Greenleaf 06-07-17

Stephen and General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. is the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer, and the principal
military advisor to the President, Secretary of Defense, and National Security Council. This photo was taken at a Memorial Day Service.
support and access to veterans getting off opiates, so that’s a priority. Also peer-support group
programs. [We will] be doing community outreach. Veterans helping other veterans is the focus.
MC: You have tried to get a meeting with Gov. Baker in the past. Where are you with that now?
SM: I stopped reaching out to him because I’m so focused on helping people instead of asking people
for help. I’m positive that eventually our paths will have to cross. Which works out because when I first
called to meet with him, I had nothing to offer. Now I have VAH and another new nonprofit, We are
Allies. I’m the president and founder of both.
We Are Allies started when I was invited to be a mentor at the opiate hackathon back in September—an
event put on by GE, [Gov. Baker], and Mass General Hospital. The group I was in won the
Anti-Stigma Award. Out of that, we got incorporated and now are teamed with doctors from Mass
General, some graphic designers, and another [person] in recovery … We are Allies will [be] participating
at Moving Beyond Stigma, [a forum series] put on by William James College in Boston with Mayor
Marty Walsh. Your boy [is] giving opening remarks on [May 23].
Additionally, I’m personally setting up a peer-support group for homeless vets in recovery from
addiction at New England Center and Home for Veterans in Boston next to City Hall—250 homeless
vets sleep there every night.
J14
Mike Crawford is a medical marijuana patient, the host of "The Young Jurks" on
WEMF Radio, and the author of the weekly column The Tokin' Truth, which is
produced in coordination with the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He
formerly wrote the column Blunt Truth under the name Mike Cann.