The Montgomery County Veterans Coalition brings together the community to share information, knowledge, support and resources in order to become a unified voice in advocating for veterans in our community by identifying issues and creating solutions, without the duplication of services

To create a community united in the care of veterans.

• To provide a vehicle for the flow of relevant veteran information to be distributed to the community.
• To reduce duplication of services.
• To be a resource for the community in the education of veteran issues.
• To include surrounding counties to share in our community of veteran support.
• To provide networking opportunities to all who serve veterans.
• To become a unified voice in advocating for the veterans of our community.
• To provide a forum for those serving veterans to identify issues and create solutions.

• We will value the opinions and contributions of all members with no single member’s voice or effort carrying more weight than others.
• While there is an administrative leader of the Coalition, that leader is held accountable by every member.
• It is our privilege and duty to serve our veterans as they have served us.
• We believe a unified voice will enabled us to create change.
• We will value each other and treat each other with dignity and respect at all times, and remember the Coalition exists to serve veterans and each other.
• We believe that collaboration will result in each member‘s organizations growing stronger.

• All members are available to other members in a joint effort to care for the veterans in our charge.
• The leader is available as a resource for any member struggling to care for veterans under their care.
• Everyone has rules from their own organization they must follow. There will be times a member may be bound by those rules, preventing the giving of opinions, commenting, taking part in certain activities, or advocating in a legislative way. This is understood and expected. 
• Members provide leader with events, news, & benefits and that information is given to all of the members.
• Each member should donate financially or with time, when a call goes out, and if the member is able.

We are involved in the Homeless Coalition, support of our Veterans Treatment Court, Veterans Day on the Hill, Suicide Prevention, Community Education, The Welcome Home Celebration, and Coalition Outreach.

We are a group of veteran- support organizations working together as a team to share resources and information, identify and to overcome barriers in our community, and advocate for our veterans’ needs.

We volunteer our time to humbly serve the veterans of our community. Being a member of this Coalition, means you are no longer alone in your efforts and you are now part of a team ready to assist in accessing all available resources.

The Coalition began in August 2013. Karla Fuss wanted to provide a way to bring together organizations monthly that serve veterans to share information. However, by June of 2014 Karla had to step down as leader.  Sherry Pickering felt she had a vision for the Coalition to become a centralize place of information and resources that unified organizations, veteran businesses and the community.  As of June 2014, with Lindsey Chantler’s assistance, Sherry took over as executive director and took the Coalition in a different direction.  In 2015, the Coalition partnered with the Military Officers of America Association to create the first Veterans Day on the Hill since WWII. Together with State wide veteran leaders 6 out of 8 pieces of legislation were passed over a three-year period. After the third year, the coalition stepped down to make room for TVET(state veteran organizations) to officially take over the effort.  The Coalition achieved 501c3 status as of Dec 2016.  In 2017 the Coalition began providing community education events to educate in veteran issues. The first was the Opioid Education Event partnering with the MC Government and the MC Health Dept. Also, in that year, the Coalition began networking events to allow veteran organizations, churches, governmental organizations and veteran owned and veteran friendly businesses to network. 

• The members of the Coalition drive its direction. The members will vote on most decisions made for the Coalition, and it is the responsibility of the leader to facilitate reaching the goal.
• There is no membership fee to join the Coalition. The only requirement is to assist other members in need, commitment to being part of the solution, participation in our voting process, and willingness to assist other community and government leaders in improving our veteran community.

The leadership philosophy of the Coalition is leadership among equals. Each of our members brings with them education, experience, and skills to contribute to our cause and should always be treated as a fellow professional.