MILWAUKEE — Navigating civilian life after years in the military can be hard.
It is even harder, in the pandemic.
An appwas just created by the Center for Veterans Issues to help veterans feel less isolated.
“We went through things in war and you know coming out of war, it's tough,” said Cory Geisler of Veterans of Foreign Wars.
“Not being around Military facility there’s not that reach back to the base,” said Eduardo Garza, Center for Veterans Issues.
Garza shares the struggles some veterans face when searching for compatible careers after leaving the military:
With everything being done online, these two decorated Army and Navy veterans know our best and bravest may be battling loneliness.
"It just kind of loses that personal touch and really what it gets veterans to do is withdraw more,” said Geisler.
Geisler shares what helped him after an honorable discharge from the Army in 2012:
That is why Wisconsin’s Center for Veterans Issues and VFW worked together to create a new app called CVI Help.
The app can help a current military member veteran or family member get access to food, shelter, and health needs.
In about three months, the app has been downloaded in 22 states and three different countries outside of the U.S.
“That way our veterans feel like they have to go at it alone they’ve got a support system,” said Geisler.
CVI Help app is available on apple or android phones.
There are more than 560 organizations on the app and counting.
Going in-depth, we found there is a large presence of military members in Wisconsin. The U.S. Census Bureau shows more than 326,000 or 7.2-percent of our state is made up of military veterans.