This Thursday and Friday, January
28th and 29th, the Arizona Veterans StandDown Alliance (AVSA) is hosting their
annual Maricopa County StandDown. The two day event will take place at
the Arizona State Fairgrounds Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Its goal is to bring
homeless and at-risk military veterans together to provide greater access to
resources such as housing, healthcare, and other necessities. In addition, the
event also provides a forum for these American heros to network with community
leaders, establishing connections that can lead to employment opportunities and
greater independence.
As a former soldier in the 25th
Infantry Division, the Arizona Veterans StandDown Alliance is an organization
that is very close to my heart. The unemployment rate among
veterans is disproportionately high when
compared to the civilian population. Given the sacrifices our veterans made for
this country, this is a travesty. Not only do our former soldiers deserve
better, military training provides an unparallelled sense of duty, leadership
and attention to detail that is an asset to any industry. That’s why when recruiting
talent for my own manufacturing company, DNKB, Inc., I looked to American
Veterans:
Andre Fisher, AVSA Success Story:
Like so many other American
Veterans, Andre Fisher had fallen on difficult times. Though working for a
non-profit organization while running his own computer repair business, Andre
was unable to keep up with his monthly mortgage payments and was facing
foreclosure. He turned to the VA for assistance, and they advised him to attend
the 2015 Arizona StandDown event. There, Andre learned of a program that
provides housing and other assistance to veterans in crisis. He was deemed
eligible for the program and moved into a veteran housing facility shortly
thereafter. In his first week of residence, Andre met with a Workforce Manager
named Dennis Woods to discuss his situation and background. Dennis and I had
crossed paths at various VA functions and he knew I was in need of an Engineer
with startup experience, who could develop and implement processes and quality
control for my burgeoning manufacturing
business. When he discovered Andre’s
engineering and project management background, he recommended that we meet. It
didn’t take long to conclude that Andre was an excellent fit for the role, and
he soon began his tenure as DNKB’s Senior Engineering Director in March 2015.
Today, Andre is an integral part of
the DNKB family. The leadership skills and training he received in the Armed
Forces are proving to be instrumental to the continued growth and success of
DNKB, Inc. The tremendous work that the AVSA does made this all possible. No
one can articulate the true value of the event better than Andre:
“The Arizona Veterans
StandDown is a huge event for veterans. It’s amazing that almost any problem or
issue a veteran is having can be addressed: Healthcare, Nutrition Assistance,
Housing just to name a few. These and many more services are available free of
charge.”
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Andre Fisher, United States Air Force Veteran
The AVSA has the full
support of DNKB, Inc. This year we will be providing a survival kit for any
Homeless Hero veteran in need of assistance. We encourage anyone
interested with veterans issues to help
us share Andre’s story and spread the word about the AVSA StandDown. For more
information, you can visit them on Facebook.
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