A new program at the University of Central Missouri is training veterans in a way they’ve never been trained before — how to transition back to civilian life.
Veterans Upward Bound started reaching out to veterans in 10 Missouri counties at the beginning of the semester to encourage them to take advantage of academic coaching, preparation for college entrance exams, life and goal mentorship and other assistance.
Tonya Kuranda, the program coordinator for VUB, said the program’s primary focus is people who are not currently active in the military.
“If someone were to come to our office today and say ‘I am actually in the Guard right now and I will be separating in a year,’ we wouldn’t just say, ‘Good luck see you in a year.’ We would work hand in hand with the Veterans Affair Department and Jeff Huffman so they can help those students,” Kuranda said of the director of Military and Veterans Services. “There’s this teamwork that happens.”
VUB works with veterans of all ages. Kuranda said all of the veterans are in varied situations and are at different points in their lives.
“Many of our veterans are low income and could even possibly be homeless, could possibly be in a veterans home or in an assisted living home, so our reach is so wide because there’s no age limit,” Kuranda said. “We could have someone that is literally coming out of the service at 20 or working with someone who is 75.”
Shomarri Taylor, the office professional for VUB, said after reading about the program, she knew it was something that she wanted to get involved with and help people.
Kuranda said both she and Taylor have a personal connection to the work they do with VUB.
“At the end of the day, we can say, ‘Yes I have a job,’ but there’s a personal connection for each of us to this job, and that changes the whole ballgame because there’s really not a limit in what you will do to help someone,” Kuranda said.
Kuranda served eight years in the armed forces and went to get a college degree when she got out.
“I was terrified. I know that sounds crazy because they send us to war. They train us to do that though,” she said. “They don’t train us for the transition back.”
Taylor has a special connection to the program that drives her to help veterans.
“I’m not a veteran, but my daughter’s father was and he passed away. He is a lot of my motivation to really help someone else who was in his situation,” Taylor said. “He was trying to go back to school and trying to get his life together after releasing from the military, and there was no Veterans Upward Bound for him — no resource at all for him — so now that we have that possibility of being that for someone. That means something.”
Kuranda said the program’s main goal is to encourage veterans and give them the confidence to make their dreams come true.
“We are going to help you with the things that you are struggling with deep down,” she said in reference to veterans.
Taylor and Kuranda worked with a veteran this semester after the veteran’s contract with the National Guard had been terminated, and they found out that even though finishing school was a goal for the team and the veteran, the individual needed more help with her day-to-day life.
“Her exact words were, ‘I don’t want to be a burden. I feel like I’m a burden,’” Taylor said. “We told her, ‘You’re not a burden. This is what we’re here for. We’re going to do whatever we can do to get you to a point where you know you can do it. You are doing it and you can do anything else. Your story is not over.’ When I told her that, you can tell that her spirit just lit up.”
Taylor said the veteran was the breadwinner of their family before their contract was terminated, so she and Kuranda changed their focus to meet the need of that veteran.
“Our focus went from school to Shomarri sitting down with her and filing for unemployment, making sure she knew where to go for food stamps and making sure she knew where to plug in for outside agencies to help with her needs,” Kuranda said. “How well is someone going to do at school if they aren’t sure how they’re going to pay their rent the next month?”
Kuranda and Taylor have also been working with Elton Bindoo, a 75-year-old veteran who has always dreamed of earning his bachelor’s degree.
Bindoo was a UCM student in 1990, but because of work and not taking advantage of the tutoring services available to him, he failed and he was put on academic suspension.
He told us, ‘I just want my degree so bad still. I’m 75, but I know I can do it. If I get the help, I know I can do it,’” Kuranda said. “He has been doing phenomenal.”
The team said they will be working with him until he reaches his academic goals.
Kuranda and Taylor said they will be marketing more for VUB for the next five years while they have access to the grant to grow the program and reach out to as many veterans as they can.
“We just truly need help spreading the word,” Kuranda said. “Once the word catches on that this is here, they’ll send veterans our way.”
To learn more information about Veterans Upward Bound, email Tonya Kuranda at [email protected].