Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund Grant Profile:
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA)

Joe Raicaldo was injured while serving in Iraq when his Humvee took a sharp turn and flipped. He suffered traumatic brain injury, broke his back and shattered his left arm. It took numerous surgeries over the next few months to repair his broken body. But back in the U.S., he was no longer physically able to work as a car mechanic, and after a short stint patrolling Penn Station in New York with the National Guard, and another stay in a VA hospital, Raicaldo ended up homeless.

Enter The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, an education and advocacy organization focusing on the critical needs and issues facing current vets, and a growing force in Washington. IAVA worked with Joe to bring his story to the attention of the major news networks. After appearances on CNN and NPR, Joe was granted a 100 percent disability status, which earns him $2,600 a month. His story, too, undoubtedly helped to shed some light on the issue of homeless war veterans.

In just four years, IAVA has become the most influential organization representing Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in the country. A nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, IAVA represents more than 80,000 veteran members and civilian supporters in all 50 states.

IAVA addresses critical issues facing new veterans and their families, including mental health, Traumatic Brain Injury, a stretched VA system, inadequate health coverage for National Guardsmen and reservists, and outdated GI Bill educational benefits. They’ve worked closely with congressional offices on both sides of the aisle to respond to armor shortages, rising rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the bureaucratic challenges faced by wounded troops, in addition to many other important policy issues.

In 2007, IAVA was instrumental in the passage of the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Bill, which created a national suicide hotline for veterans and brought greater awareness to the issue. This year has already seen a massive increase in VA funding, which IAVA worked hard to see pass. And the group recently brought in 14 new co-sponsors for their number one legislative priority: a World War II-style GI Bill aimed at increasing college tuition support for vets.

IAVA works to empower veterans and encourages them to speak out about their experiences serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. With a founding philosophy of “Support the Troops: Listen to Them,” its approach has proven to be highly effective. Many IAVA veterans have testified before Congress and the Department of Defense on an array of veteran-related issues. IAVA founder and executive director Paul Rieckhoff, himself a veteran, has been featured along with many other IAVA staff and members by hundreds of media outlets, including CNN, PBS, Fox, ABC, MSNBC, NPR, The New York Times and many more.

Devon Collins, director of operations for IAVA, attributes the group’s success to a number of factors.

“This is a very timely issue,’’ she said. “People are beginning to understand and recognize the immediacy of these issues and they see that the time for change is now. “The fact that we were founded by an Iraq vet and have this core group of advisors who really know how to speak to other vets really adds to our credibility.”

Grants in excess of $4 million over the next three years will support and expand IAVA’s ongoing activities and also will fund an IAVA-sponsored Ad Council campaign to raise awareness about the impact of war on the troops, their families and their communities.

As a testament to how much IAVA’s influence has grown in Washington over the last four years, Collins points to the group’s recent presentation of its ambitious and detailed legislative agenda for 2008, as compared to previous years.

The first year, she said, securing meetings with congressional representatives was nearly impossible. The second year saw improvement “but we still would have liked to have more.” This year, “was amazing,’’ she said. “We had to turn down meetings this time.”

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