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A nonprofit helps veterans connect to programs.
“I think it’s the perfect name, and I wished I would have thought of it,” says Paul Davis, executive director of Project Got Your Back. “It’s descriptive and matches what we do.” The nonprofit, based in Bloomington, connects veterans with services with the mission of “connecting the unconnected.” As Davis says, “Resources are available, but not everyone knows what’s available.”
What are our Minnesota veterans looking for when it comes to resources? Employment opportunities top the list. Davis notes the topics of mental and physical health concerns are real, as are needs for legal services. Questions regarding navigating the Veterans Administration are commonplace. “We don’t have all the answers, but we’re really good at directing and navigating,” he says.
Project Got Your Back is a rebranding of the Veteran Small Business Foundation, an organization founded in 2013. “It started as an organization that helped veterans start their own businesses,” Davis says. Veterans seeking other types of help altered that focus. “We had to do more and rebranded in 2020–21, just before the pandemic,” he says.
Douglas Ballinger held many unique duties over his 20-year military career, beginning with duty as a presidential security detail chief, working in conjunction with the U.S. Secret Service. He continued to serve in various roles, from North Dakota to Utah to Japan—where he met his wife, Sayaka, who is from Tokyo. Ballinger and his family, including Sayaka and two now-grown children, Justin (25) and Yuma (21), settled in Woodbury in 2005. “… It is the longest I have lived anywhere since growing up in a military family,” he says.
Ballinger was connected with Project Got Your Back in 2022. “Paul [Davis] and I met at a local restaurant, shared a meal while Paul just listened,” Ballinger says, noting the two were introduced by mutual friend Alan Hill, a mentor and advocate for veterans in Minnesota and Wisconsin. “I noticed Paul’s energy and passion to help me find my path, and I was quickly assigned a navigator to meet with and begin charting a course for employment and personal fulfillment.”
The Project Got Your Back model works by pairing navigators with clients, like Ballinger. This professional relationship lasts for an entire year. To date, over 50 navigators have served nearly 150 clients. “… My navigator walked with me, assisted in my thinking, planning and strategizing,” Ballinger says. “All the while being a reliable resource and motivator.”
Ballinger says learning the nuances of job hunting after decades of service isn’t always an easy journey, but notes that Project Got Your Back assists in finding the right position—and continues to check in after landing the job. Since first connecting with Davis 18 months ago, Ballinger has now guided other veterans to the organization—knowing that Davis will continue to serve the community.
Funding has to come from somewhere to keep the nonprofit on its feet. Programming is funded by sponsors and fundraisers. “We’re self-supporting, and don’t charge for services,” Davis says. Last year, Project Got Your Back’s primary fundraiser resulted in a Guinness World Record for the number of individuals simultaneously floating on pool noodles. The memorable event, proceeded by a boat parade, was held on Lake Minnetonka’s Browns Bay in front of a contributor’s home. “We smashed the old record,” Davis says. “We needed 235 [floaters] and finished with 330. It was so much fun … We’re incredibly grateful to the Lake Minnetonka community for rallying together to break a Guinness World Record …”
This year’s main event, which happened in September, was billed as R&R on the Ramp. Held in south St. Paul, the day’s activities featured teams of four to six Project Got Your Back supporters, hand pulling a B-25 bomber down a runway. This is not an easy feat—empty B-25 bombers weigh 21,100 pounds.
There are donors from Woodbury, and Davis is grateful for their contributions. “Support from the local community is the single most critical component in being able to provide our life-changing services to local veterans and their families for absolute zero cost,” he says. “We truly appreciate their participation and support.”
To those in need of guidance and support during a transitional period, Ballinger says, “Regardless of your rank, service, length of service or specialty, if you are looking to transition out of the military and explore the depths of the civilian ocean, Paul Davis is your guy … It is not always easy for veterans to ask for help—and Paul gets that!
“He is connected to every veteran resource in the Twin Cities (and beyond), and if he doesn’t have an answer or resource for something you need, he will find it,” Ballinger says.
To learn more about receiving services, volunteering or donating, visit projectgotyourback.org.
Project Got Your Back
5123 W. 98th St., Bloomington
info@pgyb.org
Facebook: Project Got Your Back
