Mayor Eric Garcetti has announced that his 10,000 Strong Coalition of over 200 public and private sector partners has hired nearly 5,000 veterans in one year. The mayor was joined by more than 1,000 veterans, employers, supporters and military family members in making the announcement at the 10,000 Strong Veterans Career Summit.

The initiative, formed to help connect veterans and military community members find gainful employment, aims to employ 10,000 veterans over a three year period. The initiative links veterans to employers, training and job resources to help transition military skills to the civilian workforce.

“As the home to the highest number of unemployed veterans in the country, we have a duty here in Los Angeles to repay the service of our returning heroes with job opportunities,” Garcetti said.

In addition to celebrating the halfway mark, Garcetti also announced new efforts to strengthen the veterans workforce, focusing on improving veteran access to career and supportive services, strengthening efforts to help companies hire veterans, and developing long-term strategies to enhance employment opportunities for veterans in Los Angeles.

Garcetti announced Vet2Text, a text messaging application that allows veterans to text directly with a veteran peer support specialist. Veterans can text “vet” to “LA211” to receive support 24 hours a day. Vet2Text was developed in partnership with LA County 211, Volunteers of America Los Angeles, and the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families, and created nine full time jobs for veterans.

Garcetti also announced a 10 percent veteran hiring goal for all new apprenticeships in the building trades, in partnership with the L.A. County Federation of Labor and United Way Greater Los Angeles. The goal will result in more than 500 jobs for veterans per year.

To strengthen the pipeline of jobs for veterans, Garcetti also partnered with the PsychArmor Institute to launch a free call center that will help guide employers through the recruitment and hiring process for veterans. The call center will help employers who want to recruit from the military community by offering free, innovative training and technical support. For information, call (844)779-2427.