Battle Buddy Call Center
Call 866-OLD-VETS for helpBattle Buddy Call Center
Hero’s Bridge is the only non-profit organization focusing exclusively on providing rapid and direct assistance to aging veterans.
Molly Brooks, Hero’s Bridge Founder and CEO, knew what Hero’s Bridge was witnessing in the Virginia Piedmont wasn’t isolated to this region. She spoke of scaling Hero’s Bridge programs nationwide through a national call center. “During my time at the Bush Institute Stand-To Leadership Program, I presented the idea for a national call center to meet the needs of aging veterans,” she said. Meetings occurred over the following year to discuss what the call center would look like.
However, when news of Hero’s Bridge services hit a nationwide veteran’s blog earlier this summer, innovation was born from necessity. “We didn’t have time to continue finessing the concept of a nationwide call center, we suddenly had one,” said Brooks.
Hero’s Bridge received more than 300 calls and emails in just a few days. “Veterans and their family members were trying to help a loved one,” she said. The Hero’s Bridge team was quick to respond and implemented a call-back system with the help of a summer college intern who fielded many of the return calls and collected intake information.
Needs were assessed and calls were made to agencies in each veteran’s locality. The Hero’s Bridge database was quickly expanded to include national veteran needs.
Since June, 177 veterans from across the nation have been added to the Hero’s Bridge Battle Buddy database. They represent WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam Era, the Cold War, and Desert Storm. All branches of the military, except for Space Force, are represented.
The new Battle Buddy Call Center implements a dual-focused assessment that includes quality of life and suicide risk. “We have found that organizations rarely consider senior and veteran factors when conducting assessments. With the aging veteran population we serve, we have two distinct assessments to consider all factors affecting aging veterans,” said Brooks.
The Battle Buddy Call Center uses a blend of virtual contacts and technologies and is the first of its kind to offer one place where older veterans can reach out for assistance tailored to their unique needs.
George W. Bush Institute Stand-To VLP Scholar spotlight: Molly Brooks
Molly Brooks, CEO and Founder of Hero's Bridge and 2022 Veteran Leadership Scholar, shares how her organization is leading a movement serving our nation’s elderly veterans and how a Veteran Leadership Program collaboration is helping to maximize its impact. Please...
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