North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 480)
A veteran himself, Tony Kimbrough, CEO of Veterans Empowerment Organization, was in the studio with host John Ray to highlight the work of the VEO in helping homeless veterans find housing and rebuild their lives. Tony shared some of the issues veterans face, the VEO campus on the westside of Atlanta, systemic cultural issues at play, the need for affordable stable housing, employment, and much more.
North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.
An estimated 2000 veterans throughout Georgia have little access to the resources they need for daily living. There are many invisible wounds that affect veterans, including post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety – all of which can lead to homelessness.
VEO’s mission is to connect Veterans to vital resources that will assist in rebuilding their holistic well-being, and empower them to make positive changes in their life.
VEO offers a healing campus environment that allows veterans to rebuild their lives. Its mission is to empower veterans along their journey to self-sufficiency.
Veteran Empowerment Organization follows a Housing model. Their housing programs offer both temporary and permanent solutions to uplift low-income and homeless veterans. Through emergency beds, Veterans Empowerment Organization provides low-barrier access to ensure that veterans have a safe place to stay while procuring permanent housing placement. Veteran Empowerment Organization provides veterans with transitional housing as a way to garner permanent housing or independent living. Their residential site offers housing in a supportive, therapeutic community, with wraparound care including workforce development, mental health, and optimal wellness, and case management services to help veterans address their specific challenges and needs.
VEO’s Optimal Wellness program offers professional counseling from licensed clinicians and peer mentorship services with a focus on social reintegration.
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Tony Kimbrough is Chief Executive Officer for Veterans Empowerment Organization.
Part of a family with a long military heritage, Tony Kimbrough joined the South Carolina Army National Guard during his junior year at The Citadel. His subsequent eight years of service as a military intelligence officer included a year with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan, where he led an embedded training team.
Tony was formerly the Executive Director of Atlanta’s East Lake Family YMCA. He was recruited to Atlanta as head of the Arthur M. Blank Youth YMCA in 2015 and took on that role in 2017.
A native of Kentucky, Kimbrough grew up in Metro Atlanta, where his father was an executive with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and his mother a development officer with the YMCA.
After college, Kimbrough spent four years with Mannheim Auto Auctions in Georgia, North Carolina, and Arizona before moving to the nonprofit sector, first with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and then with the YMCA.
Questions and Topics in this Interview:
- What are the problems veterans are facing?
- What is VEO?
- Tell us about your military journey and how you became involved with VEO
- What services do you offer?
- How can others get involved?
North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.
Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.
Special thanks to A&S Culinary Concepts for their support of this edition of North Fulton Business Radio. A&S Culinary Concepts, based in Johns Creek, is an award-winning culinary studio, celebrated for corporate catering, corporate team building, Big Green Egg Boot Camps, and private group events. They also provide oven-ready, cooked from scratch meals to go they call “Let Us Cook for You.” To see their menus and events, go to their website or call 678-336-9196.
Kelly Lorenzen, CEO of KLM, is an award-winning entrepreneur with over 15 years of business-ownership experience. She is also a certified project management professional.
Steve Zylstra serves as president and CEO of the Arizona Technology Council, a role he assumed in 2007. He is responsible for strategy, operations, finance and policy development. Zylstra is a vocal spokesman for the value technology can provide in raising social and economic standards in Arizona.
Karen Nowicki is a successful author, speaker and the creator of Deep Impact Leadership™ and SoulMarks Coaching™. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious national Choice Award® for her book and personal development retreat. Karen was crowned the first-ever “Mompreneur of the Year” Award in 2010 for the southwestern states. She was recognized for her leadership, business acumen, and work-life balance.
