Today's Supply Crate update comes from Tiana over at the Manhattan College Veterans Success Center. While collegiate support centers are often helping with the academic side of supporting Veterans attempting to get their degree, there's no reason they can't also provide some fun, games, and community among Veterans and their peers, as Tiana told us is one of their key support goals:
Manhattan College's Veterans Success Center provides a truly unique program to assist student veterans as they transition to, through, and beyond college. The Veterans Success Center at Manhattan College is recognized nationally and ranked 8th by Military Friendly® Schools among all private institutions that do not award a doctorate degree. The Center has also been designated by Military Times as Best for Vets: Colleges 2021 and ranked #5 on U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges for Veterans in the north region. Our Student Veterans Organization received the Irving Ladimer Community Service award in 2021, presented by Bronx Community Board 8 to acknowledge their many volunteer efforts within the neighboring community. The Veterans Success Center addresses transition stress by connecting veterans with four key supports:
• Stress reduction techniques – lectures, workshops, and multiday retreats, offered at no cost to our student veterans, that teach different types of yoga, meditation, and breathing practices to change the nervous system from sympathetic to parasympathetic response
• Student veteran peer bonding – in addition to multiday stress reduction retreats, which provide an idyllic space for student veterans to get to know each other, we organize regular social gatherings and volunteer service opportunities that offer student veterans an opportunity to further connect and build community. Some of our volunteer opportunities have included park cleanups, annual Toys for Tots holiday drive, working with the Miracle League to provide a safe Halloween to special needs and disabled children, and marking graves of service members and veterans for Memorial Day. Our Veterans Center also provides a place for student veterans to meet and connect with each other
• Academic support – tutoring, writing support, study groups, and interventions to help student veterans address barriers to success
• Career preparation – designated staff person to help student veterans develop resume, identify/apply internship and job opportunities, guest speakers and workshops, and interview coaching.
While Manhattan College opened its first on-campus Veterans Center in 2017, we have quickly outgrown the space as it has become a popular place for student veterans to gather and connect with each other. We will be opening a new and expanded Veterans Center on our campus in fall 2022. We greatly appreciate anything you could donate that would help us to expand our gaming systems/library to make our Veterans Center an even more special place to gather.
Please check out this video Manhattan College Veterans Success Center sent us about a retreat they held:
That's the kind of support we like to see. We gladly donated a new console and games to the Manhattan College Veterans Success Center. The more people gaming together, the merrier. Our guy Ian at the Stack Up Warehouse reached out to check in with Tiana, and he received a reply:
Hello Ian!
Yes, I received the crate. I was out sick last week but I believe it arrived then as it was in my office when I returned this week. I will take pictures as soon as I have a few student veterans around to coordinate the picture and send them to you. They are going to be so excited when they see this! Thank you very much!
Know of a local college Veterans support center that could use a gaming console to spruce up their space for Veterans to hang out and game in? Let us know about them.
The Manhattan College Veterans Success Center's Supply Crate was sponsored by a dominator of charity fundraising, Domin8rGaming, who raised over $11k last year as part of the Regiment Gaming team. Please check out this fantastic guy on his Facebook Gaming channel and show him some support.
Do you have what it takes to raise enough to sponsor a Supply Crate? You never know until you give it a try. Hit the button below to get started and sign up for a DonorDrive page.
When discussing behavior change in healthcare, a transtheoretical model example is often helpful. For instance, if a patient is trying to quit smoking, they may go through different stages like precontemplation, contemplation, and preparation before they finally quit. This model helps healthcare professionals tailor interventions to the patient’s readiness to change, making the treatment plan more effective and personalized.