Meet Michael Dorman of Military Missions In Action

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Dorman.

Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Early one morning on Hunting Island State Park on the southeastern tip of South Carolina, Mike Dorman had a vision. The sun was coming up on the horizon, the waves were breaking on the shoreline, and Michael, who had retired from the United States Coast Guard after 20 years of service, was in deep thought about his life.

“I was thinking about growing up in North Carolina, my career in the Coast Guard and my time spent as a contractor after the Coast Guard, and I felt the need to do more with my life,” says Dorman who grew up in North Carolina. He was thinking about his fellow Veterans, those injured while serving their country; Veterans with disabilities who needed everyday assistance.

“I did not know anyone who had been injured in Iraq or Afghanistan, and no one in my family was ever disabled in the military,” recalls Dorman. “My grandfather, William Edwin Andrews, of Fairmount NC served in World War II and was a Prisoner of War in Stalag XVIIb near Krems, Austria for 14 months.

“But, I was becoming more aware of the high number of returning Veterans suffering from disabilities and knew a need existed to have their homes modified so they can live independently. I was also aware that a large number of Veterans are just now suffering disabilities from the Vietnam War and that age was becoming a disability for Korean and World War II Veterans.”

Those thoughts early that morning led Mike Dorman to make major changes in his life to start Military Missions in Action in January 2008, devoting his efforts to help Veterans with disabilities achieve independent living, as well as supporting our servicemen and women serving in combat areas and their families.

“I also wanted to honor our fallen heroes like my grandfather and support our men and women currently serving in the armed forces,” says Mike. “It does not matter whether you are young or old, rich or poor, Republican or Democrat; it is our duty and responsibility to support those who sacrificed so much for our freedom.”

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has not always been smooth but it has always been passable. Every non-profit struggles with similar challenges like fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and relationship building. some of our struggles are often self-induced, like for me I often like my Battleship Mouth overload my canoe butt. You don’t want to let people down so sometimes we get caught up in trying to please everyone and that is just not possible. Then there are things that are out of our control like COVID-19. Who knew when we started 2020 we would suffer a 425,000 loss in donations, and an increase in requests for assistance. We learned you have to stay calm, carry on the mission and keep the faith.

As you know, we’re big fans of Military Missions In Action. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?

OPERATION BUILDING HOPE
Modifying Veteran’s Homes For Safe, Handicap-Accessible, Independent Living
Through this program, we provide home modifications for veterans (of all eras) with disabilities and active duty military/veteran-dependent children with special needs.

These modifications usually include constructing wheelchair ramps and roll-in-showers, widening doorways, and lowering cabinets and countertops.

We focus on serving our veterans, whether the disability is due to combat-related actions, non-combat injuries, illness, or age. You served our country and deserve our Nation’s respect and support

HOMES FOR HEALING
Providing Essential Furnishings For Success
Through this program, we provide household goods and new or gently-used furniture to formerly homeless Veterans.

In recent years the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has helped reduce the number of homeless Veterans by a significant amount.

This reduction was achieved by HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, which combines Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

​MMIA has a core group of volunteers who focus their efforts and time on this program.

​They ensure the donated furniture is fully functional and repair items when feasible. This team also picks up donations and delivers selected items to Veterans.

​Items that are donated, but not able to be utilized in small apartments are sold and this allows us to purchase items still needed to complete our Veteran deliveries, such as a new mattress or bathroom supplies.

Our “Fill The Footlocker” program consists of three sub-programs:

​Military Care Packages: supports active-duty service members and military working dogs serving in combat zones and foreign posts.

Homeless Veterans Stand-down Kits: supports our ever-rising number of homeless Veterans.

Operation Rescue Christmas: supports low-income military and Veteran families during the holiday season.​

​Working within the community, MMIA collects items for all programs. Once items are collected, the items are prepared for shipment overseas. Items collected for homeless Veterans are distributed at the numerous homeless Veteran stand-downs held within the state.

Financial donations are greatly appreciated to help offset the cost of shipping for Care Packages.

Toys, gift cards, and monetary donations are collected from November 1st to December 15th for low-income Veteran and active-duty military families for the holidays

What sets us apart from other Veteran organizations is our boots-on-the-ground approach. We also work very hard to make sure we are good stewards of the funds donated to us with 93 cents of every dollar going towards our programs.

13-year QUICK FACTS

• Completed 785 Building Projects
• Assisted over 31,500 Homeless Veterans
• 584 families received furniture and
  household goods
• Shipped over 60,000 care packages to our servicemen and women
• 2,420 children benefited from our Operation Rescue Christmas Program

We want people to know that our Veterans and Military service members and their families deserve our support, and working together we can make a difference.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
When starting a non-profit you must remember, it’s more than just a job it’s life. You must work hard, dig deep, and keep the faith. Your passion for what you do must drive you. Be honest and do what you say you are going to do.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.militarymissionsinaction.org