Tag Archives: service provider

How to Use the Warrior Gateway, Part III: Claiming your Profile

Posted on by Chris

We built the Warrior Gateway to be useful not only to the military community but also to service providers. A service provider can ‘claim’ its profile on the Warrior Gateway, which gives it administrative control over the profile. This means the service provider can edit its contact info and organization description (and soon we will be adding a feature in which a service provider can make official replies to any comments left about it by users). We think this will be useful to service providers, as it will provide an easy way for them to communicate with their client base, thus improving outreach, transparency, and responsibility.

Claiming your profile is easy– just follow these steps:

STEP 1

Check to see that your organization is already listed on the Warrior Gateway. You can do so by going to the Directory homepage, typing your organization’s name into the search bar, and clicking ‘Search.’

If an entry for your organization doesn’t come up in the search results, that means your organization isn’t yet in our Directory. If not, you’ll need to add it. To do so, follow these instructions.

If your organization does come up in the search results, click on it.

Search to see if your organization is already listed in the Warrior Gateway

STEP 2

This will take you to your organization’s profile page. To the right of your organization’s name you will find a link that says ‘Is this your organization?’. Click that link. Note that you will have to be logged in to claim a profile– thus if you have not yet registered for an account on the Warrior Gateway, you must do so.

Click to claim your profile

STEP 3

You will be taken to a page which explains that you should actually be affiliated with an organization to claim its profile. When you click the ‘Claim’ button, you will be sent a confirmation email. If we already have an email address on file for your organization, the confirmation email will be sent that address. If we do not have an email address on file, the confirmation email will be sent to the email address you used to register your account on the Warrior Gateway. Click the ‘Claim’ button to proceed.

Click on the 'Claim' button to claim your profile

STEP 4

You will receive a confirmation email. Open this email and click the link that says ‘Confirm this Action.’

Click to confirm your email address

STEP 5

You will be taken to the ‘Edit Profile’ page, where you can verify or edit the information we currently have listed for your organization, or add additional information. Clicking the tabs at the top (‘Eligibility’ and ‘Organization Information’) will allow you to add additional information. When you are finished, click the ‘Save and claim’ button at the bottom of the screen.

Verify or add information to your organization's listing

STEP 6

A confirmation page will come up letting you know any changes you made were saved. Click on the ‘Go to Service Provider’ button at the bottom.

Click to proceed

STEP 7

The now-claimed profile page for your organization will be shown. A couple of things change about the profile page now that you have claimed it (provided that you are logged in).

First, there is now an ‘Edit’ link below your organization’s name. Clicking it will take you to the screen seen in Step 5.

Second, below the ‘Edit’ link is a box which states the username of the user who has claimed the organization’s profile (in this case, it should be your username). This is visible to all users.

Changes to the claimed service provider profile

And that’s all there is to it! Be sure to contact us if you have any problems when claiming your profile.

Notes

  • Currently, a single user can only claim the profile of one service provider. To claim the profile of another service provider you work for, you must register another account, then log in as that second user.
  • If you see your organization’s profile page has already been claimed by a user, try asking around among your co-workers to see if it wasn’t claimed by someone else from your organization. If you believe that it was claimed by someone unaffiliated with your organization, you should flag your organization. To do so, go to your organization’s profile page and click ‘flag this provider’ at the bottom of the page. Select ‘Dispute of Claimed Profile’ from the dropdown and enter in a short description in the comments box. We will then investigate the issue.

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How to Use the Warrior Gateway, Part I: Searching the Directory

Posted on by Chris

This is Part I in a series of posts designed to show you how to use the various features of the Warrior Gateway. We built the Warrior Gateway to be extremely simple to use, but in case there’s something you’re not clear on, these guides should be able to help you out. You can click on the “How-To Guides” button above to view the full series.

The main function of the Warrior Gateway right now is to find service providers (non-profits, governmental programs, and for-profits like clinics) in your community. Doing so is very easy! Just follow these steps:

STEP 1

Go to the main Warrior Gateway Directory page. You’ll see a search bar at the top with a map and a list of results below.

The main screen of the Warrior Gateway Directory

STEP 2

In the search bar after the words “I’m looking for,” type in a keyword for the type or organization you’re looking for (e.g., “homeless shelter”) or the name of a specific organization you’re searching for (e.g., “American Red Cross”).

In the search bar after the word “near,” enter your location. You can enter an address (e.g., “123 Main St., San Francisco CA”), a city and state (e.g., “Houston, TX”), or a zip code (e.g., “77385″).

Enter a keyword or organization name, plus your location in the search bar

STEP 3

A list of organizations which match your search will be shown at the bottom of the screen with a map above that shows the locations of these organizations. In the screenshot below, we have performed a search for “homeless” near “Houston TX.”

Just below the map, on the right-hand side of the screen, is a series of tabs which allows you to sort the listed results by a number of parameters: name (sorts alphabetically), relevance (to the keyword or name you searched), rating (sorts by average rating submitted by users), and distance (from the location you entered).

If you don’t find the organization you’re looking for, you can click through to additional pages of results by clicking the page numbers above and below the list, on the left-hand side.

The search results page

STEP 4

Some searches may give you a lot of results. If you want to narrow down the organizations listed, you can do so using the “Filters” just to the left of the map. Click on a filter name (such as ‘Distance,’ ‘Overall Rating,’ etc.) to display or hide the options for that filter.

The options under each filter have either a radio button or a checkbox. Clicking an option will cause the listed results to update automatically–only those matching the filter you clicked will be shown. For example, if you click “less than 1 mi” under the “Distance” filter, all organizations more than a mile from the location you entered will be removed from your search results; only those less than a mile from you will remain.

Narrow down your results using filters

STEP 5

From the list of results, you can learn more about a specific organization by clicking on its profile page. To do so, simply click on the organization’s name, and you will be directed to that organization’s profile page. The profile page displays various pieces of information about an organization (see the screenshot below to see where each of the following can be found):

  1. The organization’s name, address, phone number, website, and contact info
  2. A map showing the organization’s location
  3. Details about the organization such as a description, the type of organization it is (non-profit, governmental, etc., its area of focus, any any eligibility requirements it has clients
  4. Feedback the organization has received from Warrior Gateway users like yourself–both written reviews and ratings on a scale of one to five stars
  5. A link allowing you to “claim” the profile as your own if you work for that organization
  6. A button allowing you to share the organization’s profile page with friends and colleagues

The organization profile page

STEP 6

Click ‘Back’ in your browser or ‘Directory‘ at the top of the screen to return to the search results page. From here you can view more results or make a new search.

And that’s pretty much it! Please contact us if you have any questions, difficulties, or feedback about the Directory.

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For the Veteran, By a Veteran

Posted on by Chris

Minnesota NPR has a good story on Michael Mills, a member of the Minnesota National Guard who has become a local voice for the issues faced by returning OEF/OIF veterans. Mills served in Iraq, where his convoy was struck by a roadside bomb, causing him to sustain several broken bones and third degree burns on much of his body. He came back angry and depressed, but eventually came to terms with his experiences through the help of his family and a psychiatrist.

Michael Mills (right) poses with fellow veterans Jeff Butler and Bruce Billington. Photo courtesy of MPR

Michael Mills (right) poses with fellow veterans Jeff Butler and Bruce Billington. Photo courtesy of MPR

And now he’s seeking to help other veterans going through issues similar to his own. He runs a website called For the Veteran, By a Veteran, which tells his story and provides some resources for medically discharged veterans.

“I started For the Veteran for a couple of reasons but the main reason is I got tired of losing my friends to suicide,” said Mills, who fears that many vets are killing themselves because they first turn to drugs and alcohol.

Because many veterans may be ashamed to ask for help, for a Veteran aims to inform them about available government and private services.

Mills also sits on the board of Project New Hope, an organization which holds retreats for members of the military community, covering topics like money management, navigating VA resources, and anger management. The program is unique in its inclusion of a veteran’s entire family. “The VA is only able to help the soldier,” said Bruce Billington of Cross Lake, who founded Project New Hope. “We help the entire family. We try to provide resources that the VA is unable to give.” Project New Hope began in Minnesota but now hosts retreats in New York, Wisconsin, and even Canada, in addition to several locations in Minnesota.

“When I first joined the military and before me and even up till now, you’re told, ‘if you’re not bleeding, you’re not hurt,’ ” Mills said. “And that’s not really true because there is pain without the blood. There is mental pain, especially being in a combat zone.”

Veterans’ Best Friend: Program pairs veterans with pets

Posted on by Chris

This past week the non-profit Pets2Vets began operations. Pets2Vets is a service that pairs veterans being treated at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center with dogs and cats from the Washington Animal Rescue League (WARL). Pets2Vets provides veterans with transportation to WARL to pick out their new friend, waives the $195 adoption fee, provides transportation for weekly visits to WARL so veterans can visit their new pet, and transports the pet to the veteran’s home (anywhere in the country) free of charge after the veteran leaves Walter Reed.

Pets2Vets was founded by Dave Sharpe, himself a veteran, whose dog Cheyenne greatly aided his transition to civilian life.

Along with fellow combat veterans who constitute the P2V Board of Directors, Dave wanted to reach out to his fellow brothers and sisters and their families who serve(d) our nation in the military, law enforcement, and emergency personnel professions. In doing so, Dave also wanted to help save our homeless animals and saw the therapeutic potential of the unique bond of love, comfort, and support that could aid both the veteran and homeless pet.

You can find out more about Pets2Vets here. Also be sure to check out photos of Pets2Vets’ first match, Sgt. First Class Waugaman and Ernie, here