ARI S. MERRETAZON, M.S.CED, He is a decorated-Bronze Star- honorably discharged Vietnam War Veteran, Headquarters Recon, 3rd Brigade, 4th and 25th Infantry Divisions, U.S. Army, and is the founding Executive Director of Pointman Soldiers Heart Ministry(PSHM),a tax-exempt Veterans Service organization, serving Vulnerable U.S. Armed Forces Veterans in Philadelphia and other cities in the the Northeast Region of the United States. PSHM has directly and indirectly over 150 veterans to receive VA benefits and assistance. He directs the day-to-day work of Pointman Soldiers Heart Ministry in Philadelphia. with the goal of establishing a Veteran Stan-down and Skill Center. Ari instructors the course, "How to Establish a 501(c)(3) Tax-exempt Organization and Keep It. Ari is a rites of Passage Facilitator, specializiing in The Warrior Method, A Program for Rearing Health Black Boys. His war narrative is Chapter 7, in the book, Bloods, an Oral History of the Vietnam War told by Black Veterans, by Wallace Terry. His story was used to make the movie Dead Presidents, actor Larentz Tate played his character. He is quoted in “A Vietnam Trilogy: Veterans and Post- Traumatic Stress, 1968, 1989, 2000, by Raymond Monsour Scurfield. In 1978, Ari was invited by Senator Alan Cranston, to testify on matters related to incarcerated veterans, He is a White House Honoree, President Jimmy Carter, for establishing the first Office of Incarcerated Veterans Affairs inside of a prison recognized by the VA. In 1980, he was hired by the Veterans Administration as a member of the first team to setup a “Vet Center” in Little Rock, Arkansas, under a Congressional mandate. Ari is a Certified Legal Technician, Antioch School of Law, Washington, DC., where he worked managing the Teaching Law-Firm as the Special Assistant to the Deans. He has provided representation for veterans at administrative hearings and before military discharge review boards. He is anordained minister, and is a graduate of the Graduate School of Community Economic Development, Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, New Hampshire, and served as Director for the school’s Church-based Initiative. He is now the EPIC (Equal Partners In Change) Coordinator, Department of Human Services.