ACS Green Press Army Community Service (ACS) Fort Drum, NY March 2012 Family Subsistence Allow- ance What You Need To Know - from your USC 2 Regarding Resilience : Tips, tools and techniques for practicing resiliency everyday 3, 4 ACS Friends and Neighbors 5 Relocation Readiness 6 Noteworthy Dates & Events 7 Monthly Feature: Employ- ment Readiness Program 8 Soldiers, Family Members and Entrepreneurships TI Winery a Fruitful Venture 9 ...Fruitful Endeavor Con- tinued Look Who’s on the 10 Financial Readiness: Before You Work From Home 11 ACS Events and Classes 12,13 ACS Contacts 14 Inside this issue: ~A tree free newsletter Direct questions / feedback To: Sarah Lynch : 772-5374 [email protected]March Facts and Trivia Birthstone: Aquamarine believed to have healing powers for the eyes and throat overall wellbeing. Flower: Jonquil (aka Daffodil or Narcissus) symbolizing friendship and domestic happiness Fun Fact: March 21st is the first day of Spring! March was named after the Roman God Mars Zodiac: Pisces and Aries Famous Birthdays: Sinclair Lewis, Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Gertrude Stein, Rosa Parks, National What Month? - Irish American Month, Music in our Schools Month, Women’s History Month, Poetry Month, Red Cross Month and Social Workers Month HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY Did you know - That the mission of the Ft Drum Army Community Service (ACS) is to facilitate a commander’s ability to provide comprehensive, coordinated, and responsive services that support the readiness of Soldiers, Civilian employees and their Families? We also provide services to retirees. That ACS provides support and services within 14 major program areas? That each program area has numerous services within it that further help us to meet the needs of our Soldiers and Families? That between January and December of calendar year 2011, ACS provided assistance 504,643 times to a Soldier, Civilian, Retiree or Family member. Do you think based on that number that ACS makes an impact on the Fort Drum Community? ACS currently has 39 commit- ted, hard working staff members providing comprehensive and supportive services dedicated to meeting the needs of our Soldiers, Civilians, Retirees and their Families. And if we can not help you, we will find someone who can. Over the next few months we want to spotlight our programs and the component services within them to better inform the community of who we are and what we have to offer when needs arise. While we feel many have heard of ACS, few really know the depth of our services and what we have to offer our community. So please watch and learn over the next few months and I’ll bet at some point and time you’ll find your- self saying, ―I didn’t know they do that‖. In any case, our ultimate goal is to have you THINK ACS FIRST!! Did You Know? By Catherine Ferran, ACS Chief
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Transcript
ACS Green Press
Army Community Service (ACS) Fort Drum, NY March 2012
Family Subsistence Allow-
ance What You Need To
Know - from your USC
2
Regarding Resilience : Tips, tools and techniques for practicing resiliency everyday
3, 4
ACS Friends and Neighbors
5
Relocation Readiness 6
Noteworthy Dates &
Events
7
Monthly Feature: Employ-ment Readiness Program
8
Soldiers, Family Members
and Entrepreneurships
TI Winery a Fruitful
Venture
9
...Fruitful Endeavor Con-
tinued Look Who’s on the
10
Financial Readiness: Before
You Work From Home
11
ACS Events and Classes 12,13
ACS Contacts 14
Inside this issue:
~A tree free newsletter
Direct questions / feedback To: Sarah Lynch : 772-5374 [email protected]
March Facts and Trivia
Birthstone: Aquamarine believed to have healing powers for the eyes and throat overall wellbeing.
Flower: Jonquil (aka Daffodil or Narcissus) symbolizing friendship and domestic happiness
Fun Fact: March 21st is the first day of Spring! March was named after the Roman God Mars
Zodiac: Pisces and Aries
Famous Birthdays: Sinclair Lewis, Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin,
Thomas Edison, Gertrude Stein, Rosa Parks,
National What Month? - Irish American Month, Music in our Schools Month, Women’s History Month, Poetry Month,
Red Cross Month and Social Workers Month
HAPPY SAINT PATRICK’S DAY
Did you know -
That the mission of the Ft
Drum Army Community
Service (ACS) is to facilitate a
commander’s ability to
provide comprehensive,
coordinated, and responsive
services that support the
readiness of Soldiers, Civilian
employees and their Families?
We also provide services to
retirees.
That ACS provides support
and services within 14 major
program areas?
That each program area has
numerous services within it
that further help us to meet
the needs of our Soldiers and
Families?
That between January and
December of calendar year
2011, ACS provided
assistance 504,643 times
to a Soldier, Civilian, Retiree
or Family member.
Do you think based on that
number that ACS makes an
impact on the Fort Drum
Community?
ACS currently has 39 commit-
ted, hard working staff members
providing comprehensive and
supportive services dedicated to
meeting the needs of our
Soldiers, Civilians, Retirees and
their Families. And if we can
not help you, we will find
someone who can.
Over the next few months we
want to spotlight our programs
and the component services
within them to better inform
the community of who we are
and what we have to offer when
needs arise. While we feel many
have heard of ACS, few really
know the depth of our services
and what we have to offer our
community. So please watch
and learn over the next few
months and I’ll bet at some
point and time you’ll find your-
self saying, ―I didn’t know they
do that‖. In any case, our
ultimate goal is to have you
THINK ACS FIRST!!
Did You Know? By Catherine Ferran, ACS Chief
Page 2 ACS Green Press March 2012
What You Might Need To Know
from your ACS Unit Service Coordinator (USC)
Army Commu-
nity Service
utilizes a Unit
Service Coordinator
(USC) to reach out to command teams
to find out the type of information and
referral needed to best support their
Soldiers and Families. The USC goes
directly to the unit and completes a
desk side needs assessment to
determine unit specific needs.
Recently information was put out
regarding changes to the Family
Subsistence Supplemental Allowance
Program. Here is what you need to
know:
The Family Subsistence Supple-
mental Allowance or FSSA, is an
additional monthly payment that assists
eligible service members with feeding
their families. Here is how it works:
A service member with multiple
family members who meets
income-eligibility requirements may
participate in the program.
If a Soldier is on Supplemental
Nutrition Allowance Program
(SNAP– Formerly Food Stamps),
he or she will qualify for FSSA, usually
for the same dollar figure or higher, but
the money comes to the Soldier in their
pay, rather than in the form of a debit
card
How much can a Soldier Receive? The
rate of FSSA eligibility depends on the
household income and the number of
individuals in the household. Members
can receive up to $1,100. per month. For
example, if you have five people in your
household and your income is below
$2,836 per month, including allowances
and bonus money, you may qualify.
How do I apply? Go to
https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/fssa/ to see
if you qualify If you find that you qualify,
complete and print the application and
bring the form to your local Army
Community Service (ACS) Financial
Readiness office for further assistance.
Once counseled by ACS, have your com-
mander certify the form, then take the
application to your local personnel office
for final processing and forwarding to
DFAS.
If I already receive SNAP, can I apply
for FSSA too? Yes. Once you begin re-
ceiving FSSA, you must report FSSA as
income to the SNAP office. FSSA may
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!!!
IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY RECEIVING FAMILY SUBSISTENCE
SUPPLEMENTAL ALLOWANCE OR FSSA
ANNUAL RECERTIFICATION IS DUE BY THE END OF
FEBRUARY.
TO RECERTIFY VISIT: www.dmdc.osd.mil/fssa/
affect your eligibility for other income-
based public assistance programs. The
FSSA payment will end up replacing the
SNAP benefit as the additional income
will exceed the SNAP guidelines.
If I am already receiving FSSA do I
need to recertify? Yes, no matter
when it started, you must recertify in
February of each year.
If you are not sure whether you qualify
for FSSA, visit the website and fill out
the application. It’s free to fill it out–
just make sure you enter only your legal
dependants on the form and have their
social security numbers handy.
Think ACS First!
If you are part of your unit command team and would like a visit
from your Unit Service Coordinator,
please contact Sarah Lynch at
772-5374
Page 3 ACS Green Press March 2012
Regarding Resilience: Tips, tools and techniques for practicing
resilience everyday!
By Jenn Eichner, MRT 772-2848
How was your month? Have you been feeling resilient through produc-tive thinking? Hope so. This month, I thought I would take a break from the practical exercises and tell you a bit about how Master Resilience Training (MRT) was developed and brought to you. MRT was established by the Chief of Staff of the Army in 2008 to increase resilience and enhance performance in Soldiers, Family members, and DA Civilians as part of the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness initiative. The core training competencies include: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Opti-mism, Mental Agility, Strengths of Character, and Connections. These competencies are the result of exten-sive research done by two renowned scholars of positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman and Dr. Karen Reivich. Here is how Dr. Seligman describes his contributions and the development of the training program in an excerpt from a 2011 article in the Harvard Business Review. ―Optimism Is the Key‖ … Although I’m now called the father
of positive psychology, I came to it the long, hard way, through many years of research on failure and helplessness. In the late 1960s I was part of the team that discovered ―learned helplessness.‖ We found that dogs, rats, mice, and even cockroaches that experienced mildly pain-ful shock over which they had no control would eventually just accept it, with no attempt to escape. It was next shown that human beings do the same thing. In an experiment published in 1975 by Donald Hiroto and me and replicated many times since, subjects are randomly divided into three groups. Those in the first are ex-posed to an annoying loud noise that they can stop by pushing a button in front of them. Those in the second hear the same noise but can’t turn it off, though they try hard. Those in the third, the control group, hear nothing at all. Later, typically the following day, the subjects are faced with a brand-new situation that again in-volves noise. To turn the noise off, all they have to do is move their hands about 12 inches. The people in the first and third groups figure this out and readily learn to avoid the noise. But those in the second group typically do nothing. In phase one they failed, realized they had no control, and became passive. In phase two, expecting more failure, they don’t
Why Resilience? even try to escape. They have learned helplessness. Strangely, however, about a third of the animals and people who experience inescapable shocks or noise never be-come helpless. What is it about them that makes this so? Over 15 years of study, my colleagues and I discovered that the answer is optimism. We devel-oped questionnaires and analyzed the content of verbatim speech and writing to assess ―explanatory style‖ as optimis-tic or pessimistic. We discovered that people who don’t give up have a habit of interpreting setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable. (―It’s going away quickly; it’s just this one situation, and I can do something about it.‖) That sug-gested how we might immunize people against learned helplessness, against depression and anxiety, and against giving up after failure: by teaching them to think like optimists. We created the Penn Resiliency Program, under the direction of Karen Reivich and Jane Gillham, of the University of Pennsyl-vania, for young adults and children. The program has been replicated in 21 diverse school settings—ranging from suburbs to inner cities, from Philadel-
Why Resilience symptoms of depression and anxiety but within a month or so are, by physi-cal and psychological measures, back where they were before the trauma. That is resilience. On the other end are people who show post-traumatic growth. They, too, first experience de-pression and anxiety, often exhibiting full-blown PTSD, but within a year they are better off than they were be-fore the trauma. These are the people of whom Friedrich Nietzsche said, ―That which does not kill us makes us stronger.‖ I told General Casey that the Army could shift its distribution toward the growth end by teaching psychological skills to stop the downward spiral that often follows failure. He ordered the organization to measure resilience and
phia to Beijing. We also created a 10-day program in which teachers learn tech-niques for becoming more optimistic in their own lives and how to teach those techniques to their students. We’ve found that it reduces depression and anxiety in the children under their care. In November 2008, when the legendary General George W. Casey, Jr., the Army Chief of Staff and former commander of the Multinational Force in Iraq, asked me what positive psychology had to say about soldiers’ problems, I offered a simple answer: How human beings react to extreme adversity is nor-mally distributed. On one end are the people who fall apart into PTSD, depres-sion, and even suicide. In the middle are most people, who at first react with
(Continued from page 3) teach positive psychology to create a force as fit psychologically as it is physically. This $145 million initiative, under the direction of Brigadier Gen-eral Rhonda Cornum, is called Com-prehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF) and consists of three components: a test for psychological fitness, self-improvement courses available follow-ing the test, and ―master resilience training‖ (MRT) for drill sergeants. These are based on PERMA: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment—the building blocks of resilience and growth…. Have a great month – good luck and good thoughts!
Topics of discussion are open to anything related to the wellness of the Military Family, to include (but not limited to)
Financial Management Reintegration Challenges Changes in Self and Soldier Combat Stress Children & Deployment
Facilitated by ACS Mobilization & Deployment and the Military Family Life Consultant Program (MFLC)
FAMILY WELLNESS SUPPORT GROUPShare your experiences to help others and let other’s experiences help you!
Meets on the last Thursday of the month10-11am & 6-7pm in ACS
(AER Conference Room) Upcoming dates:
23 February, 29 March, 26 April, 24 May, 28 June
Communication Community Activities Supporting a Special Needs
Rossie Touchstone Business Owner and This Months Spouse in the Spotlight
If you are thinking about opening your own busi-
ness, Contact Employment Readiness to sign up
for the Build Your Own Business Workshop
772-9916 or 772-2737
Page 6 ACS Green Press March 2012
Relocation Readiness is here to help!
Get up to date accurate information about your move.
Get the inside scoop on your new installation.
ACS Relocation Readiness –
Wants to Help You Get Smart About Your Move!
Even if you have moved in the last two years, rules and regula-
tions have changed. A few minutes of your time before you start
PCS ing can save a huge headache later.
Think ACS First!
An International Spouse’s Perspective by Svetlana Adams
Team Building (AFTB) Because of
taking advantage of the opportunities
that the Army offers, I have success-
fully completed several classes includ-
ing AFTB, Job Searching and Resume
Writing. I have also begun volunteer-
ing at ACS. All these opportunities
gave me an amazing experience,
knowledge and idea about my new life.
Lastly, I applied for my U.S. citizen-
ship. With the helpful staff at Fort
Drum ACS, I finished my application.
It took less than three months from
the date I filed until I attended my oath
ceremony. I feel different. Now that I
am an American, other doors are
opening for me to go through and my
future is bright.
For more information on Citizenship
and Immigration Services, please call
the Relocation Program at 772-6553.
Also, please join our International
Spouse Group. The next meeting is on
April 20 from 0930 to noon at ACS!
The international
Spouses of Fort
Drum offer a diverse
perspective on what it
is like to be an Army
Spouse. ACS has an
active Spouse Support Group for Inter-
national Spouses to share experiences,
cultures and friendship. The following is
a first person account of what it was like
for Svetlana Adams to embark on a new
life as a military Spouse.
I was a girl who lived in Russia and I
didn’t know that my life was about to
change. I met my husband, an American
Soldier, and that is when the challenge
began.
First, I had to get a permanent resident
card. For me, a Russian citizen, the
process took three months with the
background check.
Then, I had to get to know my husband’s
life, the military life. I did this through
attending ACS classes like Army Family
"We invent nothing, truly. We borrow and
re-create. We uncover and discover. All has been
given, as the mystics say. We have only
to open our eyes and hearts, to become one with that which is."
Henry Valentine Miller (American Writer/Painter)
Fundraising Campaign Kickoff
29 February
Fundraiser to run until 31 May
Donations can be made in the
form of check, credit card or
allotment
Spouse and Children AER Scholarship
Program
Application Deadline is 2 April 2012
for the 2012-2013 Academic Year
Go to www.aerhq.org
My Spouse My Hero
Attention Soldiers
ACS Wants To Hear From You!
In honor of
Spouse Appreciation Day
May 11, 2012
Write in and let us know Why You
Appreciate Your Spouse
Use Your Creativity to express how
much you appreciate your Spouse for
their love and support!
Page 7 ACS Green Press March 2012
Page 8 ACS Green Press March 2012
ACS Employment Readiness Program
The Army Community Service
Employment Readiness Program (ERP)
serves Spouses, Family Members,
Soldiers, Retirees and DOD Civilians
with their search for employment.
The Army recognizes that as a Military
Spouse, frequent moves and having to
run households and raise the kids alone
for extended periods of time can cause
certain challenges when it comes to hav-
ing a career of their own. As a matter of
fact, Dr. Jill Biden, our nations second
lady, understands the challenges Spouses
and Families face and has launched a
nationwide campaign to encourage
Americans to recognize, honor, and sup-
port our military Families. Dr. Biden
was quoted saying ―She was joining
forces with the federal government and
businesses across the country to improve
employment prospects for military Fami-
lies.
ERP recognizes, as does Dr. Biden,
how much our Army Families have to
offer local employers. The ERP staff is
dedicated to promoting Spouses and
Family Members as the valuable assets
they are, to the local businesses and
employers around the Fort Drum
Community. ERP works diligently to
offer up-to- date resources and informa-
tion on available employment opportuni-
ties, employment trends, and profes-
sional development trainings to improve
the overall marketability of Army Spouses
and Family Members
Employment Readiness uses a variety of
methods to achieve this goal.
For instance, through monthly career
development seminars, Employment
Readiness helps job seekers identify and
develop some of the skills needed to stand
out in today’s job market. The topics
covered include Career Fair Preparation,
Career and Life Portfolio Building, Face-
book Marketing Development, Finding a
Job Using Social Networking, Networking
with LinkedIn and Negotiating Job Offers.
Another way Employment Readiness
helps Spouses and Family Members keep a
competitive edge is through four regularly
scheduled monthly trainings.
Employment 101, which was devel-
oped with the inexperienced job
seeker in mind, provides resources
and information to enhance employ-
ment skills in areas such as job search-
ing, resume and cover letter writing
and interviewing tactics.
Build Your own Business is a work-
shop coordinated with ERP and pro-
vided by the Small Business Develop-
ment Center of Jefferson County for
anyone interested in opening their
own business. The workshop covers a
complete review of composing a busi-
ness plan, where to find financial re-
sources, how to choose the appropri-
ate form of business, and a review of
the New York State tax guide for new
businesses.
The Federal Employment workshop,
which was designed to help job seek-
ers navigate the federal application
process, reduces the stress of applying
for federal jobs by explaining the
process, providing an overview
of federal employment benefits,
offering resources to enhance
writing a federal resume and pro-
viding a comprehensive overview
of building your federal resume
using USAJOBS.
ERP offers Resume Writing
Computer Lab which is a work-
shop that allows job seekers to
utilize the ERP computers to
create a resume with staff avail-
able to answer questions and
assist as needed
Computer Basics for job seekers
is offered in conjunction with
Jefferson Community College to
provide two computer work-
shops monthly Utilizing Jeffer-
son Express a mobile technol-
ogy classroom, to teach work-
shops including Computer Ba-
sics, Basic Excel, Intro to the
Internet and Searching, Intro to
Word and Intro to PowerPoint
Emailed electronic vacancy list-
ings. Employment Readiness
will also meet with you one-on-
one to assist with your employ-
ment needs. Clients receive a
weekly updated job vacancy list
If you are interested call Mandy or
Tim at 772-9611 or 772-1090 for an
appointment or to sign up for one
of our workshops. ACS Programs
exist to make your life easier.
-Think ACS First!
Page 9 ACS Green Press March 2012
Have you ever had an idea for a
product or a business that you
thought would just take off? Have
you dreamt of being your own boss?
Maybe you have been unable to find
employment in your chosen profes-
sion and had a desire to try some-
thing new? If you answered yes to
any of these questions, your not
alone.
Many military Soldiers and Family
members are exploring self employ-
ment, business franchises, or open-
ing a small business as an avenue to
gain financial security, create a pro-
fession that works with the chal-
lenges of frequent moves, daycare
issues or even to meet a need that
they recognize as unfilled in a com-
munity have establishing roots in.
Whatever the motivation explore
one of these ventures, it can be a
little scary to take the initial plunge.
First, you have to get past the fear
and decide to be committed. Being
self employed is really very similar
to working for someone else. Real-
izing this may help you address any
fears you may have about striking
out on your own. Whether you are
self employed, a business owner or
an employee of someone else, your
success and continued financial
security depends the same influenc-
ing factors; the economy, your
clients, patrons or customers, a
good business plan, advertisement
and marketing and your perform-
ance.
So you may be wondering, if it is
that simple why am I punching the
time clock or working for a boss
that reminds me of nails on a chalk-
board? According to Robin Ste-
phenson, Certified Business Advisor,
it often comes down to education.
Not necessarily a formal education
but making an informed decision.
Ms. Stephenson, who has been with
the Small Business Development
Center of Jefferson County for over
22 years. She states that people can
have a skill or trade but that alone
wont carry a successful business.
It takes planning, resources, realis-
tic expectations, goals, work ethic,
and commitment.
Soldiers, Families, and Entrepreneurship Ms. Stephenson travels to ACS
monthly to teach the Build Your
Own Business Workshop for
Employment Readiness. Whether
your considering working from
home or opening a larger scale
business, she encourages Soldiers
and Families to educate them-
selves and make informed
decisions when deciding to open a
business. She reminds them to
network. “Soldiers and Families
are connected to one of the larg-
est networks there is –each other!
Take advantage of the opportuni-
ties like Employment Readiness’
Work From Home Career Fair and
Army Volunteer Program’s annual
Super Sign Up to make connec-
tions, form partnerships and ex-
plore resources. Ms. Stephenson
pointed out that this area has had
a few Service Members and Fam-
ily members successfully open
businesses. With the right moti-
vation, education and idea you
can succeed in opening your own
business.
From Soldier to Local Business Owner– Thousand Islands Winery a Fruitful Endeavourer
One of the most
unique tourist
attractions in the
area, the Thou-
sand Islands
Winery is just a
short 30 minute
drive north of
Fort Drum.
Located in the heart of the beautiful
Thousand Islands region near the scenic
St. Lawrence River, the winery boasts
some of the most breathtaking views
and scenery in the state as well as won-
derful award winning wines. The win-
ery is also much more than just a tour-
ist attraction, as its roots are tied closely
to the US Army and Fort Drum.
Thousand Islands Winery is a family
owned farm winery located near Alex-
andria Bay, New York. The property
was purchased in 2002 by then US
Army Captain Stephen Conaway and
his wife Erika. He was the third Cap-
tain to have owned the property.
Captain Massey, a famous Riverboat
Captain, owned the property since the
1930s and Captain Schaffer who owned
the land from the 1970s to 2002 was in
the US Army Reserves. Inspired by the
Rhine River and wine country while
stationed in Germany, Conaway
decided that this piece of land would be
the perfect place for a winery. So when
he retired from the US Army, Conaway
(Continued on page 10)
Page 10 ACS Green Press March 2012
Congratulations to the following Employment Readiness clients who have recently landed a job!
Bethany Armstrong Honeywell Sarah Bowe Quest Diagnostics Brenda Criswell American Eagle Pauline Henry-Drummond Carthage School District Michael Knight Mainscape Landscape Courtney Spearman Manpower If you are one of our clients who has recently become employed, we want to hear about it! Give us a call so we can highlight your accomplishment and inspire others!
Thousands Islands Winery-A Fruitful Endeavour
set to work on opening the first winery
in this part of New York.
The Thousand Islands Winery opened
its doors in 2003 with a small tasting
room and production area. It now has
acres of vineyards, multiple production
buildings, a large tasting room, and
multiple gorgeous event facilities. The
winery produces over 23,000 cases of
wine per year that are sold at wine
stores and liquor stores throughout the
nation. Thousand Islands Wines come
in 17 different varieties in addition to
four specially commissioned 10th
Mountain Division Association wines.
As a retired Captain from the US
Army, Conaway created these specialty
wines to honor the soldiers on Fort
Drum and support the 10th Mountain
Division Association. All proceeds
from the sales of these wines benefit
(Continued from page 9) the 10th Mountain Division Association.