Greensboro agency helps female veterans transition to civilian life

They serve just like men in every branch of the U.S. military. They face the same battles and the same challenges. But when it’s time to come home, female veterans often find they face a different set of obstacles as a civilian, and they’re hurdles traditional veterans’ groups aren’t always equipped to deal with. 

There’s one agency in Guilford County that’s uniquely qualified to help thanks in part to the support of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro.

“We are sisters…We all get together and do what we got to do together for each other.”

That is the guiding mantra for Combat Female Veterans Families United. The group’s mission is to help women transition from military life to civilian life and to help women realize they may be on their own but never alone.

Veteran Lavinia Jackson says she had no idea what was available to grow locally. “I’ve been here 14, 15 years and didn’t know that we had such abundance at our fingertips and that we were welcome there to come and learn and plant.”

Army combat veteran Sarah Charles learned to garden and immediately started teaching others so they could grow their own food too. “When I was working at the church, I turned around and helped do the BOOTS2ROOTS for the group.”

And while the vegetables are growing, so is a tight-knit army of women who’ve traded military platoons for a support system of women who’ve been through similar battles. 

“If you have some problems, they help you work through it. They make you feel good. Everybody gives you a hug when you come in.  It’s just wonderful,” veteran Donna Paulsen says.