Jen Fullmer, Exe Dir Boot2Roots

 

Lucie K. introduced Jen Fullman from Boots to Roots. 

Jen Recently retired from the US Air Force after 24 years of service. She did everything from fly B-1’s to being a Commander.

 

Her mentor in the USAF was a Dave Hicky from W. Gardiner, ME. 

 

Dave retired from the USAF after 23 years & had maintained strong connections in his home town & state however he had a very hard time finding a job when he got home. 

Once he did get reestablished he realized he could help other Veterans with the same needs he had experienced and over 2 years helped out 15 people.

It was then that he decided to create a “Not for Profit” organization to help returning Veterans get established in Maine. He called it “Boots to Roots”.  Last Fall David called his friend Jen and here she is.

They have since officially become a Not for Profit, done research on what are the needs of returning veterans & how can Boots to Roots actually help the returning veterans. 

There are 2 pieces that were repeatedly mentioned in their research, 1, there is no outreach early on (before retirement) for Veterans, & 2, no one stop-shopping of what is available to returning Veterans.

 Since than they have been working with all branches of the service to reach out early in the process & to communicate with the enlisted person before they retire & start understanding what their interest/ skills are & what their hopes/plans are when they retire. 

Boots to Roots does not want to duplicate other services provided. It wants to help shepherd people to these services or support the Veterans when they can. They have had some success w/ several US Coast Guard retires.  

 

Q & A

Jim A. asked where Jen’s office was? She said her car & her home. 

 Carl G. asked if there was a York Co. resident looking for some sort of work presently.  Jen responded that one she was thinking of had Law Enforcement experience but it might not be the direction he wants to go when he retires, that is part of why they reach out as early as possible in the retirement process. 

 Jim G. asked if there was a connection w/ the individuals commanding officer to help in the hiring process. Jen said no that their hardest obstacle is creating trust with the Veterans & that most likely would negatively impact that effort.  

Paul D. remarked that the local Rotaries & the Chambers of Commerce all were making efforts already to help Veterans in this area of Southern Maine. He knew several communities had job openings in everything from Law Enforcement to construction.