Weekly Insights: Veteran's Council of Indian River County
Of the 15,000 veterans living in Indian River County: 88% are age 65+, 34% are disabled, 24% are unemployed, and 5% live in poverty. One of the many programs at the Veteran's Council of Indian River County, Veterans Helping Veterans, provides home improvement repairs for veteran homeowners and their relatives who either can't afford it or who are physically unable to do the work. As a result, Veterans experience a reduction in stress and an improvement in health and safety while helpers feel pride in being able to assist their fellow veterans. Since 2018, this program has provided more than $340,000 to complete basic home improvements.
Weekly Insights works in conjunction with Indian River Indicators. Indian River Indicators was launched in June 2021 and originated after the completion of the 2019 Indian River Community Needs Assessment. It provides key data and information about our community that is updated annually and can be used to support and sustain proven programs. It can also be used by community leaders to develop policy, promote promising practices and inspire innovation that can lead to solutions to persistent community challenges. Indian River Community Foundation holds monthly informational sessions to introduce the community to this new resource. The next session will be held on Tuesday, April 5th at 4pm via zoom. Please email Foundation Coordinator, Chiaka Nwosu, at chiaka@ircommunityfoundation.org to attend a session.
To learn more visit www.ircommunityfoundation.org and click “Indian River Indicators” or contact a member of the Community Foundation’s team at 772.492.1407.