IAVA strives to build an empowered generation of veterans who provide sustainable leadership for our country and their local communities. We work toward this vision through programs in four key impact areas: supporting new veterans in Health, Education, Employment and building a lasting Community for vets and their families (HEEC).
We create impact in these critical areas through assistance to vets and their families, raising awareness about issues facing our community and advocating for supportive policy from the federal to the local level.
OUR PROGRAMS
IAVA’s programs empower and support our community both online and offline, expand our reach and sustain our organization to make a deeper and lasting impact on veterans and their families for years to come. Our programs are scalable, flexible and durable to make a positive influence on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in an ever-changing landscape of support and public awareness.
Health Programs:
We know how hard going to, and coming back from, war can be. So IAVA makes it a priority to ensure that both mental and physical health needs are being effectively addressed in our community.
- IAVA has connected more than 20,000 veterans with mental health support through our programs and referrals to best in class service providers. We recently announced a partnership with the Veterans Crisis Line to help our members in their toughest times of need. The partnership will provide a direct support line for IAVA members and our staff. And that means no waiting, no bureaucracy and saving more lives.
- IAVA is also focused on the health of military families. Recently, IAVA helped spearhead passage of the Caregivers Act to help our nation's full-time caregivers for wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
With hundreds of thousands of new veterans headed back to school under the New GI Bill, IAVA provides them the tools and support needed to make informed decisions.
- Over 560,000 veterans have already visited NewGIBill.org and used our innovative New GI Bill calculator to calculate their benefits and get one-on-one support from our New GI Bill experts on staff.
- IAVA has also partnered with companies like Veritas Prep to provide scholarships to our members for college test preparation courses to support them through every stage of the education process.
No veteran should come home from Iraq or Afghanistan to an unemployment check. And to fight shockingly high joblessness rates, IAVA has stepped up in a variety of ways through our Combat to Career initiative.
- This offers groundbreaking resources to our members, like providing 6,000 free business suits to veterans, helping hundreds of them navigate the job market at Smart Job Fairs and providing critical training to vets through Google Resume Workshops.
- IAVA is also a force to be reckoned with on Capitol Hill. In 2011, when Washington was in a stalemate, we led the way to pass the Vow to Hire Heroes Act, our top legislative priority. This bill helped over 200,000 unemployed veterans during one of the worst economic situations in decades.
