Remax Alliance Group jump starts Goodwill Industries Manasota Inc.'s effort to employ 50 war veterans this year. After giving so much for their country many, Bradenton and Sarasota area vets have returned home to a tough job market. Even with the local real estate markets showing continued month over month improvement, the job market is still weak.
To help give back to the vets retuning from harms way RE/MAX alliance group has donated $10,000 in seed money to help kick off the non-profit jobs initiative. The donation caught the attention of JPMorgan Chase who has contributed another $25,000 to the effort. The donations will allow this important initiative to be funded throughout 2013.
The job market has been especially tough on returning vets who have returned from tours overseas to find an unemployment rate in 2012 of 12.1%. It's been even tougher for younger vets. For veterans aged 18 to 24, the joblessness rate was even at nearly 30 percent. While the unemployment rate for vets has begun to decline slightly as of late, many vets also face other personal challenges after years of re-deployment.
Goodwill recognized the difficulties facing returning vets and began the "American Veterans and Their Families Initiative" in 2012 to help unemployed vets get jobs. So far the organization has been able to give 33 jobs to Sarasota and Bradenton area vets and a dozen vets preparing for new careers in the private sector.
Goodwill said the money is used to hire a life coach to assist in preparing for new, private sector jobs and navigating the complex paperwork to receive federal benefits.
Peter Crowley, Re/Max Alliance's co-owner, also sits on Goodwill Manasota's board. He said the donation dovetails with an international company initiative, which trains returning veterans to become real estate agents.
"They deserve the opportunity to find gainful employment as much as anybody else, and in some cases, maybe more so because we owe them something for their service," Crowley said.
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