of the 82nd Texas Legislature in designating March 2012 as Women Veterans Month, a number of cities are showing their support by doing the same.

The commemoration is just one of a number of awareness and educational efforts by the Fort Worth-based non-profit Grace After Fire, a group that works exclusively to support women Veterans returning from combat and transitioning to civilian lives.

Also in March, Grace After Fire will launch Table Talk™: Color Me Camo, a pilot peer-to-peer support program for women Veterans that focuses on gender specific topics through structured, positive interaction with trained facilitators and fellow peers. Table Talk is actively seeking additional women Veteran volunteers both as facilitators and participants.

The outreach programs have been made possible by a grant from the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans' Assistance. Outreach efforts are designed to involve more women Veterans in Grace After Fire and to inspire local communities to honor their local women Veterans and say thank you for their service, too.

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Following the lead of the 82nd Texas Legislature in designating March 2012 as Women Veterans Month, a number of cities are showing their support by doing the same.

Read more...

The Women Veterans' Summit
& Women Veterans Month
in Texas, March 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2/8/12

Contacts: Susan Flyzik This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Paige Hendricks This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 817-924-2300 or 214-390-5775; or Lisa Skier, Grace After Fire This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 817-360-7766.

Grace After Fire to hold Summit, launch outreach program
during inaugural Texas Women Veterans Month in March
March 3rd Summit in Dallas focuses on topics to help women Veterans transition from battlefield to community

(Fort Worth, TX) Kimberly Olson, Colonel, USAF (ret) and President/CEO of Grace After Fire, has announced that the Texas-based non-profit organization is hosting its first ever Women Veterans' Summit on Saturday, March 3, 2012, in Dallas to kick off Women Veterans Month, so designated by the 82nd Texas Legislature to name each March from 2011 to 2020 in honor of women Veterans from all service branches.

"The Summit, Discover Your Grace: The Power of Women Veterans, is an opportunity for women Veterans from all over the state to come together and receive valuable support," said Col. Olson. "We invite them to register now as space is limited. The Summit is also a stellar launch for both Table Talk®, our new peer-to-peer program, and Texas Women Veterans Month."

Grace After Fire developed the full-day Summit to be a dynamic, energetic conference for 150 Texas women Veterans from all branches of the United States military. Discover Your Grace: The Power of Women Veterans will feature experts leading focused sessions on issues of importance to Texas women Veterans. Grace After Fire designed all aspects to help women Veterans help themselves and to facilitate successful transition from deployment to individual self-empowerment and self-renewal and as a part of their families, the workforce, and their communities.

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