February 24, 2024 • 29 mins
Ryan Gorman hosts an iHeartRadio nationwide special featuring Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission Roll Call. Jim Whaley joins the show to discuss Mission Roll Call’s recent polling among veterans on the issues they’re most concerned about, along with the battle against veteran homelessness and food insecurity. Plus, Trovon Williams, SVP of Marketing & Communications for the NAACP, checks in for Black History Month to discuss the NAACP’s work in organizing voter turnout ahead of the November elections and other initiatives underway for 2024.
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(00:00):
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks so much for joining us
here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm RyanGorman, and we have a few very
important conversations lined up for you.February, of course, is Black History
Month, and coming up in justa bit, we'll check in with the
(00:21):
NAACP. But first, to kickthings off, I'm joined by Jim Whaley,
CEO of Mission Role Call, anincredible veterans organization that you can learn
more about at Mission Role Call dotorg. Jim, I want to thank
you so much for a ticket afew minutes to come on the show,
also for your service to this country. And let's start with an overview of
(00:42):
the work Mission Role Call does andhow this organization first came about. Sure
well, first, Bryan, thankyou for covering this very important topic and
for all of your support to thattrend. Mission Role Call started because we
all felt, and many people fellacross nation that the voice of the American
veteran was not represented. And sowhat we have done is put together a
(01:07):
great network using technology to be ableto get veterans to get their voice heard.
Veterans make up about eighteen point fivemillion Americans in our country, and
about half of them are not representedby any organization, and half of those
(01:29):
also are not enrolled with the VA. So when you think about that,
you know that policies and proceivers anddecisions are being made without thinking about at
least fifty percent of those veterans,and in many cases the other half have
not had their voice heard. Sothat's what we're providing. We already have
about one point four million people thatfollow US Veterans, families, members as
(01:53):
well as caregivers, and we're makinga difference. The voice is starting to
get heard and thanks to you andothers, will be able to reach their
even broader audience. I know manypeople listening are thinking to themselves. There
are so many veterans organizations across thecountry doing tremendous work, But a lot
of those organizations they have a differentmission than what you're working on at mission
(02:19):
role call right, they're working toprovide services and things like that for veterans,
where you're trying to give veterans avoice, especially on policy matters,
and create change that way, that'sexactly right and I think the other thing
is that many of those large veteransupport organizations filter is the voice of the
veterans, right They ask specific questionsaround specific programs and policies that they have,
(02:44):
and then that's combined and compared againsttheir missions and objectives. And so
what we do is ask questions directlyto veterans in real time and provide those
feedback you both elected officials and tothe media. And we feel that is
the best way for the vetsine voiceto be heard, and we applaud and
(03:08):
we work very closely with a numberof veteran support organizations. We're building a
coalition so they can work with usand we can work with them to try
to make the story get out ina better way. Uh. And the
fact is is, if you thinkabout it, there's there's thousands, tens
(03:29):
of thousands of veterine support organizations.The majority of them are very small,
working in a local community, butdoing great work. You would not need
all those veteran support organizations if theVA was doing everything's supposed to do.
So you know that that is akey takeaway. I think people need to
(03:51):
think about think of any other organizationin the federal government that needs so many
nonprofits to fill in the gaps.Imagine if the post office had those gaps
right, and people have to deliverthe mail all those type of things right.
So this is we're trying to bringto the American people's attention the issues
(04:14):
that we have, but also tellthe positive and negative stories and ask insightful
questions to our vetments in their families. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Jim
Whaley, CEO of Mission Role Call. You can learn more about this organization
and support the work they do forveterans aid Mission Role Call dot org.
How much has participation grown in recentyears when you put out these surveys,
(04:39):
Oh, it's grown exponentially. Infact, we're we think we're going to
double this year twenty twenty four witha number of veterans and their families that
are answering questions, that are beingmembers of our organization, which is free,
and they provide their web they providetheir emails address or contact information UH,
(05:01):
And we send them updates and weand we and we give them feedback.
So when we ask a question UH, and then we compile it all,
we go back to them and saythis is what we heard to them.
So it's really important to have thatclosed loop and that communication that goes
both ways. And there's a lotof issues that we're talking about, right
(05:24):
everything from vetman's benefits to Beman's suicide, to healthcare, to mental health,
to homelessness, which is an issueuh. And and then of course the
transition UH that veterans have from activeduty to a meaningful profession that's going to
(05:47):
continue their service to the country.UH. And so that those are things
that we're talking about, but it'salso talking about the things that are in
the forefront of our minds right nowand come of that is around the election.
It could be about any number ofsubjects, and so we have an
engaged group and it's a powerful groupbecause we feel that elected officials will see
(06:15):
these numbers and see what the whatthey're saying in respond And that was going
to be my next question. Whathas the reception been like among elected officials
members of the media once they're providedwith this data. Well, both have
been positive, but I think themedia has seen really quickly the potential here.
(06:40):
I mean, there's there's potential toteam with different media organizations to do
surveys with them in conjunction with themon specific topics that they want to cover
for their listening audience or their leadership. But I also think elected officials realize
that these are votes. These area group of people and their families that
(07:00):
have served their country uh and deservea voice. And we can provide information
to them and real time feedback onthings that they're voting for, the things
that they are pushing were not pushinguh. And so we think it's a
powerful pool, and that's the wayit's designed. We want to affect change.
(07:24):
For some people, we will wewill be something that they will rely
upon to reach their audience and theywill rely on us to get feedback.
For other people, they won't likeit because they may not hear what they
want to hear. So that's okay, because we feel it's important that veterans
(07:45):
are represented. I mean, they'veserved their country, some of them a
few years, some of them fordecades, and their families have certainly sacrificed,
and some of them have sacrificed agreat deal. Veterans are part of
a fabric of our nation. Theyplay a role in every aspect of our
(08:07):
society, working in government, workingin private business, starting businesses working in
healthcare, police officers, firefighters,and it is one thing we always see,
and that is that most veterans,vast majority, seem to serve their
country and another capacity. So theservice to service mindset is clearly there.
(08:33):
They want to be involved, theywant to make a difference. They joined
the service because they wanted to bepart of something bigger than themselves and they
want to continue that devotion to theircountry. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by
Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission RoleCall. You can learn more about this
organization and support the work they dofor veterans at Mission Role Call dot org.
(08:56):
Are there any issues that you canthink of that come to minds where
you've gotten tremendous feedback from veterans acrossthe country and you were able to bring
that information to lawmakers, elected officialsand create that change that veterans we're looking
for. Yes, that is happening, and then we're happy to report on
that because we feel that that's partof the advocacy piece of our organization and
(09:20):
we play the instrumental role in thenewly funded Fox brands that are addressing veterans
benefits. We're working with other Coalitionmembers within the Veterans Support organizations in this
country to push more support around andbetter support really around veterans' mental health as
(09:41):
well as employment issues and benefits ingeneral. And we're going to continue to
push on these things because we thinkit's important. I mean, we can,
through our technology, go down tothe congressional district on this, so
we can survey people in a specificpart of the country and present that to
(10:01):
a Senator or a congressman to say, hey, you're voting a but your
constituent her what b let's talk aboutthat. And so we're very bullied by
the growth in Mission Role Call,but we need support, right, we
need more members to join. Youdon't have to be a veteran. We
(10:22):
just asked that you're passionate about veteranbenefits, benefits and clauses. Maybe you
have a service member in your family, maybe your son or daughter is in
the service. You have a voice, and you should use Mission Roll Call
to help you do that. Andwe're much stronger when we have ten and
thousands and millions of voices versus youon your own trying to affect change of
(10:48):
Congress. Good luck with that,and that's why we feel wor we play
such a key role. Let's talkabout a recent survey that you conducted Mission
roll Call, taking a look atsome of the top issues among veterans ahead
of this upcoming presidential election. Whatdid you find. Yeah, first of
(11:09):
all, we had a great turnoutand we always do on our polls,
and we asked people, you know, what do you feel is the most
important vecom issue that you watched hereabout during the US presidential election, and
twenty eight percent said veteran benefits twentyfour of course, to twenty five percent
(11:33):
that vecrin homelessness. Another twenty fourpercent talked about Beckron healthcare, and then
the next one was around veteran's suicidesupport, which is around seventeen percent,
So obviously a wide range. Youknow, there's six different categories there s
Frudent security came up a little bit, and I'd like to talk about that
(11:56):
if we get a chair a chanto talk about that both at the veteran
level as well as active duty.But it's clear that our members are very
concerned about healthcare benefits and homelessness wouldbe the top three. So let's talk
about food insecurity, that issue inparticular, what are you seeing there?
(12:20):
Well, what we see is thatwe have about one point four million vetments
receiving assistance right now from food banksacross the country. And I think when
you hear a number like that,you say, what, what's happening?
(12:41):
But then when you couple that withthe fact that the Department of Defense reported
last year twenty twenty three, soit's very recent that twenty four percent of
active duty members have food and securitychallenges. That means they don't have money
to buy healthy food, they don'thave the resources to purchase food for tomorrow.
(13:07):
There's a but it's mind boggling tome. And the nation is as
strong as ours that nearly a quarterof our active duty servicemen and women are
worried about what their next meal isgoing to be. And I don't know
how we as a nation. It'sset to be competitive in the world.
(13:31):
And even someone who doesn't read thenewspaper or listen to news on a daily
basis, you can't help but walkaway and go this is not a safe
world. There's a lot of dangerout there by nations that we would like
to see ill happen to us.You need a strong military for that.
(13:54):
And twenty four percent of them areworried about food. That's a problem.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now byJim Whalley, CEO of Mission Role Call.
You can learn more about this greatVeterans organization at Mission Role Call dot
org. I want to ask youabout the issue of homelessness among veterans,
something that a lot of different organizationsand groups have put a lot of resources
(14:16):
towards. Have we seen any improvementin that area in recent years, Well,
that the numbers actually went in thewrong direction, where we have more
people home homeless now than we didthe year before. You know, on
any given night, you have thirtyfive to forty thousand veterans experience homelessness in
(14:37):
our country. That is. Andthe challenge with that is it's devastating as
a devastating effect on veterans overall health, both their mind, body and soul.
And so we and part of thisprocess is and this is what we're
finding is that if the transition doesn'tgo well during the veterans leaving active duty
(15:05):
and they and they don't find ajob with purpose or a job at all,
then you immediately in into financial insecurity. Uh. And then once that
happens homelessness or or other things happen, such as mental health issues and challenges.
So we have to make sure asa country that we understand the value
(15:28):
of what veterans bring to the workplace. They're highly trained, they're motivated,
they're disciplined, they've probably learned anumber of different skills, they have innate
leadership capabilities. They've worked in anenvironment that has an ethos and a culture
that takes care of one another,and they really are first round draft choices
(15:52):
for any company. You can putvessins in almost any position and they're going
to thrive. But the challenge isis that sometimes this transition doesn't go well
either. The vetment themselves underestimated thehill that they needed to climb, and
so they've struggled with putting a resumetogether and networking and things like that.
(16:15):
But it's also that the services aren'treally dear to being a job market organization.
Right. They're great at getting youinto the service, training you and
getting you, you know, theskills you need to be on active duty,
but when you decide to leave,you're going through a cookie cut or
(16:36):
process that may not work for you. So you know, I would ask
those viewers if they take away anythingfrom this discussion, is that one support
the veterans support organization of your choice. It could be local, it could
be one like Mission roll Call,it could be any veterans support organization that
(16:57):
you feel is worthy of your timeand effort and pressure. And the second
would be if you run a business, reach out to a local organization that
helps vest and skin employment and bringa veteran on, help a veteran network,
introduce them to the local community,help them jump this hurdle so that
(17:23):
they can start their next phase.And I guarantee you that veteran will continue
to service for her community. Theywill coach, they will volunteer, they
will be someone that the community willlook upon and say, that's a great
neighbor, that is a great participantin our democracy, and that's the kind
(17:48):
of person I want to be afriend with. And final question for you
for those who do want to supportMission roll Call, specifically your organization and
the work you're doing, what aresome ways they can do that? Well,
the first way and the non costway would be joint. All we
need is your email address or aphone number that we can text polls to
(18:14):
you. Or email those to you. Will send you if you desire updates
on these goals and newsletters. Wewon't bomboard you, we won't sell it.
But it's a great way for usto continue to grow as an organization.
And the reason I say that's soimportant is because you can imagine going
(18:36):
into a senator's office when you representa thousand veterans versus representing four million veterans.
That's a different meeting when you representthree to four million veterans. And
that's where we want to be.We want to be the largest veterans a
member organization in our country, andwe feel that will be a powerful way
(18:57):
for us to actually get elected officialsto make changes. I mean, I
retired from the military twenty years ago, and so that means I joined twenty
years before that. And many ofthe same issues that we have today we
have been. And part of thatis we don't pay junior and listed enough
(19:18):
money, so they are only afew thousand dollars above poverty, and then
we wonder why the transition doesn't gowell. So we need to make the
significant changes and investment that is goingto make our nation stronger than our restence,
stronger Jim Whaley, CEO Mission RoleCall. You can learn more and
(19:42):
support the work they do at MissionRole Call dot org. That's Mission Role
Call dot org. Jim On,thank you so much for coming on the
show, for the work you're doingon veterans issues, and of course for
your service to this country. Wereally appreciate it. Thank you, Ryan,
I thank you team that you're doing. All right. I'm Ryan Gorman
here on iHeartRadio Communities, and nowlet me bring in my next guest.
(20:04):
I'm joined by the senior vice presidentof Marketing and Communications for the NAACP,
Trevon Williams, joins me for BlackHistory Month. You can learn more,
of course about this organization at NAACPdot org. Travan, thank you so
much for coming on the show.And while I'm sure pretty much everybody listening
now has heard of the NAACP,they might not be as familiar with the
(20:26):
work that you do. Can youkind of give us an overview of your
mission? Sure? Ryan, andthank you for the opportunity once again to
speak to you. I mean,at its core, the NAACP is in
place to advocate and fight on behalfof marginalized communities, particularly within the Black
community to ensure that they would receiveequitable treatment, whether it be from voting
(20:49):
rights, or education or health.We want to ensure that our community has
the opportunity to advance at the samelevels of the communities across the nation itself.
And so for over hundred and fifteenyears, we just celebrated our one
hundred and fifteenth year of existence justa few weeks ago, we've been fighting
and standing on behalf of those communitiesand plays and honors to have the opportunity
(21:11):
to continue to do. So,what are some of the issues that you're
most focused on here in twenty twentyfour. Well, I think it goes
without saying. In some respects,the upcoming election is absolutely vital to not
just the long term prognosis for behalfof the black community, but really across
(21:32):
our entire nation with regards to thedemocracy itself. We've seen tremendous attempts from
all walks of life, all backgroundsto try and undermine this democracy that many
of us say that we stand sopointly on, and so getting voters to
the polls, getting Black voters outof the poll is absolutely top of mind,
(21:53):
vital in one of the one ofthe most important things that we do
not just ensuring that we mobilize ofmillions of black voters from across the country,
but ensuring that their voting rights arenot being infringed upon and that they're
not being made successible to a bunchof misinformation and really persuasive messaging that is
really being put in place to keepthem from going to the pos that's one
(22:17):
in particular, the other in particular. And we've seen a tremendous amount of
progress around this in particular over thelast several months itself. With regards to
student debts, we know that studentdebt is impacting really all communities, but
the Black community is being impacted drasticallywith regards to this notion of education having
(22:37):
to be paid for at a youknow, some really unrealistic numbers and some
respects, and so fighting very seriouslyand working very closely with administration and looks
across the country to ensure that wecan do as much as possible to lift
this weight, because we know thatthat student debt weight coming out of college
is one that is so daunting thatin many cases it's putting people behind behind
(23:03):
the six of many respects and notallowing them the opportunity to get out and
have the opportunity to succeed in themanner that that is the most vital.
And then some of the other onesthat we know that are absolutely important to
us as well. With regards towomen's rights, we've seen some of the
actions that have been taken over thelast several months as well. Opposition remains
very very clear that a woman tohave the right to make a decision about
(23:26):
what she does with her body inany way, shape or formance. So
those are some of the issues thatare top of mind for the association,
but I'm sure there's others that arealways going to rear its head over the
next several months. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Trebond Williams, NAACP Senior
Vice President of Marketing and Communications.Can you can learn more about the work
they do at NAACP dot org.Can you tell us a little bit about
(23:48):
your empowerment programs? Sure? So, I mean it really There are really
a lot of different touch points withregards to it, but at its core,
empowerment programming is empowerment programs are meantto do just that. We want
to figure out programmatic areas in whichwe can invest within our community and ensure
that they have the opportunities. Andsome of the great work that's happening around
(24:08):
our environment programs include our small businessbrands that we've been able to stand up
over the last several years, literallyallowing small black businesses the opportunity to have
funding that brands them the opportunity toone in some cases say in their communities,
so that they can become sort oflandmarks from milestones within their own communities
(24:29):
communities themselves, but then also brandsfrom the opportunity to have distinguished networks that
they can work alongside, so workingalongside other business professionals, getting the training
that are necessary so that they havethe opportunity to not just start a business,
but sustain and grow and help abusiness to continue to thrive the other
side of that, going back towhat I was mentioning with regards to the
(24:51):
educational components, with regards to howmuch student that has weighed down, is
our scholarship programs themselves, something thatwe're very very proud of have been able
to do some amazing things, givingmillions of dollars away from college students all
across this country, branding them theopportunity to start out just a little bit
further ahead than they may have beenotherwise, and so working with a number
(25:11):
of just really notable partners to buildout unique scholarships themselves that we can make
available year over year and be ableto service those out to you know,
communities that may not have the opportunityto get those. Those are some of
the ones that come to mind firstand foremost, because those are that's really
is really about for us, isinvesting our community, advancing our community,
(25:33):
and making sure that we can juststay in our community as much as possible.
What are some of the different waysthat those listening can take action and
become part of the work you're doingat the NAACP. Oh I love that
question, Ryan, because it's whatI love so much about this time of
year and really just ex period isadvocacy takes on many different methods. Right
(25:56):
In many cases, when people thinkabout the NAACP and this a sense you
think of boots on the ground,you think is marketing, process and demonstration,
And absolutely that is who we areat its core. It's in our
lifeblood of the organization. The advocacytakes on a multitude of different factors sounds
advocacy takes on becoming sustainer excuse meof the organization itself, and that could
(26:17):
be as some simple as giving fivedollars a month to the naacpieces that we
can continue to fight on behalf ofcommunity to color all across the country.
It can be in one of thebiggest GALTV mobilization efforts that we do around
this election season. We're mobilizing threehundred thousand volunteers from across the country to
help get peer to peer contact specificallyto their local areas. And what I
(26:41):
mean by that is the opportunity tolet those who are within your local community
know, Hey, this is whenthe upcoming election is coming, we want
you to take part in it.This is how you can ensure that your
voter registration is up to par beforegoing to the post, making sure that
that peer of peer test. We'velearned through our research that that peared of
your text, being able to speakspecifically to someone who's in your local community
(27:03):
that has a level familiarity makes aperson more likely to take part in this
exercise of democracy that we hold sodearly, and so find out to become
a volunteer, you don't have todo anything but go to naacc dot org
and get the information with regards tothat, and you can literally help volunteer
from the confines of your home,making text mess making, text mesage calls
to local people within your community,surely not even through your own device itself,
(27:27):
just so you can let them know, Hey, there's an upcoming election
coming up. Who wants you totake part in it? The NAACP is
nonpartisans. You know, say youwho to vote for, but we want
to ensure that you go to thepole and you take advantage of the opportunity
to vote for whoever you think youshould, and that's that's your right in
that moment, right. But thoseare some of the main ones. Donate
become a member of the NAACP.We want members in local community at twenty
(27:49):
two hundred branches across the country.Why not sign up and be a part
of a local NAACP within yours,within your space, and grant yourself the
opportunity to be a part of thechange that we are advocating for from across
the country. Those are some ofthe ones that comes to mind. And
final question for you, tell usabout some of the resources that you have
available on the website. There area number of different things that people can
(28:11):
check out, from trainings and workshopsto legislative rapport cards. Tell us about
some of the things we can findthere. Sure, our Voter Protection Hub
gets you inside information as to whatyou can do around ensuring that your voter
registration and those sorts of things thatmay be in questions come into place.
(28:32):
So our Voter Protective Hub is somethingthat I think is very key any of
the grand services programs that I maymention it to as well with regards to
our grand small businesses, and thenas well as our Scholarship Ortal with regards
to signing your young people up toreceive scholarships from the NAACP himself. And
then lastly, as I did theymention it to, you can always go
to NAACP dot organ become a memberor a sustainer of the organization and help
(28:55):
us continue to fight this site.Trebon Williams, NAACP Senior Vice President of
Marketing and Communications. Again, thewebsite where you can learn more is NAACP
dot com. Trebon, I wantto thank you so much for taking the
time to come on the show andbreak all of that down for us.
We really appreciate it, appreciate thetime. Thanks so much. All right,
and that's going to do it forthis edition of iHeartRadio Communities. As
(29:15):
we wrap things up, I wantto offer a big thanks to both of
our guests, Jim Whaley, CEOof Mission Role Call, and Trebon Williams,
the senior vice president of Messaging andCommunications for the NAACP. You can
learn more about both those organizations onemore time add Mission rollcall dot org and
NAACP dot org. And of course, thanks to all of you for listening
(29:37):
to the show. If you wantto hear more episodes, we're on your
iHeartRadio app. Just search for iHeartRadioCommunities. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman.
We'll talk to you again real soon.
Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a publicaffairs special focusing on the biggest issues impacting
you. This week, here's RyanGorman. Thanks so much for joining us
here on iHeartRadio Communities. I'm RyanGorman, and we have a few very
important conversations lined up for you.February, of course, is Black History
Month, and coming up in justa bit, we'll check in with the
(00:21):
NAACP. But first, to kickthings off, I'm joined by Jim Whaley,
CEO of Mission Role Call, anincredible veterans organization that you can learn
more about at Mission Role Call dotorg. Jim, I want to thank
you so much for a ticket afew minutes to come on the show,
also for your service to this country. And let's start with an overview of
(00:42):
the work Mission Role Call does andhow this organization first came about. Sure
well, first, Bryan, thankyou for covering this very important topic and
for all of your support to thattrend. Mission Role Call started because we
all felt, and many people fellacross nation that the voice of the American
veteran was not represented. And sowhat we have done is put together a
(01:07):
great network using technology to be ableto get veterans to get their voice heard.
Veterans make up about eighteen point fivemillion Americans in our country, and
about half of them are not representedby any organization, and half of those
(01:29):
also are not enrolled with the VA. So when you think about that,
you know that policies and proceivers anddecisions are being made without thinking about at
least fifty percent of those veterans,and in many cases the other half have
not had their voice heard. Sothat's what we're providing. We already have
about one point four million people thatfollow US Veterans, families, members as
(01:53):
well as caregivers, and we're makinga difference. The voice is starting to
get heard and thanks to you andothers, will be able to reach their
even broader audience. I know manypeople listening are thinking to themselves. There
are so many veterans organizations across thecountry doing tremendous work, But a lot
of those organizations they have a differentmission than what you're working on at mission
(02:19):
role call right, they're working toprovide services and things like that for veterans,
where you're trying to give veterans avoice, especially on policy matters,
and create change that way, that'sexactly right and I think the other thing
is that many of those large veteransupport organizations filter is the voice of the
veterans, right They ask specific questionsaround specific programs and policies that they have,
(02:44):
and then that's combined and compared againsttheir missions and objectives. And so
what we do is ask questions directlyto veterans in real time and provide those
feedback you both elected officials and tothe media. And we feel that is
the best way for the vetsine voiceto be heard, and we applaud and
(03:08):
we work very closely with a numberof veteran support organizations. We're building a
coalition so they can work with usand we can work with them to try
to make the story get out ina better way. Uh. And the
fact is is, if you thinkabout it, there's there's thousands, tens
(03:29):
of thousands of veterine support organizations.The majority of them are very small,
working in a local community, butdoing great work. You would not need
all those veteran support organizations if theVA was doing everything's supposed to do.
So you know that that is akey takeaway. I think people need to
(03:51):
think about think of any other organizationin the federal government that needs so many
nonprofits to fill in the gaps.Imagine if the post office had those gaps
right, and people have to deliverthe mail all those type of things right.
So this is we're trying to bringto the American people's attention the issues
(04:14):
that we have, but also tellthe positive and negative stories and ask insightful
questions to our vetments in their families. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Jim
Whaley, CEO of Mission Role Call. You can learn more about this organization
and support the work they do forveterans aid Mission Role Call dot org.
How much has participation grown in recentyears when you put out these surveys,
(04:39):
Oh, it's grown exponentially. Infact, we're we think we're going to
double this year twenty twenty four witha number of veterans and their families that
are answering questions, that are beingmembers of our organization, which is free,
and they provide their web they providetheir emails address or contact information UH,
(05:01):
And we send them updates and weand we and we give them feedback.
So when we ask a question UH, and then we compile it all,
we go back to them and saythis is what we heard to them.
So it's really important to have thatclosed loop and that communication that goes
both ways. And there's a lotof issues that we're talking about, right
(05:24):
everything from vetman's benefits to Beman's suicide, to healthcare, to mental health,
to homelessness, which is an issueuh. And and then of course the
transition UH that veterans have from activeduty to a meaningful profession that's going to
(05:47):
continue their service to the country.UH. And so that those are things
that we're talking about, but it'salso talking about the things that are in
the forefront of our minds right nowand come of that is around the election.
It could be about any number ofsubjects, and so we have an
engaged group and it's a powerful groupbecause we feel that elected officials will see
(06:15):
these numbers and see what the whatthey're saying in respond And that was going
to be my next question. Whathas the reception been like among elected officials
members of the media once they're providedwith this data. Well, both have
been positive, but I think themedia has seen really quickly the potential here.
(06:40):
I mean, there's there's potential toteam with different media organizations to do
surveys with them in conjunction with themon specific topics that they want to cover
for their listening audience or their leadership. But I also think elected officials realize
that these are votes. These area group of people and their families that
(07:00):
have served their country uh and deservea voice. And we can provide information
to them and real time feedback onthings that they're voting for, the things
that they are pushing were not pushinguh. And so we think it's a
powerful pool, and that's the wayit's designed. We want to affect change.
(07:24):
For some people, we will wewill be something that they will rely
upon to reach their audience and theywill rely on us to get feedback.
For other people, they won't likeit because they may not hear what they
want to hear. So that's okay, because we feel it's important that veterans
(07:45):
are represented. I mean, they'veserved their country, some of them a
few years, some of them fordecades, and their families have certainly sacrificed,
and some of them have sacrificed agreat deal. Veterans are part of
a fabric of our nation. Theyplay a role in every aspect of our
(08:07):
society, working in government, workingin private business, starting businesses working in
healthcare, police officers, firefighters,and it is one thing we always see,
and that is that most veterans,vast majority, seem to serve their
country and another capacity. So theservice to service mindset is clearly there.
(08:33):
They want to be involved, theywant to make a difference. They joined
the service because they wanted to bepart of something bigger than themselves and they
want to continue that devotion to theircountry. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by
Jim Whaley, CEO of Mission RoleCall. You can learn more about this
organization and support the work they dofor veterans at Mission Role Call dot org.
(08:56):
Are there any issues that you canthink of that come to minds where
you've gotten tremendous feedback from veterans acrossthe country and you were able to bring
that information to lawmakers, elected officialsand create that change that veterans we're looking
for. Yes, that is happening, and then we're happy to report on
that because we feel that that's partof the advocacy piece of our organization and
(09:20):
we play the instrumental role in thenewly funded Fox brands that are addressing veterans
benefits. We're working with other Coalitionmembers within the Veterans Support organizations in this
country to push more support around andbetter support really around veterans' mental health as
(09:41):
well as employment issues and benefits ingeneral. And we're going to continue to
push on these things because we thinkit's important. I mean, we can,
through our technology, go down tothe congressional district on this, so
we can survey people in a specificpart of the country and present that to
(10:01):
a Senator or a congressman to say, hey, you're voting a but your
constituent her what b let's talk aboutthat. And so we're very bullied by
the growth in Mission Role Call,but we need support, right, we
need more members to join. Youdon't have to be a veteran. We
(10:22):
just asked that you're passionate about veteranbenefits, benefits and clauses. Maybe you
have a service member in your family, maybe your son or daughter is in
the service. You have a voice, and you should use Mission Roll Call
to help you do that. Andwe're much stronger when we have ten and
thousands and millions of voices versus youon your own trying to affect change of
(10:48):
Congress. Good luck with that,and that's why we feel wor we play
such a key role. Let's talkabout a recent survey that you conducted Mission
roll Call, taking a look atsome of the top issues among veterans ahead
of this upcoming presidential election. Whatdid you find. Yeah, first of
(11:09):
all, we had a great turnoutand we always do on our polls,
and we asked people, you know, what do you feel is the most
important vecom issue that you watched hereabout during the US presidential election, and
twenty eight percent said veteran benefits twentyfour of course, to twenty five percent
(11:33):
that vecrin homelessness. Another twenty fourpercent talked about Beckron healthcare, and then
the next one was around veteran's suicidesupport, which is around seventeen percent,
So obviously a wide range. Youknow, there's six different categories there s
Frudent security came up a little bit, and I'd like to talk about that
(11:56):
if we get a chair a chanto talk about that both at the veteran
level as well as active duty.But it's clear that our members are very
concerned about healthcare benefits and homelessness wouldbe the top three. So let's talk
about food insecurity, that issue inparticular, what are you seeing there?
(12:20):
Well, what we see is thatwe have about one point four million vetments
receiving assistance right now from food banksacross the country. And I think when
you hear a number like that,you say, what, what's happening?
(12:41):
But then when you couple that withthe fact that the Department of Defense reported
last year twenty twenty three, soit's very recent that twenty four percent of
active duty members have food and securitychallenges. That means they don't have money
to buy healthy food, they don'thave the resources to purchase food for tomorrow.
(13:07):
There's a but it's mind boggling tome. And the nation is as
strong as ours that nearly a quarterof our active duty servicemen and women are
worried about what their next meal isgoing to be. And I don't know
how we as a nation. It'sset to be competitive in the world.
(13:31):
And even someone who doesn't read thenewspaper or listen to news on a daily
basis, you can't help but walkaway and go this is not a safe
world. There's a lot of dangerout there by nations that we would like
to see ill happen to us.You need a strong military for that.
(13:54):
And twenty four percent of them areworried about food. That's a problem.
I'm Ryan Gorman, joined now byJim Whalley, CEO of Mission Role Call.
You can learn more about this greatVeterans organization at Mission Role Call dot
org. I want to ask youabout the issue of homelessness among veterans,
something that a lot of different organizationsand groups have put a lot of resources
(14:16):
towards. Have we seen any improvementin that area in recent years, Well,
that the numbers actually went in thewrong direction, where we have more
people home homeless now than we didthe year before. You know, on
any given night, you have thirtyfive to forty thousand veterans experience homelessness in
(14:37):
our country. That is. Andthe challenge with that is it's devastating as
a devastating effect on veterans overall health, both their mind, body and soul.
And so we and part of thisprocess is and this is what we're
finding is that if the transition doesn'tgo well during the veterans leaving active duty
(15:05):
and they and they don't find ajob with purpose or a job at all,
then you immediately in into financial insecurity. Uh. And then once that
happens homelessness or or other things happen, such as mental health issues and challenges.
So we have to make sure asa country that we understand the value
(15:28):
of what veterans bring to the workplace. They're highly trained, they're motivated,
they're disciplined, they've probably learned anumber of different skills, they have innate
leadership capabilities. They've worked in anenvironment that has an ethos and a culture
that takes care of one another,and they really are first round draft choices
(15:52):
for any company. You can putvessins in almost any position and they're going
to thrive. But the challenge isis that sometimes this transition doesn't go well
either. The vetment themselves underestimated thehill that they needed to climb, and
so they've struggled with putting a resumetogether and networking and things like that.
(16:15):
But it's also that the services aren'treally dear to being a job market organization.
Right. They're great at getting youinto the service, training you and
getting you, you know, theskills you need to be on active duty,
but when you decide to leave,you're going through a cookie cut or
(16:36):
process that may not work for you. So you know, I would ask
those viewers if they take away anythingfrom this discussion, is that one support
the veterans support organization of your choice. It could be local, it could
be one like Mission roll Call,it could be any veterans support organization that
(16:57):
you feel is worthy of your timeand effort and pressure. And the second
would be if you run a business, reach out to a local organization that
helps vest and skin employment and bringa veteran on, help a veteran network,
introduce them to the local community,help them jump this hurdle so that
(17:23):
they can start their next phase.And I guarantee you that veteran will continue
to service for her community. Theywill coach, they will volunteer, they
will be someone that the community willlook upon and say, that's a great
neighbor, that is a great participantin our democracy, and that's the kind
(17:48):
of person I want to be afriend with. And final question for you
for those who do want to supportMission roll Call, specifically your organization and
the work you're doing, what aresome ways they can do that? Well,
the first way and the non costway would be joint. All we
need is your email address or aphone number that we can text polls to
(18:14):
you. Or email those to you. Will send you if you desire updates
on these goals and newsletters. Wewon't bomboard you, we won't sell it.
But it's a great way for usto continue to grow as an organization.
And the reason I say that's soimportant is because you can imagine going
(18:36):
into a senator's office when you representa thousand veterans versus representing four million veterans.
That's a different meeting when you representthree to four million veterans. And
that's where we want to be.We want to be the largest veterans a
member organization in our country, andwe feel that will be a powerful way
(18:57):
for us to actually get elected officialsto make changes. I mean, I
retired from the military twenty years ago, and so that means I joined twenty
years before that. And many ofthe same issues that we have today we
have been. And part of thatis we don't pay junior and listed enough
(19:18):
money, so they are only afew thousand dollars above poverty, and then
we wonder why the transition doesn't gowell. So we need to make the
significant changes and investment that is goingto make our nation stronger than our restence,
stronger Jim Whaley, CEO Mission RoleCall. You can learn more and
(19:42):
support the work they do at MissionRole Call dot org. That's Mission Role
Call dot org. Jim On,thank you so much for coming on the
show, for the work you're doingon veterans issues, and of course for
your service to this country. Wereally appreciate it. Thank you, Ryan,
I thank you team that you're doing. All right. I'm Ryan Gorman
here on iHeartRadio Communities, and nowlet me bring in my next guest.
(20:04):
I'm joined by the senior vice presidentof Marketing and Communications for the NAACP,
Trevon Williams, joins me for BlackHistory Month. You can learn more,
of course about this organization at NAACPdot org. Travan, thank you so
much for coming on the show.And while I'm sure pretty much everybody listening
now has heard of the NAACP,they might not be as familiar with the
(20:26):
work that you do. Can youkind of give us an overview of your
mission? Sure? Ryan, andthank you for the opportunity once again to
speak to you. I mean,at its core, the NAACP is in
place to advocate and fight on behalfof marginalized communities, particularly within the Black
community to ensure that they would receiveequitable treatment, whether it be from voting
(20:49):
rights, or education or health.We want to ensure that our community has
the opportunity to advance at the samelevels of the communities across the nation itself.
And so for over hundred and fifteenyears, we just celebrated our one
hundred and fifteenth year of existence justa few weeks ago, we've been fighting
and standing on behalf of those communitiesand plays and honors to have the opportunity
(21:11):
to continue to do. So,what are some of the issues that you're
most focused on here in twenty twentyfour. Well, I think it goes
without saying. In some respects,the upcoming election is absolutely vital to not
just the long term prognosis for behalfof the black community, but really across
(21:32):
our entire nation with regards to thedemocracy itself. We've seen tremendous attempts from
all walks of life, all backgroundsto try and undermine this democracy that many
of us say that we stand sopointly on, and so getting voters to
the polls, getting Black voters outof the poll is absolutely top of mind,
(21:53):
vital in one of the one ofthe most important things that we do
not just ensuring that we mobilize ofmillions of black voters from across the country,
but ensuring that their voting rights arenot being infringed upon and that they're
not being made successible to a bunchof misinformation and really persuasive messaging that is
really being put in place to keepthem from going to the pos that's one
(22:17):
in particular, the other in particular. And we've seen a tremendous amount of
progress around this in particular over thelast several months itself. With regards to
student debts, we know that studentdebt is impacting really all communities, but
the Black community is being impacted drasticallywith regards to this notion of education having
(22:37):
to be paid for at a youknow, some really unrealistic numbers and some
respects, and so fighting very seriouslyand working very closely with administration and looks
across the country to ensure that wecan do as much as possible to lift
this weight, because we know thatthat student debt weight coming out of college
is one that is so daunting thatin many cases it's putting people behind behind
(23:03):
the six of many respects and notallowing them the opportunity to get out and
have the opportunity to succeed in themanner that that is the most vital.
And then some of the other onesthat we know that are absolutely important to
us as well. With regards towomen's rights, we've seen some of the
actions that have been taken over thelast several months as well. Opposition remains
very very clear that a woman tohave the right to make a decision about
(23:26):
what she does with her body inany way, shape or formance. So
those are some of the issues thatare top of mind for the association,
but I'm sure there's others that arealways going to rear its head over the
next several months. I'm Ryan Gorman, joined by Trebond Williams, NAACP Senior
Vice President of Marketing and Communications.Can you can learn more about the work
they do at NAACP dot org.Can you tell us a little bit about
(23:48):
your empowerment programs? Sure? So, I mean it really There are really
a lot of different touch points withregards to it, but at its core,
empowerment programming is empowerment programs are meantto do just that. We want
to figure out programmatic areas in whichwe can invest within our community and ensure
that they have the opportunities. Andsome of the great work that's happening around
(24:08):
our environment programs include our small businessbrands that we've been able to stand up
over the last several years, literallyallowing small black businesses the opportunity to have
funding that brands them the opportunity toone in some cases say in their communities,
so that they can become sort oflandmarks from milestones within their own communities
(24:29):
communities themselves, but then also brandsfrom the opportunity to have distinguished networks that
they can work alongside, so workingalongside other business professionals, getting the training
that are necessary so that they havethe opportunity to not just start a business,
but sustain and grow and help abusiness to continue to thrive the other
side of that, going back towhat I was mentioning with regards to the
(24:51):
educational components, with regards to howmuch student that has weighed down, is
our scholarship programs themselves, something thatwe're very very proud of have been able
to do some amazing things, givingmillions of dollars away from college students all
across this country, branding them theopportunity to start out just a little bit
further ahead than they may have beenotherwise, and so working with a number
(25:11):
of just really notable partners to buildout unique scholarships themselves that we can make
available year over year and be ableto service those out to you know,
communities that may not have the opportunityto get those. Those are some of
the ones that come to mind firstand foremost, because those are that's really
is really about for us, isinvesting our community, advancing our community,
(25:33):
and making sure that we can juststay in our community as much as possible.
What are some of the different waysthat those listening can take action and
become part of the work you're doingat the NAACP. Oh I love that
question, Ryan, because it's whatI love so much about this time of
year and really just ex period isadvocacy takes on many different methods. Right
(25:56):
In many cases, when people thinkabout the NAACP and this a sense you
think of boots on the ground,you think is marketing, process and demonstration,
And absolutely that is who we areat its core. It's in our
lifeblood of the organization. The advocacytakes on a multitude of different factors sounds
advocacy takes on becoming sustainer excuse meof the organization itself, and that could
(26:17):
be as some simple as giving fivedollars a month to the naacpieces that we
can continue to fight on behalf ofcommunity to color all across the country.
It can be in one of thebiggest GALTV mobilization efforts that we do around
this election season. We're mobilizing threehundred thousand volunteers from across the country to
help get peer to peer contact specificallyto their local areas. And what I
(26:41):
mean by that is the opportunity tolet those who are within your local community
know, Hey, this is whenthe upcoming election is coming, we want
you to take part in it.This is how you can ensure that your
voter registration is up to par beforegoing to the post, making sure that
that peer of peer test. We'velearned through our research that that peared of
your text, being able to speakspecifically to someone who's in your local community
(27:03):
that has a level familiarity makes aperson more likely to take part in this
exercise of democracy that we hold sodearly, and so find out to become
a volunteer, you don't have todo anything but go to naacc dot org
and get the information with regards tothat, and you can literally help volunteer
from the confines of your home,making text mess making, text mesage calls
to local people within your community,surely not even through your own device itself,
(27:27):
just so you can let them know, Hey, there's an upcoming election
coming up. Who wants you totake part in it? The NAACP is
nonpartisans. You know, say youwho to vote for, but we want
to ensure that you go to thepole and you take advantage of the opportunity
to vote for whoever you think youshould, and that's that's your right in
that moment, right. But thoseare some of the main ones. Donate
become a member of the NAACP.We want members in local community at twenty
(27:49):
two hundred branches across the country.Why not sign up and be a part
of a local NAACP within yours,within your space, and grant yourself the
opportunity to be a part of thechange that we are advocating for from across
the country. Those are some ofthe ones that comes to mind. And
final question for you, tell usabout some of the resources that you have
available on the website. There area number of different things that people can
(28:11):
check out, from trainings and workshopsto legislative rapport cards. Tell us about
some of the things we can findthere. Sure, our Voter Protection Hub
gets you inside information as to whatyou can do around ensuring that your voter
registration and those sorts of things thatmay be in questions come into place.
(28:32):
So our Voter Protective Hub is somethingthat I think is very key any of
the grand services programs that I maymention it to as well with regards to
our grand small businesses, and thenas well as our Scholarship Ortal with regards
to signing your young people up toreceive scholarships from the NAACP himself. And
then lastly, as I did theymention it to, you can always go
to NAACP dot organ become a memberor a sustainer of the organization and help
(28:55):
us continue to fight this site.Trebon Williams, NAACP Senior Vice President of
Marketing and Communications. Again, thewebsite where you can learn more is NAACP
dot com. Trebon, I wantto thank you so much for taking the
time to come on the show andbreak all of that down for us.
We really appreciate it, appreciate thetime. Thanks so much. All right,
and that's going to do it forthis edition of iHeartRadio Communities. As
(29:15):
we wrap things up, I wantto offer a big thanks to both of
our guests, Jim Whaley, CEOof Mission Role Call, and Trebon Williams,
the senior vice president of Messaging andCommunications for the NAACP. You can
learn more about both those organizations onemore time add Mission rollcall dot org and
NAACP dot org. And of course, thanks to all of you for listening
(29:37):
to the show. If you wantto hear more episodes, we're on your
iHeartRadio app. Just search for iHeartRadioCommunities. I'm your host, Ryan Gorman.
We'll talk to you again real soon.
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