News

Michael Blecker, a Vietnam war vet, founded Swords to Plowshares to advocate for veterans trying to re-enter civilian life and seek VA benefits. 50 years later, after making a name for himself as one of the most respected veterans advocates in America, he is stepping down as Executive Director.

This year, Swords to Plowshares (Swords) celebrates 50 years of serving the Bay Area’s veterans. Swords provides comprehensive support for everything from VA benefits, housing, job retraining, and community. Koret spoke with two Swords ambassadors about the challenges of re-entering civilian life, and the successes of the organization’s approach to building trust and developing community.

This year, St. Anthony’s recognizes 70 years of providing essentials to people experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty: food, clothing, medical care, shelter, addiction recovery help, access to technology, job training, counseling, community, and more. Inspired by hope to recognize the dignity in every person, St. Anthony’s continues to serve thousands of San Franciscans daily during the COVID-19 pandemic, and will continue to do so as long as there is a need.

As they return to civilian life, many veterans experience a loss of purpose and community away from their military units and the people they have come to trust in perilous situations. Without that community, there are many veterans who withdraw and don’t have a lot of communication with others, and are consequently at risk of […]

Historically in the United States, there used to be explicit preferences for hiring veterans in many industries and in the civil service. But as we’ve moved away from the draft and toward a volunteer military, only a subset of veterans gets training in technology that is readily transferable to the private sector. There are many […]

Higher Ground uses recreational therapy with counseling resources to address symptoms of PTSD and traumatic brain injuries and teach veterans to cope with the challenges of readjusting to civilian life. It does so by rekindling the skills they learned in the service through activities like skiing and water sports in a nonthreatening and supportive environment, […]

In the spring of 2019, Koret launched a new grantmaking initiative to support local military veterans. In this new initiative, several high-performing organizations were selected for their work in addressing key barriers for returning service members as they rejoin civilian life in the Bay Area. We sat down with Koret President Michael Boskin to hear […]