Nichole Coleman

Her hope is to use her lived experience with mental health conditions combined with community partners and education to raise awareness & improve lives. She believes recovery happens when a community supports equips and empowers them with the tools and hope they need to thrive. Identifying barriers to seeking treatment and then building bridges with collaborative partners has been her key to success. Her desire is to add value to people by meeting them where they are, creating genuine connections with them, and then resourcing them to live their best life.

Nichole served in the Air Force from 1991-98 and was a part of the 6960th SPS at the Electronic Security Command in Texas and Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. After experiencing trauma, she retrained into public affairs, and moved to Scott AFB, IL where she was the sports editor for the base newspaper, helped coordinate the annual airshow and provided tours of the base. While with the Air Mobility Command, she deployed to the Joint Information Bureau for Operation Joint Endeavor. Her final assignment was with the 89th AW, the home of Air Force One, where she was the editor of the base newspaper.

She was hired as a county veterans service officer and the director of the Hancock County Veterans Service Office in 2011. Under her leadership, the office has served more than eight times the number of veterans annually, and the amount of VA benefits received by county veterans and family members has increased by more than $16.8 million. Additionally, five innovative veteran resiliency programs were created to provide mental health support, recovery tools, and better quality of life.