FROM THE HOMEFRONT August 2020

A Note From the Director, Family Programs What’s Inside Greetings to our Families! We have a great deal to share with you this month. In this This Issue issue, you will find information on our upcoming Kitchen Spoons & Combat Boots webinars, Strong Bonds workshop, Preparedness Day Flyer...2 and a cookbook to honor those we have lost. Also, it is not too late for our 6-9 yo to sign up for our Child and Youth Extreme Cold ...... 3 “Not-A-Box” Virtual Camp taking place on 10-14 August! Flood ...... 4 Kitchen Spoons Lastly, Benjamin Wilson, our Emergency Management Program & Combat Coordinator for the VTARNG has put together a unique way to highlight September as Emergency Preparedness Month! Boots ...... 4 It is a wonderful way for the whole family to be involved in this event happening at the Camp Training (CEATS) facility on 12 September 2020. Part of the Military OneSource ...... 5 festivities includes a Coloring Contest and the details are below: Wing Family Readiness ..5 Preparedness Month Coloring Contest Open to all children, age 0-18, of current VTNG service members. Include your FRSA ...... 6 name, age, and address as well as your parents name and unit. All returned entries will be displayed in the drill hall at Green Mountain Armory, Camp Johnson, during Child & Youth ...... 6 Preparedness Month. Entries received by September 10th will be eligible for a prize drawing of disaster preparedness items to include; go-bags, emergency radios, and other preparedness kit items. A complete list of items will be available in September. ESGR ...... 7 Preparedness Month Coloring Contest Directions Veterans 1. Color one, or both, of the included pages. (Extreme Cold & Flood) Outreach ...... 7 2. Send back to us by September 10th to be eligible for the prize drawing. 3. Send completed entry to: Camp Johnson Personal Financial Attention Protection Programs-Emergency Management 789 National Guard RD Services ...... 8 Colchester, VT 05446-9946 Or upload and email to: [email protected]

VTARNG State Chaplain You will find the coloring sheets on page 3 and 4 of this newsletter. Many thanks to ...... 8 Ben and his office for putting together this event and hope to see you all at CEATS on Saturday, 12 September, 2020 from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm! Strong Bonds Flyer...... 9 DAVID C. LEONARD Cooking With Care ...... 10 Director, Family Programs Vermont National Guard (Office) (802)-338-3391 email: [email protected]

Check us out on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com /VTNGFamilyPrograms/

August 2020 Page 1 August 2020 Page 2 August 2020 Page 3 Kitchen Spoons & Combat Boots Transitioning “Back” to School Wednesday, August 5th, 2020 at 7:00 PM Do you have concerns about the upcoming school year? Do you have youth that are nervous about returning to their school? How are you preparing them for the transition while staying within the safety guidelines? Join the Kitchen Spoons & Combat Boots Team on Wednesday, August 5th at 7PM for the Transitioning “Back” to School webinar. We will be discussing the Agency of Education’s safety guidelines, local support resources, and ways to help with those back to school jitters. For those who plan ahead here are the programs for the next three months... ~ Wed, Sept. 2 “Veteran Benefits” ~ Wed, Oct. 7 “Hosting the Holidays, Don’t Break the Bank” ~ Wed, Nov. 4 “Mindfulness: The Antedote for Worry” To join the meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone: https://militaryonesource.zoom.us/j/3015674328 To access audio, dial by phone: 1 (646) 876 9923 Meeting ID: 301 567 4328

Questions: Call Marcie Caulfield at 802-338-3164 or Michaela LaCoss at 802-338-4317 August 2020 Page 4 Military OneSource Preparing Mentally for Lift of COVID-19 Restrictions As we enter a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, one might expect to feel a sense of relief. But more change also raises more questions. Under a shelter-in-place order, the expectations were clear, albeit unpleasant. As we start to dip our collective toe in the water, this can cause a new wave of feelings. Is it safe? Can I do it? Should I do it? There are countless “what ifs” to consider. As humans, we like to think of things linearly—with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Life seems to make more sense that way. As we have seen, however, that view does not apply to the pandemic. Instead, we are talking about curves—where we are on the curve, what the curve looks like, how we change the shape, etc. We also have discussions of a second wave. If a second wave, or peak in the curve occurs, it is apt to be smaller than the first, but nonetheless it’s challenging to think about. Just when we think we are out of the woods, more trees appear. Moving forward Managing an ever-changing situation requires some mental skill. If we anticipate and expect some waves, they are easier to navigate. Keep the following in mind when it comes to how you navigate forward: • To state the obvious, protect yourself. Despite things being allowed that were not previously, we can protect our wellbeing the same way we always have. The decision regarding whether an activity is safe or unsafe is ultimately still a personal decision to make. • Take a long view. We are all better served by making decisions that fit within our overall worldview and sense of self. In times of disruption, tapping into our core values is a great way to stay centered. Being focused on values vs. fears tends to lead to more appropriate decision-making. • Stay informed. Staying informed is important, especially when things change rapidly. Information has the power to allow you to feel secure in making decisions. • Accept things outside of your control. These days, many things are outside of our control. Trying to control the uncontrollable is, after all, impossible; however, planning is important. While things may not go fully according to plan, we should strive to focus on what we can control and remain flexible with changes. • Listen to your gut. If something seems like a bad idea, it might be, even if it seems to be true logically. If you’re not trusting your gut, run it by a trusted friend and get their input. As we enter a new phase of the pandemic, we need not be victim to the uncertainty. The uncertainty may be challenging, but through it all we will learn and grow. Consider talking to a Military OneSource non-medical counselor for help managing distress. Contact us any time by calling 800-342-9647 or by using our Live Chat feature on the website (www.militaryonesource.mil). For the complete listing of Department of Defense approved wellness apps, visit: https://www.militaryonesource.mil/health- wellness/recommended-wellness-apps

Marcie Caulfield ~ Office: (802)-338-3164 Cell: (802)-233-9694 email: [email protected]

Airman and Family Readiness Manager Greetings from the Airman and Family Readiness Office! We hope you have been having a nice summer and staying safe! August is here and I thought you may be interested in some cool information about the month of August! August is known for many things, including the dog days of summer, National Watermelon Day (Aug. 3) and National Smile Week (Aug. 5-11). But there are many other fun facts associated with summer’s last full month. August is named after Augustus Caesar, founder and the first emperor of the Roman Empire, who was posthumously adopted by his maternal great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar. In the early Roman calendar, August was actually the sixth month of the year. It was originally 30 days in length, but an extra day was added so that it would equal the number of days in July, which was named after Julius Caesar. People born in August fall under the sun zodiac signs of Leo and Virgo. Leos are known to be dramatic, creative and outgoing. Virgos have acute attention to detail and are the people most likely to dedicate themselves to serving. They also are loyal, hardworking and analytical. The month of August is often referred to as the “dog days of summer” but not because of pet pooches. It has to do with the star Sirius, also known as the dog star, which rose at the same time as sunrise during the month of August in ancient Roman times. Are you planning on retiring or are you separating from the military?? Transition Assistance is available for you! We can help you schedule your pre-separation and help you get scheduled with attending TAP (virtually) through Hanscom AFB. It is important to get this started a year before you plan on retiring or separating! Please contact Family Readiness to get you started! 802-652-8035 Mary Mahoney ~ 158th FW Airman and Family Readiness Manager 802-652-8035 office 802-238-8645 cell [email protected]

August 2020 Page 5 Family Readiness Support Assistant Hello Friends! For those of you who aren’t aware, the Family Readiness Support Service contract is sun setting at the end of August 2020. This means that there will no longer be Family Readiness Support Assistants however, the Military and Family Readiness Specialists will take over this role and will continue to provide support to Volunteers and Units! To all of my volunteers, commanders, and military points of contact – THANK YOU! Thank you for welcoming me to be part of your team and to assist you and your Family Readiness Groups. I am deeply humbled by your kindness and support. Don’t worry, you’re still stuck with me for a while! I happily have the pleasure of being a Temporary Military and Family Readiness Specialist to assist with the transition to the new program! I absolutely adored being a FRSA for the Vermont and I am thrilled to be able to continue to be part of Family Programs! Michaela LaCoss Family Readiness Support Assistant (FRSA) Contractor (ESC) Vermont Army National Guard Office: 802-338-4317 Cell: 802-318-0692 [email protected]

DON’T FORGET! Record your volunteer hours & email them to Check us out on Facebook! [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/ Send them in by the last day of each month. FamilyReadinessVTARNG

Thoughts From Our State Youth Coordinator

Youth & Family Monthly Activity Packet – Subscription Are you bored? Running out of ideas for you and kiddos? We have just what you need!

This monthly activity packet is FULL of activities to engage youth and families in fun, educational, and wellness. Sign up today to start receiving them! Sign Up today! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YouthActivityPacket

A few weeks I ventured out of my ‘at home work station’ and onto Camp Johnson (for the first time since March) to pack up our ‘camp in a box’ supplies for our “Not-A-Box: Summer Camp 2020 – LIVE Virtual Camp”. Myself and a few office mates put together 75 of the boxes which contain 95% of the program supplies necessary for camp. The boxes were then staged, at the ready for shipping to campers!! Here is our unboxing of our “Not-A-Box: Summer Camp 2020-LIVE Virtual Camp”

Throughout the week of camp we hold two-one hour sessions of Live programming. For several of the sessions campers will be given a “camp assignment” with a follow up activity to report back on. Check out some of the super cool stuff that campers created following our Photography session “A Day in My Life”:

Brian Stoudnour Lead Child & Youth Program Coordinator- Contractor O: 802-338-3369 | M: 802-310-6745 | Check us out on Facebook! [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/VTNGCYP/ August 2020 Page 6 Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR) The Vermont ful events calendar, while undertaking ployers are rehiring Committee of the critical employer and military outreach or hiring new employ- Employer Support activities. The Chair translates direc- ees. Be sure to let us of the Guard and tion from the national ESGR head- know if you need help Reserve (VTESGR) quarters into a Vermont message, best with a search or your resume. And announces the suited to our demographics and our watch the job ads, whether online or launch of their many close relationships with the Ver- in local papers. Need a warm handoff? formal search for mont National Guard, the Reserves of Contact Dave Wheel at dwheel@ their next ESGR the various Armed Forces in Vermont, interactivegov.com. State Chair. the Vermont Department of Labor, Now for the not so great news – ESGR, a Department of Defense or- US DOL-VETS, the US SBA, and the the Employment Support Program ganization, was established in 1972 to many Human Resources Profession- will end on 30 Aug 20. If you haven’t promote cooperation and understand- als around the state. Our continuing already done so, please contact the ing between Reserve Component challenge is to expand our volunteer Vermont Department of Labor staff service members and their civilian em- reach to the four corners of the state. who will assist you in finding a job. ployers and to assist in the resolution A candidate should expect to dedicate Go to: labor.vermont.gov and find and of conflicts arising from an employee’s an average of 6 hours a week in fulfill- take advantage of your local Career military commitment. Paramount to ing their ESGR role. We are seeking Resource Center. You can see the ESGR’s mission is encouraging employ- someone who is innovative, engaging, listing and your closest center at: ment of Guardsmen and Reservists and dedicated to our mission. https://labor.vermont.gov/workforce- who bring integrity, global perspective Prior service in the military is not re- development/find-your-local-career- and leadership to the civilian work- quired, but may facilitate understand- resource-center. You may also contact force. ing of the role. The search will close the VT Guard Hotline at: 1-888-607- The State Chair is an official Depart- on September 1, 2020. 8773 as the Transition Assistance ment of Defense volunteer position Anyone interested in learning more Advisor or Veterans Outreach team and carries a three-year term (renew- about Vermont ESGR and the Chair members can assist you. Check able once). The VT ESGR State Chair’s position should contact Ms. Linda the updated jobs listings at www. role is to provide the leadership and Fowler at: [email protected] vermontjoblink.com (many pulled vision for a small but dedicated team or 802-338-4187. from Indeed) as we will no longer of volunteers reaching across Vermont August 2020 Reminders from Vermont maintain the FaceBook page for the in carrying out the mission. Vermont Employment Support Program. As our VT ESP. ESGR enjoys a moderate but meaning- economy begins to reopen, many em-

Vermont Veterans Outreach

Hello, my name is Richard Gallo. I am a Veterans Outreach Specialist in the Rutland and Bennington County areas. I am a native born Vermonter Fourth Generation of the Rutland area. I retired from the US Army in 2004, after serving honorably for over 20 plus years of service. Airborne and Air Assault style units. I have been involved in the Vermont Veterans Outreach Program / Group for the past five years. As a community service provider, and a collaborator with many community partners, we are all trying to stay focus on the same goal. To continue to focus and provide resources and services to our veterans and their families. These are difficult and very unprecedented times recently and still ahead. We are ensuring the wellbeing of all of our service members, their families and our veterans that we are providing multiple services to. I hope you and your families are well. Recently some of the resources necessary were food awareness. We are acutely aware that the COVID -19 virus is causing severe economic damage to veterans and their families. We as VVOT team members continue to hold our meetings online or our sched- uled appointments via teleconferencing with our veterans. Whether we are joining with the Vermont Food Bank and the Vermont Army National Guard to help provide food distribution or teaming up with one of the local Community Food Pantries. We are teaming up with an “outside of our state organization” like 222 CARES, The Vet’s Center and Vermont Veterans Outreach Team members to ensure there are additional resources for our veterans. Our local Community Based Outpatient Clinics and their staff are continuing to provide excellent services to get the message out that we are readily prepared to provide assistance where it is needed. There are a wide variety of food shelves located throughout our counties. Locations and times can be provided at VT 211, online or by contacting our program. You can reach out to us at our 24/7 Family Support Center at 888-607-8773 For more information, please visit our Family Programs webpage at https://www.ngfamily.vt.gov/Programs-Services/Vermont-Veteran-Outreach/ Richard Gallo ~ Vermont Veterans Outreach Specialist (Contractor) Check us out on Facebook! Office: (802) 338-4323 ~ Cell: (802) 310-5334 https://www.facebook.com/vtvfot/

August 2020 Page 7 Personal Financial Services Holidays in July? The sun is shining the temperatures are climbing, who wants to think about the holidays, they are so far off. Well we are halfway there, so now is the best time to start saving for the holiday season if you haven’t started already. Here are 4 things to get you started planning and saving. First you will need to do some research. Look at how much you spent on the holidays last year. Total all you spent on the whole holiday season, or for each specific holiday. I leave this up to you and how deep a dive into your budget you want to do. Second this year the landscape of our holiday celebration may look a little different so really think about how you did things last year and do you want to or will you be able to do the same this year. Maybe last year you flew to see family and you are not comfortable doing that this year, maybe you choose to drive instead. Maybe you hosted a big Thanksgiving dinner and that is not in the cards this year. Third, now that you have totaled up how much you spent last year and decided what this year will look like - how much do you need to save to reach your goal? Take that number and divide is up by how many paychecks you have left to save from for the year. Last you need to save that amount each paycheck. If saving is not the easiest thing for you, maybe you want to think about having your bank or credit union do it for you. Many can set up an automatic transfer into a savings account each month, and some even have special holiday savings accounts, that will keep the money from you (unless you want to pay a fee) till the middle of November. This I call saving you from yourself. I am guilty of this just like everyone else, my emergency fund gets deposited straight from my paycheck into a bank I do not do any other banking with. If I don’t see it, I don’t spend it. Holiday spending is always tricky, and maybe you can’t save enough to pay cash for everything this year. However, when you get into the habit of saving, you can start in January next year and have it all saved by the end of next year. Start small if you must but be consistent, that’s the key to creating new habits. Megan Sather ~ Personal Financial Counselor (Contractor) ~ Cell: 802-318-2507 ~ [email protected]

VTARNG JFHQ State Chaplain Psalm 112:7 (ESV), He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. Save the date: Strong Bonds marriage training event is contracted and will be held from 11-13 September at Stoweflake Mountain Resort and Spa, 1746 mountain Rd, Stowe, VT. Please register for the event at this link: https://ems.strongbonds.org/eventregistration/540ef0b1-226e-ee30-1d79-11e9bf8aee63 Contact either Chaplain (COL) Brett Charsky, at [email protected] or SFC Jim Sand- ers at [email protected] for any information regarding this Strong Bonds event. I will be teaching the material from Stephen M. R. Covey’s book, The Speed of Trust. Today, Americans are struggling to extend trust to people because of the COVID-19 and the civil unrest throughout our nation. Every school age person experienced the effects of COVID-19 and many teenagers and adults experienced the effects of the civil unrest. The military is addressing both issues; helping us process and extend trust to each other and to others. Which quadrant do you primarily function within? According to Stephen M. R. Covey and his research, Pro- pensity to Trust includes four areas: 1. Primarily a matter of the heart. 2. Your willingness or tendency to trust others. 3. Influenced by your life experiences. 4. Consider: what is your propensity to trust? Analysis involves two functions: 1. Primarily a matter of the mind. 2. The 3 Vital Variables: a. Opportunity. b. Risk. c. Credibility. Stephen M. R. Covey asks the question, what would it take to move from one of the other zones of the matrix to Smart Trust? For me, I still extend trust to people knowing that sometimes people will fail and I too will fail others. I chal- lenge you to work towards Smart Trust so that you can form relationships and remain connected to people. Remember, despite all the bad news around us, one can always trust in the LORD and He will never fail you! May the LORD bless you! For God and Country-Live the Call! CH (COL) Brett Charsky

Check us out on Facebook! www.facebook.com/VTNG-Religious-Affairs !!!Check Out Our New Facebook Page!!!

August 2020 Page 8 August 2020 Page 9 August 2020 Page 10