2009 - 2019: A Decade of Excellence
On August 19, 2009, the Arizona Coalition for Military Families (ACMF) was launched to build support for all who serve. Ten years later, in 2019, ACMF celebrated the milestone of being recognized as the longest-serving statewide veteran collective impact initiative in the country.
Highlights of the accomplishments that took place from 2009 – 2019 include:
- The 1st Annual Statewide Symposium was held in 2010
- ACMF has provided technical assistance to every state and U.S. territory to share best practices for service member, veteran, and family support
- The Be Resilient program was launched in 2011 and resulted in reducing the suicide rate among Arizona National Guard members from the highest it had ever seen to zero suicides over three years.
- ACMF has trained more than 50,000 people statewide from military, government, and community organizations in military culture
- In 2013, the Arizona Military/Veteran Resource Navigator Training was launched to equip community members with skills and knowledge to serve as “open doors” for service members, veterans, and their family members. There have been more than 4,000 Resource Navigators trained across Arizona.
- In 2015, the Arizona Roadmap to Veteran Employment was developed to offer a coordinated and clear pathway for veteran-supportive businesses and organizations in Arizona to connect to veterans searching for career opportunities.
- In 2017, Be Connected was launched. This data-driven, upstream suicide prevention program represents an unprecedented level of public-private partnership among ACMF, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, the Arizona National Guard, TriWest Healthcare Alliance, AHCCCS, the Governor’s Office of Youth, Faith and Family and many others.
- The Arizona Veteran Survey was launched and has been conducted every two years to provide a pathway for veterans’ voices to influence how resources are allocated through their responses about their biggest concerns and barriers they may be facing.
- In 2018, ACMF was the winner of the National VA Partnership Challenge, recognizing the importance and success of the partnership between ACMF and the VA that has benefitted veterans across Arizona and beyond.
- In 2019, ACMF Director Thomas Winkel was a special guest at The White House and witnessed then-President Trump sign an Executive Order on Veteran Suicide Prevention.
ACMF has been repeatedly recognized as a best practice model for state and community collaboration to support service members, veterans, and their families. While so much has been accomplished since 2019, there is much more to do. Please visit www.ArizonaCoalition.org and www.ConnectVeterans.org to learn more about our latest work in support of service members, veterans, and their families.
