Gov. Scott Walker announced $250,000 in grants on Wednesday for 11 nonprofits offering services to Wisconsin veterans and their families. The University of Wisconsin-Superior Foundation was awarded $25,000 for veterans programming on campus.
The grant is vital for providing assistance to student vets on campus, according to Monte Stewart, student services coordinator with the Veterans and Non-Traditional Students Center at UW-Superior. He said the funds go toward programs that help veterans transition from military to campus life.
“We host a veterans’ expo every spring. Some of the money will go to that so we can host that. That brings in 50 different veterans service organizations that are able to help our veterans and get them connected with different benefits,” he said. “We host different career and transition workshops, time management workshops, and anything that will help them be successful in their time here.”
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Stewart said one of the big things the grant will do is offer support to vets who are more accustomed to the structure of military life.
“I think it really helps create that sense of camaraderie with some of the different events that we are able to host,” he said. “And really connects veterans with other veterans and even other students on campus in ways that maybe just going to class wouldn’t be able to connect them with their peers that they are going to college with.”
Stewart said the grant helps with student retention among vets at UWS. Without it, he said they may see more dropouts.
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