At Sunset View Cemetery Association, our caring staff members are experienced in helping veterans and their families with funeral planning and preplanning. Throughout El Cerrito, Richmond, and the Bay Area, are various community organizations committed to supporting veterans and helping them thrive in their everyday lives. We encourage our neighbors to explore these organizations and their offerings and consider getting involved or sharing this information with veterans in their lives.

Swords to Plowshares

Swords to Plowshares is an impactful organization made up of veterans helping veterans. For 50 years, this non-profit organization has been hard at work preventing and ending veteran homelessness with wrap-around support and advocacy across the Bay Area. They help veterans connect to local resources related to health, housing, and wellness and address key issues veterans face, namely homelessness, unemployment, and disability, serving more than 3,000 veterans each year.

Coming Home Project

If you or a veteran loved one is struggling with individual or collective trauma, the Coming Home Project is a non-profit organization that may be able to help. They have provided veterans in the San Francisco area with cutting-edge, integrative trauma care for over a decade. Coming Home Project hosts residential retreats for military families, veterans, and service members. Project participants have reported feeling less isolated and more hopeful as a result of this unique program.

The Mission Continues

Veterans seeking an inspiring volunteer opportunity may wish to consider teaming up with San Francisco’s The Mission Continues. For more than 15 years, this organization has been connecting veterans with communities in need and bringing positive change to these areas. Volunteers take on various projects, from planting community gardens to painting murals to supporting local events to attending social gatherings.  

Operation Dignity

Since 1993, Operation Dignity has been fighting homelessness in Oakland. Alex McElree, a Vietnam veteran, founded this organization that same year after struggling with homelessness and addiction. On any given night, they house more than 100 veterans and their families across three properties. Operation Dignity also conducts mobile street outreach programs. In the future, they plan to continue to expand and create more permanent housing for veterans in need.

Operation Freedom Paws

Operation Freedom Paws connects veterans and individuals living with disabilities to service dogs that can help improve their daily lives. A service dog differs from a therapy dog in that they are specially trained to support a person’s specific illness or disability. This organization partners with shelters and rescues to find dogs with the temperament and personality of a potential service dog.

If you wish to learn more about our veterans’ services or how we can help you honor your veteran’s life with a meaningful funeral, please contact our staff.