Veteran Advocacy
Join Forces With Us
Service Continues in Community
3D CAC and the 3D Safety Foundation welcome veterans, service members, military families, caregivers, surviving spouses, veteran-serving organizations, and community partners to join us in strengthening Washington, DC.
As an official partner of the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs, we help connect neighborhood leadership, public-safety education, community engagement, trusted referrals, and veteran-focused partnerships so that veterans and military families can remain informed, connected, supported, and meaningfully engaged.
Join forces with us to strengthen every block, every neighborhood, and every veteran-connected household.
Veteran Advocacy
3D CAC | 3D Safety Foundation
Official Partner of the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs
We are building stronger connections for veterans and military families through advocacy, partnership development, resource coordination, neighborhood leadership, wellness, and community engagement across Washington, DC.
Our role is to help close the distance between available resources and the people who need them while creating meaningful opportunities for veterans to continue leading, serving, mentoring, and strengthening their communities.
Our Commitment to Veterans and Military Families
Veterans and military families bring leadership, experience, resilience, discipline, and an enduring commitment to service. Yet many remain disconnected from available programs, benefits, community networks, cultural opportunities, and trusted pathways for continued civic involvement.
The 3D Safety Foundation works with MOVA, veteran service organizations, government agencies, cultural institutions, businesses, faith communities, and neighborhood leaders to help create stronger connections.
We do not seek to replace veteran-service organizations, benefits specialists, healthcare providers, or government agencies. We help veterans and military families identify the right door, make a trusted connection, and remain supported through the next step.
What We Do
Resource Coordination
We connect veterans and military families with trusted organizations, public agencies, service providers, neighborhood resources, and community-support networks.
Our work emphasizes clear information, respectful referrals, warm introductions, and practical follow-through.
Advocacy Support
We support informed veteran participation in public hearings, budget discussions, policy conversations, community meetings, and collective advocacy efforts.
We help partners organize information, identify action items, prepare testimony, track commitments, and communicate community priorities.
Military-Family Engagement
Veteran service affects entire households. Our outreach includes military spouses, surviving spouses, caregivers, parents, siblings, and other family members who provide essential support.
We create opportunities for military families to participate in community activities, resource programs, wellness initiatives, cultural events, and neighborhood leadership.
Community, Culture and Wellness
Connection and belonging are important parts of community wellness.
We develop and support veteran-centered experiences involving art, history, nature, mentoring, volunteer service, neighborhood engagement, storytelling, cultural recognition, and intergenerational activities.
Current Focus
Official MOVA Partnership
3D CAC and the 3D Safety Foundation serve as an official partner of the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs.
Through this partnership, we help strengthen community outreach, veteran-resource awareness, trusted referrals, neighborhood connections, public engagement, and collaboration among veteran-serving organizations.
The Veteran Neighbor2Neighbor Process
Connect. Listen. Link. Follow Through.
Veteran Neighbor2Neighbor
Veteran Neighbor2Neighbor is a relationship-first community connection process adapted from Karen Gaal’s original Neighbor2Neighbor DC model.
It offers veterans and military-connected households a respectful, voluntary way to:
- Receive a friendly community check-in
- Discuss personal goals or immediate concerns
- Learn about available resources
- Request a trusted referral or introduction
- Connect with neighborhood activities and leadership opportunities
- Remain connected through appropriate follow-up
Veteran Neighbor2Neighbor is designed to reduce isolation, strengthen trust, and make it easier for veterans and families to reach the people and organizations prepared to help.
Veteran Resource Navigation
Finding a resource is not always the same as successfully reaching it.
Our resource-navigation approach helps veterans and families:
- Identify the concern, question, or goal
- Determine the appropriate organization or service
- Make a warm introduction whenever possible
- Clarify what information or documentation may be needed
- Follow up to determine whether the connection was completed
- Record service gaps that should be addressed through partnership or advocacy
This is a community-support and referral process. It is not a replacement for emergency response, clinical care, formal case management, or official benefits counseling.
Growing Veteran Partner Network
We are building relationships across government, veteran service organizations, military associations, workforce programs, cultural institutions, parks, community organizations, businesses, and neighborhood networks.
The purpose is not simply to collect organizational names. It is to create a functioning network in which partners understand one another’s resources, make appropriate referrals, coordinate activities, and work together on measurable priorities.
Veterans: Become a PSA Block Captain
Your Service, Leadership and Experience Still Matter
There are many things you can do after serving—but what do you want to do?
We suggest joining the 3D CAC PSA Block Captain Program.
Veterans already possess many of the qualities strong neighborhoods need: situational awareness, teamwork, preparedness, communication, accountability, calm leadership, and commitment to others.
As a PSA Block Captain, you can continue serving by:
- Building relationships among neighbors
- Sharing verified public-safety information
- Identifying community concerns
- Connecting residents with appropriate resources
- Supporting preparedness and safety education
- Encouraging participation in community meetings
- Welcoming veterans and military families into neighborhood networks
- Supporting youth, seniors, families, and vulnerable residents
- Helping strengthen trust between residents, organizations, and public agencies
Block Captains do not replace law enforcement, emergency responders, clinicians, or government service providers. They serve as trusted neighborhood connectors who observe, communicate, educate, refer, and help their communities remain engaged.
Our Principal Work Ethic
Community. Honesty. Selfless Service. Discipline. Integrity.
These principles guide our veteran advocacy, neighborhood leadership, partnerships, and public-safety work.
Community
We recognize that strong neighborhoods are built through relationships, shared responsibility, mutual respect, and consistent participation.
We work across differences to bring residents, veterans, families, organizations, businesses, faith communities, and public agencies together.
Honesty
We communicate truthfully about what we know, what we do not know, what has been promised, and what remains unresolved.
We do not overstate partnerships, outcomes, services, or authority. Trust begins with accurate information.
Selfless Service
We serve because communities matter.
Our work prioritizes the needs of veterans, military families, residents, and neighborhoods not personal recognition or organizational competition.
Selfless service means helping people reach the right resource, even when another organization is best positioned to provide it.
Discipline
Effective community service requires preparation, consistency, documentation, follow-through, and accountability.
We track commitments, protect sensitive information, respect established procedures, and complete the work necessary to move from conversation to action.
Integrity
We act responsibly, honor our commitments, respect confidentiality, acknowledge the contributions of others, and protect the credibility of every partnership.
Integrity means doing the right thing even when it is difficult, inconvenient, or unseen.
Continue the Mission. Strengthen the Community.
Your uniform may have changed, but your leadership, experience, discipline, and commitment to service remain valuable.
Join 3D CAC and the 3D Safety Foundation as we connect veterans, support military families, strengthen neighborhoods, build trusted partnerships, and create new pathways for service across Washington, DC.
Join Forces With Us
Veterans. Military Families. Block Captains. Partners. Neighbors.
Together, we can strengthen every block and ensure that no veteran or military-connected household has to navigate the community alone.