« All News

Connecting With Injured Soldiers @ Army Yellow Ribbon Event

by Wilma Meep

May 25, 2023

Project:  Return To Work Inc.  (R2W) is a trusted community leader providing employment and rehabilitation services to injured soldiers.  And their families.

Robin Ray Brazell, R2W’s Founder, plans to speak with 24 injured soldiers and their families at the US Army’s Yellow Ribbon event in Vail, Colorado June 2 – 4, 2023.  Mr. Brazell will bring R2W’s mascots, Yin and Yang, to help him breakthrough the barriers. He says, “They are a huge help.  They enable me to instantly connect with people who have sacrificed so much.  Trust!”

Yin and Yang
R2W’s Mascots

 

See Yin and Yang on Fox 31 News!

Mr. Brazell will talk about ESGR’s programs to award outstanding employers, and to mediate when employers fail to comply with the USERRA law.  He will also inform injured soldiers and their families about education, employment, and rehabilitation programs at R2W.

Event Details | DoD Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program – Official Site

 

Please volunteer as a mentor at https://www.return2work.org/volunteer .

And please donate at https://www.return2work.org/donate .

 

Sleep well at night knowing you’re making a difference.  Even a small contribution will go a long way.

 

 


 

 

Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program

The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program is a DoD-wide effort to promote the well-being of National Guard and Reserve members, their families and communities, by connecting them with resources throughout the deployment cycle. Through Yellow Ribbon events, Service members and loved ones connect with local resources before, during, and after deployments. Reintegration during post-deployment is a critical time for members of the National Guard and Reserve, as they often live far from military installations and other members of their units. Commanders and leaders play a critical role in assuring that Reserve Service members and their families attend Yellow Ribbon events where they can access information on health care, education and training opportunities, financial, and legal benefits. We work in government and non-government partners, including the Small Business Administration and Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs, to provide up-to-date and relevant information to the members of the All-Volunteer force and their families.

 

About Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program (army.mil)

About Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve > About ESGR > Contact > Local/State Pages > Colorado  (R2W’s Founder is an Area Chair).

About USERRA – Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov).

 

« All News

Barriers to Employment and How to Overcome Them

By

Nikki DAgostino, CESP, R2W Career Counselor

 

The United States Department of Labor defines barriers to employment as ‘any conditions that may make employment difficult.’ Barriers can especially affect individuals with disabilities, who already may have a lack of resources available.

Some of the most common employment barriers include transportation barriers and criminal record barriers. These barriers can inhibit a person’s ability to keep and maintain employment.

When seeking employment, either by oneself or with the assistance of an employment program, it is important to assess potential barriers and come up with a game plan on how to overcome them. While not all barriers can fully be overcome, many can, and there are many techniques, resources, and methods that can be implemented to mitigate the overall impact of the barrier.

For example, when someone lacks transportation resources when searching for employment, they can utilize several methods to overcome the barrier. First, they can utilize Google Maps to determine what local employers may be within walking or biking distance of their residence. They can research state and county public transportation options, including disability door to door services for qualified individuals with disabilities. Networking, including utilizing resources through friends, family members, local non-profits, and carpooling groups can also be an excellent option. Lastly, rideshare services can also be utilized, when necessary, but proper budgeting and planning should be implemented.

Having a criminal background can also be a difficult barrier to overcome, particularly for individuals with prior felony convictions or convictions that include violence or theft. Employers do reserve the right to make hiring decisions based on prior convictions and can legally decline employment based on background check information. It is important when an individual has a criminal record to be upfront and truthful about the record – particularly if the employer indicates their intention to run a background check. By being forthcoming and truthful about what will come up on the background check, it can help open up a dialogue with management, where exceptions and accommodations can be made.

It is also extremely important to review the background check authorization paperwork as well. Some employers will only run a 7-year background check, or a 10-year background check. If the paperwork specifically indicates “have you had any convictions within the last 7 years” and your conviction was eight years ago, then it is perfectly acceptable to indicate ‘no’ on that paperwork.

In addition, many companies are taking initiatives to be more inclusive for individuals with backgrounds to help reintegrate previous offenders back into the workforce. There are many online resources available for offenders, including sources that specify different employers’ policies and hiring practices when it comes to individuals with criminal records. In addition, the construction fields, restaurant / culinary fields, and self-employment fields have always been great career fields for individuals to enter who may have more difficult criminal convictions.

Overall, with the proper preparation, acknowledgment, and guidance, one can learn to overcome a variety of barriers and attain successful employment outcomes.

 

DONATE HERE

Jalali Hartman, R2W Trustee, Former R2W Director

« All News

Devastating Effects of Hurricane Ian on Charlotte County and Project: Return to Work Inc. (R2W)

by
Nikki D’Agostino, R2W Career Counselor & DVR Program Director

The American flag stands in the wake of Hurricane Ian, Forty Myers Beach, Florida, Oct. 2, 2022. U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jesse Hanson

Hurricane Ian was a powerful Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on the Southwest coast of Florida on September 28, 2022. The storm brought catastrophic heavy rain and wind to the area, causing widespread damage and destruction. Roads were flooded, buildings were demolished, and the overall area is still in a very slow recovery period.

The immediate impacts of the storm were substantial damage to both residential and commercial properties. Infrastructure and utilities were critically damaged resulting in over a week without running water in the Englewood, FL area. Power was down for 2-3 weeks, and internet and cell phone services were down for over a month.

Due to the hurricane’s impact, many businesses were affected as well. Project: Return to Work Inc (R2W) was substantially impacted by the hurricane, resulting in considerable business and resource losses. As a non-profit relying on donations and government grants, the hurricane caused critical losses. State offices were shut down, customers lost their jobs, and other customers closed out / moved out of state altogether. Without internet and cell services, and the hurricane damage impact to staff, Return to Work’s Florida Ops was essentially dead in the water for over a month.

While R2W’s Florida Ops has resumed close to normal services, the damages are still being felt on a daily basis. The hurricane put us over a month behind in our services, paperwork, and availability. Staff are still recovering from substantial damage to their homes and offices. Customers whom we serve also lost their homes and belongings.

It is critical now in our time of need to recover, and thereby help others recover from the disastrous catastrophic damages caused by Hurricane Ian.

DONOTE HERE

« All News

Denver Nuggets vs Minnesota Timberwolves | Dec 15th

A sincere thank you to KSE for donating tickets to the game on Dec 15th!

 

 

 

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!!!  That was awesome – Andrew

Thank you so much R2W for the tickets to see Denver Nuggets live!  It was a great experience to share with my son, and we enjoyed every minute since we don’t get to watch the game on TV anymore.  ~Linda

« All News

Colorado Avalanche vs. Columbus Blue Jackets | Ball Arena | November 3, 2021

 

I just wanted to say thank you to both R2W and KSE for the tickets to see the Avalanche game Wednesday night! It was a great game and we had a great time. Even got lucky enough to see an overtime game. Only thing that could have made it a cooler night would have been to see the Avalanche complete the comeback and win the game.

Thank you again! – Kyle

« All News

myWalgreens – the results are in!

We are excited to share that Project Return To Work, Inc. will be awarded funds in the amount of $100.00 from the myWalgreens Donation Program.

We’re so grateful to our supporters, and of course to Walgreens, for offering the opportunity to be involved in this generous program.

« All News

Final days! Donate your myWalgreens cash rewards to Return2Work thru 05/31/21

Return2Work is participating in the myWalgreens donation program!

At Walgreens, you’ll earn unlimited 1% Walgreens Cash rewards when you shop with your myWalgreens membership and you can contribute $1, $5, or more of your Walgreens Cash rewards to local and national charities making a difference in your community. It’s that easy and the amount you donate is up to you!

Donate your myWalgreens cash rewards to Return2Work thru 05/31/21.

Disclaimer:

*Walgreens Cash rewards can be redeemed as a donation to designated charities as shown in your myWalgreensTM account in app or on Walgreens.com. Once Walgreens Cash rewards are redeemed for a donation, the exchange is not reversible and cannot be canceled once submitted. Donation is not tax deductible, and additional terms and conditions may apply. Walgreens reserves the right to change the charities that are eligible to participate at any time without notice.

« All News

2 weeks left! Donate your myWalgreens cash rewards to Return2Work thru 05/31/21

We’re participating in the myWalgreens donation program!

At Walgreens, you’ll earn unlimited 1% Walgreens Cash rewards when you shop with your myWalgreens membership and you can contribute $1, $5, or more of your Walgreens Cash rewards to local and national charities making a difference in your community. It’s that easy and the amount you donate is up to you!

Donate your myWalgreens cash rewards to Return2Work thru 05/31/21.

Disclaimer:

*Walgreens Cash rewards can be redeemed as a donation to designated charities as shown in your myWalgreensTM account in app or on Walgreens.com. Once Walgreens Cash rewards are redeemed for a donation, the exchange is not reversible and cannot be canceled once submitted. Donation is not tax deductible, and additional terms and conditions may apply. Walgreens reserves the right to change the charities that are eligible to participate at any time without notice.

« All News

Donate your myWalgreens cash rewards to Return2Work thru 05/31/21

We’re participating in the myWalgreens donation program! You can donate your myWalgreens cash rewards to Return2Work thru 05/31/21. At Walgreens, you’ll earn unlimited 1% Walgreens Cash rewards when you shop and you can choose how much to donate. It’s that easy. Whether you’d like to contribute $1, $5, or more of your Walgreens Cash rewards you’ll be making a big difference. It really adds up!

 

Disclaimer

*Walgreens Cash rewards can be redeemed as a donation to designated charities as shown in your myWalgreensTM account in app or on Walgreens.com. Once Walgreens Cash rewards are redeemed for a donation, the exchange is not reversible and cannot be canceled once submitted. Donation is not tax deductible, and additional terms and conditions may apply. Walgreens reserves the right to change the charities that are eligible to participate at any time without notice.

« All News

Fran Nixon Award 2018

Fran Nixon remembered, helped 18,000 find work

Fran Nixon remembered, helped 18,000 find work

She was recipient of presidential Lifetime Achievement Award

By NANCY J. SEMON STAFF WRITER Apr 18, 2020

 

Fran Nixon, the Missions Operations Manager (MOM) for Return to Work, is given the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rev. Hosea Cannon, pastor and chaplain at the Denver Sheriff’s Department. He flew in to bestow the award on Nixon in 2018. Looking on are the nonprofit’s founder, her son Rob Ray Brazell, who founded the charity and is a recipient of the award himself. To her right is Fern Ballou, executive secretary to Brazell.

Fran Nixon Award 2018

Fran Nixon, the Missions Operations Manager (MOM) for Return to Work, is given the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rev. Hosea Cannon, pastor and chaplain at the Denver Sheriff’s Department. He flew in to bestow the award on Nixon in 2018. Looking on are the nonprofit’s founder, her son Rob Ray Brazell, who founded the charity and is a recipient of the award himself. To her right is Fern Ballou, executive secretary to Brazell.

SUN PHOTO BY ELAINE ALLEN-EMRICH

The Charlotte County community will have the chance to remember Frankie “Fran” Nixon, a President’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient who helped some 18,500 find work through her son’s nonprofit.

Headquartered in Denver, Project: Return to Work’s mission is to find work for veterans, especially injured military service members and their spouses, disabled civilians and others in the community.

Nixon passed away on March 23, 2020, but due to the pandemic, her memorial service was delayed until this April 30. It will be held at 11 a.m. at First Church of Christ, Scientist in Englewood, followed by a luncheon at the Boca Royale Golf & County Club.

In 2018, Nixon was honored at Boca Royale where she received the highest level one can achieve for living a life of service for others — the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, which was bestowed to her during the Trump administration.

At the time of her award, Nixon was in her eighties. She continued to help others until her death. From her nursing home in Castro Valley, California, she and Fern Ballou, executive secretary to her son, Rob Ray Brazell, were helping an injured Marine in the Middle East.

They helped him secure a good job in his small hometown prior to returning home from war, Brazell said.

Brazell, who is also a recipient of the President’s award, having received it under the Obama administration, recently shared the story of his mother’s life with The Daily Sun.

“My mother was born in Saratoga, Wyoming, on Sept. 7, 1932, to a pioneer ranching family,” he said. Nixon went to school there where she met her future husband, a Marine who served during World War II.

“After getting married, they continued to live on my grandparents’ ranch for two or three years, then moved to Rawlins, Wyoming where my father became a deputy sheriff and my mother operated a cattle-town hotel to supplement the family income,” he continued.

The family then moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, “when my father joined the Wyoming Highway Patrol and my mother held another part-time job to supplement the family income while raising two rambunctious children,” Brazell said.

The family eventually moved to Sublette County, Wyoming, which Brazell called “the least populated county in the least populated state of the union, where my sister and I were raised.”

Nixon worked several jobs and was able to send her son to a private preparatory school. She had a long career with the Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management.

“After 25 years of marriage — after I graduated from high school — my parents got a divorce and my mother moved to Colorado to further develop her career with the government,” Brazell said.

When Nixon retired, she worked for the Mother Church of the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston. But perhaps “retired” isn’t quite the right word. After several years, Nixon moved to Florida (Port Charlotte), where she helped land a government contract for the Return to Work charity, her son said.

“She led the effort in Florida for several years until she retired again,” Brazell continued. “Then when I was run over by a truck, she rejoined the charity and worked for several more years with General Thomas Mills and Admiral Dick Young to keep it going while I underwent extensive rehab.”

Before Nixon passed, she told her son to use her Port Charlotte house to help veterans who are trying to get back on their feet to live a productive life.

Ironically, the first veteran to receive help through the intensive rehabilitation program lives next door to Dale Tinline, who was very close to Nixon.

The veteran is Tinline’s daughter’s boyfriend, a Marine suffering from PTSD.

“I was a Marine for 20 years, and he was a Marine for four years,” Tinline told The Daily Sun. He said his daughter and her boyfriend “were living in the woods addicted to drugs.”

Brazell arranged for them to get clean and move into the house, where they remain today.

Tinline fondly remembered Nixon, whom he called “Mom.” He said he did work around her home and tried to protect her from “scammers.” He said workmen would come to her door trying to get her to pay them for work she didn’t need, or for work Tinline would do for free.

“She baked cookies for my grandson; she was nice,” he said.

He was Nixon’s guest at the $1,000 per plate dinner when she received her Lifetime Achievement Award. He balked when she asked him to attend, saying he couldn’t afford the price, but she assured him as a guest, he wouldn’t have to pay. Tinline said he was proud of her that day.

Fern Ballou, who is 91 and worked with her friend to find work for the Marine returning home from war, also shared memories. She lauded Nixon’s service, saying she was involved with Return to Work “almost from the ground floor.”

Dixie Vyvey-Minear, who still resides in Wyoming, served as flower girl at Nixon’s wedding and her brother Ray was the ringbearer. She fondly recalled Nixon’s generosity, saying Nixon hosted the Vyveys’ 15th wedding anniversary celebration in town. Nixon also took Dixie, who is now in her 60s, to her first drive-in move. The saplings Nixon gave her are “now big trees,” Vyvey-Minear said.

How it all began.

Brazell said he formed the charity with the help of his parents, sister, and lifetime mentor, Malcolm D. Crawford, “out of my victory over AIDS nearly three decades ago.”

Brazell said he was given a year to live, but prior to that he owned a consulting firm to build rockets and satellites.

After given his diagnosis, “I did a lot of soul-searching.” He said he wanted to spend “what time remains to help other disabled people like myself.”

“Everyone in my immediate family is gone now, but their memory lives on in our charity,” Brazell said.

Fran Nixon remembered, helped 18,000 find work | Charlotte Sun | yoursun.com