Following news that a federal contract for a veterans counseling program on Martha’s Vineyard would not be renewed, Islanders have rallied to raise the money themselves.
Dean Teague, CEO of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and a U.S. Navy Medical Corps veteran, told The Times that more than $40,000 has been donated to the nonprofit over the past month with many smaller donations between around $100 and $1,000 and the majority coming from five “very generous” anonymous donors.
Teague said that he is grateful for the outpouring of support. “This community is amazing with its generosity,” he told The Times.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decided in March it would not be renewing a roughly $80,000 contract with Martha’s Vineyard Community Services as part of a nationwide elimination of contracts it deemed “non-mission-critical or duplicative.” The funding cut hit the Vineyard nonprofit’s “Readjustment Counseling for War Veterans” program, which had provided one-on-one and group counseling for veterans returning from war since the 1980s.
But the team running the program was determined to keep the program running; Community Services officials were even considering pulling funds from other parts of the nonprofit’s operations.
To highlight the fundraising effort, Community Services will be holding a benefit concert at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) post in Oak Bluffs on Saturday, April 26, from 4 to 9 pm. The event will feature performers Rose Guerin, Rick Padilla, Missis Biskis, Jodie Treloar-Sampson, and DJ D-Dub. A color guard will also be on hand for the event.
Support hasn’t come just from the Vineyard for the veteran’s program. Massachusetts officials have criticized Veterans Affairs’ decision to not renew the contract, and Teague said state and congressional lawmakers have tried to help where they could. State Rep. Thomas Moakley, who represents the Vineyard in Boston, said he is working on getting funding.
“We’re confident we’ll have next year taken care of,” Teague said. “I’m not worried about that, but we want to see if we can have something in place to take care of the next three to five years.”
Additionally, Community Services kicked off its annual fundraising appeal for its veterans’ services and its Head Start program, which is a part of a national early-childhood education initiative that the Trump administration is proposing to cut funding for. Teague declined to comment about the latter program’s potential risk of losing federal funding since “we don’t have a lot of information on that one.”
