pat-rowe-kerr
Executive Director, When the Yellow Ribbon Fades
573-462-9531
322 Boonville Rd.

Committed, Appreciative, Knowledgeable

Pat Rowe Kerr’s experience with veterans hits close to home. She has worked with advocacy, state budgets, and legislation since the 1980s and has a family full of active military and veterans, including a living aunt who served in World War II and a daughter who was deployed to Iraq.

Having been the state veterans’ ombudsman, as well as the director of operation outreach and senior advisor to the executive director of a veterans’ agency, it was a natural transition for her to serve as the volunteer executive director for When the Yellow Ribbon Fades when it launched 18 months ago. The nonprofit is all-volunteer and works to help veterans become sustainable through advocacy, education, navigation of resources, and coordination of benefits and financial resources. 

They collaborate with local organizations such as Homeless Project Connect and Common Ground, and they receive referrals from those same organizations in addition to statewide VA facilities, Welcome Home, Phoenix House, and more.

“We provide a safety net for our population, working with them to get back in the state and federal systems if necessary,” Pat says. “We are also accessible outside of normal office hours. The commitment each of our board members feels to the mission is palpable.”

When the Yellow Ribbon Fades also has experience in available programs for veterans, such as Social Security’s expedited program for wounded warriors, the creation of legislation, and the development of the budget in the government system and the impact is has on those the government serves.