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Northern Dakota County Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is a nonprofit veterans organization that every year feeds 800 members of the military and their families and helps more than 50 veterans with direct, practical needs.
“We’re not going to abandon a serious need for a veteran,” said Ed Iago, the business liaison officer for Beyond the Yellow Ribbon. “We’re just not going to do it.” Iago recently spoke to the West St. Paul City Council about the organization’s work.
- Who: Beyond the Yellow Ribbon serves past and present veterans and their families.
- What: They help with all kinds of needs, including home repairs, transportation, maintenance, snow removal, grass cutting, and even babysitting. They support two armories, the National Guard armory in West St. Paul and the Air National Guard at Holman Field. They serve two annual meals, for retired service members in October and a larger holiday party serving active military that’s coming up on December 4.
- Where: They serve the 6,300 veterans who live in Inver Grove Heights, Lilydale, Mendota Heights, Mendota, South St. Paul, and West St. Paul.
Quiet Service
“A lot of people tell us ‘we’ve heard the name but we don’t know what you do,’ and the reason you don’t know what we do is because we don’t tell you,” said Iago. “Anything we do for a veteran or their family remains confidential and private.”
- Why?: “That’s the way we have to pretty much keep it because we want confidentiality to be one of the items that a veteran or a member of a veteran’s family can count on,” said Iago. “They know that if they call us, the need’s going to be confidential. It’s going to be addressed, but we’re not going to go out and advertise or promote it or do anything like that.”
That trust is important for the organization. A veteran might only be willing to talk to other veterans. Or the needs might cause embarrassment. It can be hard to ask for help, and Beyond the Yellow Ribbon works hard to earn the confidence of veterans.
They often serve as a referral organization, answering questions and pointing to resources. They help veterans navigate bureaucracy, often helping with needs that fall through the cracks.
“We really try to operate between the Veterans Administration and social services,” said Iago. “We do some of the odd stuff in between there, and it works out pretty well.”
More
For more information, visit Northern Dakota County Beyond the Yellow Ribbon. Veterans can also call the help line for assistance: 651-259-2614
West Side: Veterans on the West Side can contact the St. Paul Beyond the Yellow Ribbon.
Watch this video from Town Square Television for more on Beyond the Yellow Ribbon:
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