Welcome to the NCSILC Veteran’s page. We are dedicated to helping to provide resources, news updates and upcoming events to encourage independent living to our military community.  If you have suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact us! Also, be sure to visit our Veteran’s Resources List.

Upcoming Events

You can find  events posted here also on our calendar along with other upcoming events!

Check out the upcoming military sports camps available from the US Paralymic Team. Paralympic Military Sports Camps are multi-day events for veterans and military personnel with physical injuries that aim to introduce individuals to a variety of summer and winter sport opportunities.  During each camp, participants attend sports clinics conducted by Paralympic athletes and coaches.  All service members attend the camp at no cost.  Expenses related to travel, lodging and meals are covered by the USOC. For more information on other camps or for an application visit their website at: http://usparalympics.org/usoc-paralympic-military-program/military-sports-camps

Hey Waterfowl Sportsmen! Check it out from Wounded Warriors in Action:

North Carolina Duck & Swan Hunt — December 01 – December 04, 2011

Hunt ducks and swans at Neal’s Creek, just outside the beautiful Outer Banks, North Carolina!
To learn more visit their website at http://www.wwiaf.org/calendar.php.

News & Updates

For more news and updates, check out our Facebook page for updates directly from our friended veterans’ organizations. Many of the sources of these stories are also listed on our Veteran’s Resources List.

Cool New Resource: Paws and Stripes

Paws and Stripes™ is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization for wounded veterans of our United States military that works to provide service dogs for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury.  The service dogs are obtained only from shelters, and are trained by professionals specializing in service dogs.  It is the aim of this organization to provide these dogs and training for no cost to the veteran. The flat cost to sponsor a dog and veteran is $2000.00. What a great Christmas gift! To learn more, visit their website at http://www.pawsandstripes.org/home.html.

New Telephone Service: Coaching into Care

VA has several programs that help family members provide support to their Veterans, like Caregiver Support, counseling at your local Vet Center, and an initiative that got started earlier this year: Coaching into Care.

Coaching into Care is a telephone service that provides assistance to family members and friends trying to encourage their Veteran to seek health care for possible readjustment and mental health issues. It’s a national phone service that places priority to linking Veterans with benefits and services available in their own communities.

If you think your Veteran friend or family member is having a difficult time and could benefit from readjustment counseling or mental health care, please utilize the Coaching into Care service: call 1-888-823-7458 or email CoachingIntoCare@va.gov .

Triad-Area WWII vets take Flight of Honor to Washington D.C. Memorials

From a story from News 14 Carolina: Over the weekend, nearly 100 veterans embarked on a journey to the nation’s capital as part of the Triad Flight of Honor. During the day trip, the 80- and 90-year-old veterans flew from Greensboro to Washington, D.C., for a day of touring the memorials built in their names. Once 16 million strong, more than 1,200 World War II vets are now dying each day, making this a once-in-a-lifetime trip to their memorial.

The Triad Flight of Honor, a service project of Rotary District 7690, will only take two more trips before the program comes to an end. To learn more or to help support the Honor Flight Network, visit http://www.honorflight.org/. You can also follow them on Facebook.

Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation

Fall is here, and the anticipation is building for many outdoorsmen as a new season approaches.  Here’s a great resource for our wounded veterans who enjoy outdoor sports. Established in 2007, the Wounded Warriors in Action Foundation (WWIA) is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Apollo Beach Florida. The WWIA is dedicated to serving our nation’s combat wounded, Purple Heart recipients, by providing world-class outdoor sporting activities. To learn more about the WWIAF visit their website at www.wwiaf.org/.

National Veterans Wheelchair Games 2011-2012

The largest annual wheelchair sports competition in the world, this event offers 17 different sports to Veterans who use wheelchairs due to spinal cord injuries, amputations and neurological diseases. The Games promote rehabilitation through rigorous competition in such events as basketball, rugby, softball, handcycling and others.

While past Games have produced national and world-class champions, the Games also provide opportunities for newly disabled Veterans to gain sports skills and be exposed to other wheelchair athletes. Visit their website to learn more about the National Veterans Wheelchair Games.

Project Lifesaver: New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office and Pilot Club of Wilmington Team Up to Offer Locating System

Project Lifesaver is a locating system for individuals who have Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Down’s Syndrome, Autism or other brain related disorders which cause the person to wander. Person’s who are enrolled in the Project Lifesaver program wear a personalized bracelet that emits a tracking signal. Search and rescue teams can locate the person using this tracking signal. For more information, click PROJECT LIFESAVER to view the PDF brochure, or by visiting their website at http://www.ncpltaskforce.org/

VoicesofVISN6-November

In the November Edition: Wilmington Breaks Ground on New Clinic, Richmond to hose VAMC Wheelchair Games 2012, VA Helping Homeless Veterans, VISN Increasing Internet Use to Keep Veteran Informed

DVA Caregiver Support Line

As reported by the Disabled American Veteran’s news, The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is increasing its support to caregivers with a new, toll-free telephone line for the caregivers of veterans of all eras.   The National Caregiver Support Line — 1-855-260-3274 — serves as the primary resource and referral center to assist caregivers, veterans and others seeking caregiver information. To read more about this, please visit their website at:  http://www.dav.org/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=382