Related Slideshow Statewide Teen Summit  To view slideshow, click here

CDF-SRO plans and participates in summits and events designed to educate and connect families with resources that can improve their quality of life. One of those programs is Stand Down 2011, which was held in Hattiesburg, MS on August 26, 2011. Stand Down is a national event designed to help connect homeless veterans and their families with vital community services/resources such as food, shelter, clothing, health screenings, housing, employment. Each Stand Down is a collaborative event, coordinated between local Veterans Affairs, other government agencies and community-based organizations who serve the homeless. CDF-SRO also sponsors statewide teen summits and is planning additional events in 2011 and 2012.

Portia Ballard Espy, Chief Administrative Office/Cradle to Prison Pipeline Lead; and John Brown, Assistant to the Mayor, City of Hattiesburg working the CDF resource table at the Stand Down 2011 event in Hattiesburg.

Suzanne Scales Rutherford, AmeriCorps VISTA Program Manager, Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service discusses with a veteran the wide array of programs as resources available  in the state of Mississippi during the Stand Down 2011 event.