YWCA Rhode Island names Retired Colonel Robert Germani Jr. as Director of Veterans Affairs
Providence – YWCA Rhode Island recently named
Retired Colonel Robert Germani Jr. of Warwick as its first Director of
Veterans Affairs.
YWCA Rhode Island runs the largest VA supported veterans transitional
housing program in the state for individuals who are homeless due to
PTSD, substance abuse, depression and other factors, serving over an
average of 100 individuals annually.
The program, Gateway to Independence, is an alcohol and drug free
residential transitional program located in the City of Providence.
Veterans reside in YWCA owned properties for up to 24 months and are
provided case management services to help them identify and treat the
issues that caused their homelessness. The goals of the program are
to assist the veteran with residential stability, increase their skill
levels and/or income, and obtain greater self-determination. YWCA
personnel staff the program 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
“The Colonel brings a tremendous amount of experience, expertise,
knowledge, and compassion that should serve to enhance the programs
and services we offer to Rhode Island veterans,” Deborah L. Perry,
YWCA Rhode Island President/CEO says.
Colonel Robert Germani Jr. retired from 34 years of military service
in March of 2014. He was selected as the 143d Airlift Wing Vice
Commander on 5 March 2005. The 143d Airlift Wing’s mission is to
deliver passengers and cargo by airdrop, extraction and air/land
support of theater commands throughout the world.
Germani Jr. was born in Providence and graduated from East Providence
High School in 1979. He is a 1984 graduate of the University of Rhode
Island, and has completed Squadron officer School, Air Command and
Staff College and Air War College. Germani Jr. entered the Rhode
Island Army National Guard as a Private in July 1979, and then
attended the University of Rhode Island R.O.T.C program in September
of that same year. He received an early commission to Second
Lieutenant in May 1981. After completing R.O.T.C training, he was
assigned as a Platoon Leader with the 119th Military Police Company,
Providence Rhode Island. Following this tour he was assigned to the
Rhode Island Military Academy, Narragansett Rhode Island as a TAC
Officer (Teach, Advise, and Council), concurrently serving as Military
Publications Officer for the Adjutant General of Rhode Island. He
separated from the Rhode Island Army Guard in 1985 and joined the
Rhode Island Air National Guard (RIANG) that same year. Retired
Colonel Germani has served as the Chief of Security Police/143d
Security Forces Commander, the Missions Support Group Commander, and
also served as the Detachment Commander for the 201st Mission Support
Directorate and as the 143 Airlift Wing Vice Commander. He retired in
March of 2014.
The YWCA has supported members of the military and military families
for nearly a century, beginning in World War I when the YWCA and other
women’s groups lobbied for a female military corp. This effort paid
off during World War II when the first Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WACS)
was founded in 1942. Soon after, the YWCA was one of six national
organizations that launched the USO.
ABOUT THE YWCA
YWCA Rhode Island is a social justice organization and movement with
over 148 years of experience providing direct service to,
collaborating with, and advocating on behalf of the most structurally
disenfranchised people in our society including low-wage workers, the
unemployed, women and girls, people of color, English language
learners, immigrants, survivors of abuse, members of the LGBTQQ
community, as well as current military and veterans. We have a deep
and abiding commitment to working on issues of economic, gender and
racial justice: particularly in the places where these systems of
oppression overlap each other.