We are now proudly supporting the Mentor Corps for the Tallahassee Veterans Treatment Court. In the Summer of 2013, veterans Matt Willard, Thomas Dickens, and Kris Dunn were discussing their respective post-military experiences over lunch. That conversation evolved into a discussion about the fact that many of their fellow veterans have had to struggle to find work after leaving active duty. A fri
end, Stephen Spector, overheard this conversation, and mentioned that he had just read a DOD report about veterans being unemployed at a higher rate than non-veterans. The end result of that conversation was the formation of Patriotic Partners of North Florida, a non-profit, charitable organization that seeks to assist veteran owned/veteran friendly small businesses in North Florida. It didn't take long for other friends to get interested and involved in the mission. John agreed to serve as the Treasurer of PPNF. In North Carolina, Eric Dean (one of Mr. Willard's shipmates from '88 to '90) volunteered to design the website and handle all the artistic design work for the organization. Together, these "Patriotic Partners" created a web-based portal that lists veteran owned/veteran friendly businesses, and gives consumers an easy way to honor and serve these men and women that have sacrificed so much for our freedom by hiring them to provide goods and services. Since the Civil War, veterans have been given preference in appointments to federal jobs, but with government jobs dwindling, and approximately 222,000 service members returning to civilian life each year, PPNF seeks to have veterans given preference in the private sector as well.
