MAA has recently met with Tim Hunnicutt the co-founder of Zero Day and discussed their mission that involves empowering Veterans through intentional employment, purposeful training, housing and deliberate application of the discipline and core values inherent to military Veterans.
Zero Day is an organization that doesn’t just exists to provide jobs for Veterans, they exist to inspire Veterans in their pursuit of rewarding careers.
The message of this organization is very powerful and one that is worth sharing with the MAA membership. In short, this organization reaches out to returning active service people and trains them to work in a variety of industries including the construction/mining industry. Their goal is to expose these individuals to companies through a variety of methods. If they demonstrate a desired skill set, then the company has the ability to hire them directly into their work force.
Zero Day can perform work for your organization under a "contract" as a way to experience the skill set of these individuals. Zero Day makes certain that they EARN their ability to do what we do. They do not hold fundraisers and do not solicit funding. However, they are deeply connected with other non-profits who do, and are often partners. For example, when restoring land into a specific habitat, it takes thousands of dollars’ worth of Native Michigan seeds, which are often provided by Pheasants Forever and/or the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.
Zero Day has provided the following links that offer a more detailed overview of what and how this organization operates.
Work/Play Environment
https://www.zero-day.us/work-play
The deeper stories behind this link are extremely relevant. Zero Day works to restore/create natural environments in otherwise barren land. All of it done as training projects for Veterans getting paid on-the-job experience and NCCER credentials.
The result is often recreational therapy and outdoor opportunities for Veterans and their families, especially like the double purple heart Vietnam Veteran who was provided a great place to take his grandson on his first hunt.
Community Projects
Augres Medical Center – Community Revitalization Project
https://www.zero-day.us/augres-medical
This project was a brownfield site that provided a Veteran component that was useful in working with the community and property owners to move the project forward.
Rubicon Ridge
https://www.zero-day.us/rubicon-ridge
This is a small-scale type of project was funded by Zero Day and provides a great example of community and environmental stewardship along with providing a great outcome to the community.
Zero Day is also working with individuals in a Military Academy in the range of 17-22 years old. Many of the participants came from foster families and with a life path that was not in the right direction. Zero Day works with these youths to guide them into specific career opportunities. Veterans already working for Zero Day provide much of the instructing and coaching, especially in heavy equipment projects. This is also the case with some new Drone programming that is increasingly relevant in our industry.
If you would like to learn more about this organization and how you can get involved please contact either the MAA or Tim Hunnicutt, CEO/Co-Founder of Zero Day, at thunnicutt@zero-day.us or (517) 282-5347