Weekly Report 🎖️
Hiring Fair | Operation Outdoor Freedom | Catalyst Award | General Lloyd Austin Honored with Street Renaming
Operation Outdoor Freedom
Supported by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and led by the Florida Forest Service, Operation Outdoor Freedom provides recreational and rehabilitative opportunities to wounded veterans on state forests, agricultural lands and private lands throughout Florida at no cost. Since its inception in 2009, Operation Outdoor Freedom has hosted more than 900 events and served approximately 6,400 wounded veterans.
Eligibility Requirements
Participation in the Operation Outdoor Freedom Program has been established for Florida residents, as defined in Section 379.101(30)(b), Florida Statutes, who are honorably discharged military veterans with either:
A service-connected disability rating of 30% or greater from the United States Department of Veteran Affairs
Or Purple Heart recipient
Upcoming Events
Please visit the Operation Outdoor Freedom Event Registration System for the current schedule of events.
Note: The registration system requires Internet Explorer version 9 or later, Firefox, Chrome or Safari.
Contact
Operation Outdoor Freedom
Florida Forest Service
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Danny Caraway
Program Coordinator
(863) 224-7013 Cell
Daniel.Caraway@FDACS.gov
David C. Hunt
Program Coordinator
(863) 221-6146 Cell
David.Hunt@FDACS.gov
Operation Outdoor Freedom Program Coordinator Locator
OperationOutdoorFreedom@FDACS.gov
For media inquiries regarding Operation Outdoor Freedom, call (850) 617-7737 or email Communications@FDACS.gov
Source
2025 VA VetResources Community Network (VRCN) Catalyst Award
Searching for Veteran serving organizations with BIG ideas to engage the Veteran community
The VA's Veteran Experience Office (VEO) is searching for 10 non-profit Veteran community-serving organizations who can innovatively and uniquely engage 5000 Veterans in underserved groups.
Submission period:
Phase 1 open until 03/03/25 07:00 PM EST
Challenge types: Ideas; Non-Profit Community Challenge Competition
Total cash prizes:
$100,000
LEARN MORE
West Point Society of Tallahassee
General Lloyd Austin Honored with Street Renaming – Public Ceremony in Thomasville, GA
Retired General Lloyd Austin, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, will be honored with a street renaming in Thomasville, GA. The public is invited to attend the ceremony.
📅 Date: February 24, 2025
⏰ Time: 12:00 PM (Noon)
📍 Location: Ritz Amphitheater, Thomasville, GA
There is a possibility of a visit to the gravesite of Henry O. Flipper, though this has not been officially confirmed at this time.
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training(ASIST)
The Florida Governor’s Challenge is seeking a location to host ASIST Training (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) in the Tallahassee area.
As you may already know, ASIST is the Gold Standard in suicide prevention intervention and the most evidence-based globally. There would be NO COST for this training, and they have enough books for 12 people.
The training takes place over 2 days, and they are looking at hosting it on March 10th and 11th.
Do we have any VSO interested in hosting this training?
Let me know ASAP so we can book the space.
Nominations for the Florida Veterans’ Hall of Fame Class of 2025 are open through March 1, 2025. If you know a Veteran who has made a significant civic, business, or public service contribution to the state of Florida, nominate them today. For more information on guidelines and nomination forms, click here.
Yesterday’s Legal Clinic at Lk Ella was less hectic due to the constant rain: . Our volunteer team totaled 12 (including 5 attorneys) assisting 9 Veterans and several family members. Kudo’s to volunteers Khalid Shafi, Tabitha & Chris Bodiford, and 221’s Eddie McMillian and Exit Smith for distributing the truck and trailer load of food from Quincy Farm Share on Wednesday to three different sites around town.
More Vets called in again this week or responded online from around the state, and we instructed them to come to Thursday Clinics or, if outside Leon or the State, to look for local Veteran services. Thanks to Susie C., Delores and Wayne for helping respond to this week’s phone and website calls for help/info (Veterans in prison, NW Fl, etc.). And thanks to Khalid Shafi, Kathy Glasson, and Margaret Deciano for the volunteer administrative work at the computer/files table with Susie throughout our Clinic sessions.
Please let us know about parttime job opportunities for Veterans on subsistence, as well as any emergency housing, shared rentals, etc.
Veterans Treatment Court was successful for several Veterans this past Monday, and the next session will feature a Graduation Ceremony! Monday, February 24, 3pm in Courtroom 2E, Leon County Courthouse.. You are encouraged to come observe since we still need more Veteran Mentors to give one on one contact with the Vets trying to recover from substances or other treatment needs.
On the policy side, more than a dozen legislative bills have surfaced in the 2025 Florida Legislative Session preparing to open March 3 (Let’s compare notes as we see and hear opportunities); and the anticipated federal hiring freeze and budget cuts are already being felt in the VA. In our local VA clinic, new medical hires have been turned away and some federal employees have been changed to “exempt” positions, with all that that could mean for job security.
Congratulations to twenty Veterans from around the state for being inducted into the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame last Friday, especially our local leaders former Leon County Vet Ct Judge Augustus Aikens and Col. Charles Mohr.
Thank you,
Dan Hendrickson, for the Tallahassee Veterans Legal Collaborative
