Stepping Out of Service, Inc. | Application Preview
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 6393532
Location: West Hollywood, CA, United States
Length of Operation: 1-5
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: Less than $100k
Annual Gross Expense: Less than $100k
Open to Loans: YES
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Funding Usage
We are seeking funding to purchase equipment for our Veteran Center including desks, shelving, and office furnishings, items for the family/children's space, computers, printers and technology, meditation space items, therapy space, gym equipment, as well as brain-based items proven to assist in stress reduction and relaxation.
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Business Plan
Our programs have a unique foundational element in which newly discharged service members are paired with veterans who have similar military experience and have successfully enter civilian life. We wholeheartedly believe this will drastically reduce the suicide rate among veterans. The two major risk factors for suicide include a lack of belonging and a lack of purpose. Our programs provide both and are supported through a 1 to 1 bond that is similar to what the service member experienced during active duty. Our plan for the next give years is to expand into other regions strategically, based upon the highest populations of veteran suicide vulnerability. The other area in which we'd like to expand is by providing funding to veterans for alternative medicine not covered by the VA. There are many new treatments that have proven highly successful in treating Traumatic Brain Injuries and PTSD in particular. We'd like to establish a medical fund program for individuals who have exhausted all other treatment options without success and are at higher risk for suicide. We will save lives and drastically improve the quality of life for veterans and their families. While there have been efforts made to improve the methods in which veteran risks are evaluated, unfortunately suicide rates still soar. Research suggests the factors that attribute to this are a lack of purpose a veteran feels upon exiting the military and a lack of belonging or feeling understood. Our organization is veteran led and provides targeted services designed to address these issues, including opportunities for camaraderie, mental health support such as stress management, support with VA benefits and claims, employment, education and training assistance as well as education and supportive services for loved ones. This is coupled with a veteran to veteran partnership that reduces the feeling of loneliness and plants the seed of hope for a meaningful future as a civilian.
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Self Identified Competition
We have selected Bakersfield, California as the location of our first center due to the high veteran rate and high population of veteran unemployment, addiction and homelessness. There is currently only one competitor who works with transitioning veterans but does not provide the scope of services we do, nor do they provide veteran to veteran support. The foundational element of our program begins with establishing a mutually respectful veteran to veteran partnership. This is the primary element that sets our program apart. Stepping Out of Service, Inc. believes that veterans are best qualified to support other veterans and programs are structured similar to a peer-based model. We partner each discharged service member with a well-trained veteran that has overcome similar challenges, has a military background and home life. This supportive partnership is the foundation from which everything else is based. Having someone who truly understands and can help you navigate the process of integrating back into the civilian world is critical. Peer-to-peer support not only helps fill the void of camaraderie, it also ensures the service member prioritizes medical and mental health care, understands all of his or her available VA benefits, can create an education and/or employment goals and is provided with housing resources and supportive services for families.
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Contact Applicant
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