Many Veterans experience tough times transitioning from active-duty military service to civilian life. Vantage Point Foundation provides professional resources and works directly with Veterans to ensure their transition is met with ease.

LCpl. Matthew McElhinney served as an 0331 Machine Gunner with 3d Battalion, Sixth Marines, 2d Marine Division. He was wounded by a sniper in Marjah Afghanistan and medically retired from the Marines. He reports that upon leaving active duty, he had no direction and no support moving into civilian life. He is now a Vantage Point Foundation (VPF) Program Graduate and Peer Mentor. 

“VPF has placed me under the wing of the most successful veterans I have ever met,” says LCpl. McElhinney, U.S. Marine Corp Veteran (Afghanistan). “The people and resources in this program have made a seemingly impossible future possible for me.”

"Matt has set the example on what it means for a veteran to overcome adversity by taking advantage of the programs and support available to pursue success as a civilian,” says Mark Holyfield, Executive Director of Vantage Point Foundation, and U.S. Marine Corp Veteran (Iraq). “He has shed the victim mentality and figured out his new ‘why.’ He inspires all of us to push forward."

Matt Graduated the VPF Leadership Development Course and Transition Program in 2018. He utilized his VPF Senior Mentor, Clinical Case Manager, and the VPF Network to overcome the obstacles keeping him from his goals. He will finish his Bachelor of Arts degree at the College of Charleston this spring, and is pursuing enrollment in a highly selective Master’s of Fine Arts program to further his writing career. 

There are more than 190,000 post 9/11 veterans transitioning into civilian life each year. A transition that affects almost every dimension in their lives: work, family, social, school, and community. Many veterans experience friction in this transition. Vantage Point Foundation strives to ease that friction, and accelerate veterans’ forward progress into work, education, and their communities. 

To learn more about Vantage Point Foundation and volunteer opportunities visit their website HERE.