Vets4Warriors Help with the Unique Challenges Veterans Face 

As part of our "Help for Our Heroes" series, Steve Adubato goes one-on-one with Mark Graham, Major General, US Army (Retired) & Senior Director, Rutgers UBHC National Call Center & Director, Vets4Warriors about the challenges veterans face in their daily lives. Graham talks about the vareity of support Vets4Warriors to our returning heroes.

12/18/17 #2092

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Steve Adubato here at the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. We're doing a series of interviews, conversations, with people who care deeply about veterans, advocates, experts, people from the government, and the foundation community. We are pleased to be joined by Major General Mark Graham, who's joined us before, he served in the United States Army for thirty four and a half years? Right. And Senior Director, Rutgers National Call Center, Director of Vets4Warriors. Vets4Warriors is? Vets4Warriors it's... Vets, the number "4", the word "Warriors" - it's a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, peer support line, staffed by veterans. We answer the phones live, and our philosophy is... let's help those currently serving veterans, or their family members, or caregivers, before they reach the point of crisis. So whatever they're going through, talk to us. You can trust us. We've got shared, lived experiences. We are who we serve. And you don't have to call us during business hours because our business hours never stop. You call us when it's convenient for you, or when you're struggling, or need help. So at four o'clock in the morning, if you couldn't sleep all night and you're struggling, call us. Let's talk. Let's work through things. And then we follow up, and call you back, and set up a tone and a conversation, and we'll talk to you as long as you want for seven, eight, nine months, however long you think you need to do that. Because our goal is for you to thrive, and do better at what you're doing now, and continue to improve. By the way, as we have this conversation with the general, the telephone number is up. Is it the telephone number and the website? Or what's best? Telephone and our website, because if you go on the website, you can do a live chat. Oh you can? As well. Talk about that. You can do live chats. And a lot of people... our national program, we're based in New Jersey, but we're a national program. So a lot of times, folks don't want to talk on the phone, they'd rather type on a computer or a smartphone, and they like to chat. So you can go on our website into a live chat with us. And then... Who's on the other end? A veteran. We answer the phone within 30 seconds. Right now, our average answer is about 13.5 seconds. So there's... someone calls and within 13.5 seconds on average...? On average. ...a veteran picks up? Right. And they... there's no voicemail, there's no phone call or menu, it's a veteran. Which is the first shock to 'em..."