Fayetteville, N.C. — Seven years ago, Barbara Van Dahlen her idea seemed simple enough: offer the Department of Defense a network of civilian mental health providers willing to donate their time to help veterans and their families struggling with the effects of war.

Van Dahlen, who this year was named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world for her work with military families, said what she found was chaos. Government agencies and nonprofit organizations trying to help veterans weren't talking with one another. Many didn't know what other resources were available outside their own agencies.

Speaking at a community forum Tuesday evening at the Cameo Art House Theatre, Van Dahlen said improving communication among groups that help military families is one of the issues that keeps her up at night.

Her organization, Give an Hour, is leading a project called the Community Blueprint in Fayetteville and Norfolk, Va. Its aim, funded by a $2 million grant, is to help improve services for military families. It will focus on eight areas: employment, education, behavioral health, homelessness, financial management and legal assistance, family strengths, reintegration, and volunteerism.

"There's been an outpouring of support, but what is needed and where I see us headed is more coordination is needed so no soldier or family member falls through the cracks," Van Dahlen said. "If we close those gaps, good things will happen."

The forum followed a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Hell and Back Again," which shows a North Carolina Marine fighting in Afghanistan and struggling to adjust to civilian life after being shot in the hip.

In scenes in Afghanistan, there's Sgt. Nathan Harris kicking down doors and barking orders.

Back home in North Carolina, his wife has to put on his pants for him. Harris knows he's lucky to be alive, but part of him died in Afghanistan.

His journey from a hard-charging Marine to a 26-year-old who needs a walker and a bag of medicine isn't unique.

Thousands of service members have returned from Afghanistan and Iraq with physical and emotional battle scars.

The screening, attended by about 75 people, was sponsored by the Fayetteville Community Blueprint Network, Give an Hour, and the Behavioral Health Professional Association.

Van Dahlen originally began Give an Hour in 2005 as an organization that asked mental health professionals to donate an hour of their time to military families each week. The model worked: counselors have donated more than 57,000 hours to military families.

So she began to think about how to expand the idea to connect people who want to help in other ways with people who need it.

"So much more is possible than I ever imagined by us all stepping forward and chipping in as much as we can," Van Dahlen said in an interview before the film.

Joining Van Dahlen on the panel were Capt. Jenny Hartsock, military liaison for Sen. Kay Hagan; and Kelly Schoolcraft, Army Reservist and president of FSU's Student Veterans' Association.

Both said they've seen improvements in helping soldiers and their families since the start of the war.

"We have come so far, but we still have a long way to go," Hartsock said.

Van Dahlen said the community must find ways to keep people interested in helping veterans once the wars have ended and people begin to turn their attention elsewhere.

That's likely to be when the most help is needed, she said.

Van Dahlen said community organizing at the local level is important, but difficult, work.

She said communities often have people who want to help military families, but they're not sure how. One goal of the Community Blueprint project is to develop an Internet site somewhat like Craigslist where local volunteers and groups can connect with other groups that need their services.

"It's asking them specifically, do this, as opposed to saying generically, come help," she said.

"It's so easy to take that yellow ribbon and show your support, and that's great. But now we need to roll up our sleeves."

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