 Go. Okay. Good morning. We're ready to go. And I'd like to welcome you all to the connecting making women's to women's program. And we'll start out this morning with our pledge of allegiance. If you could join me in the pledge of allegiance, please. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. We will have our our dual member Christine. She is a veteran and she's a member of our auxiliary and she will read the proclamation that she will read the proclamation that the mayor has put out for today. And I'll just let Chris read that. Whereas women have served honorably and courageously in all of America's wars and conflicts since the American Revolution. And whereas the history of women in the military, history of love for country, service, commitment, dedication and courage, and it includes sacrifices that have largely largely gone unrecognized. And whereas the population of women's veterans is increasing exponentially from 1.1 million in 1980 to a projected 2 million by 2020, comprising more than 10% of the veteran population. And whereas the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 83 Women to Women Connection is hosting a seminar on Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at the American Legion VFW Hall at 552 South Evan Street in Sheboygan. And whereas the purpose of this event is to inform the public and veterans of the benefits and services to which they are entitled through government programs. Now, therefore, I, Terry Van Akron, by virtue of the authority vested in me as the mayor of the city of Sheboygan, do hereby proclaim March 10th, 2012 as Women's Veterans Day in Sheboygan and urge all citizens to join me in recognizing and showing our appreciation for their part in advancing the promise of freedom. Thank you, Chris. I think for those of you that I've talked to on the phone and that you haven't met me, you don't know who I am, I am Danny Wilson and I've talked to a number of you on the phone. And I am the president of the Legion Auxiliary here at Prescott Bay and Post-83 here. And our team would like to welcome you all here today. They have done a fabulous job in getting things together and putting this together because we think it's so important to get the word out about women, veterans and your benefits and what we can do to help you. And just that their facilities are down the hall here to the right, the men's and the ladies' restrooms. We have a basket auction over here. It's some lovely things that Joanne has put together. Thank you, Joanne. And you're welcome to bid on those. And we are drawing for that approximately 30 minutes after the program ends because we don't have a definite time that the program is going to end. So we're going to say 30 minutes after. And hopefully Judge Angela will be here. She said she'd come and give us a quick update on the Veterans Court, which is going to be in Sheboygan. It's going to begin in April. And it's a wonderful new program to help veterans, male and female, both. And we'll let her tell you about it right after this team is done. And Steve from WSCS 990 is here videotaping. And so this program will be on cable. It will be on cable here in Sheboygan. And at this time then I would like to turn the program over to Kathy Womer, who is our homeless women veteran for the Department of Wisconsin American Legion Auxiliary. And I'm sure she's got a lot of wonderful things to tell you about. And hopefully we'll have great information that we will be able to take away and work with. Thank you, Danny, and thank you Unit 83 from Sheboygan for hosting this event. Thank you all for coming. I hope that you learned something today that will be a benefit to veterans. Before I get started, I would like to acknowledge all veterans that are here today in our audience. Would you please stand? All veterans. Fantastic. Thank you for your service and thank you for coming. Homeless Women Veterans is a program of the Wisconsin American Legion Auxiliary Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Committee. Chairman, this year, I also should say to you that this is a new program that a department has added, so you probably are not familiar with it. As a chairman, I had four goals that I set for this program this year. The first one was to continue our grant program, which offers assistance to homeless or at risk of being homeless women veterans. To date, donations have been received at department over $65,000, and that has all come from units throughout Wisconsin. Give yourself a hand. That is phenomenal. Department has expensed over 40,000. This fund has helped over 30 women veterans who had no place to live or were at risk of losing their current housing. Two of them were being evicted within the next few days. Both had children. One was living in her car. Mostly we have assisted in paying security deposits and first month's rent as these ladies transition from the VA assistant programs in Milwaukee, Madison, the James level women's health clinic in Chicago, Appleton. The car repairs, storage units while the ladies are in the VA hospitals, and they have to have a place to put their furniture. So we have paid storage units. We also, department also purchased a washer and dryer, the butika house in Milwaukee, which is a transitional housing only for women only. And I think currently they said they have eight women living in this house, and they have room for 14 of benefit. One of the things Wisconsin lacks right now is housing for women veterans. There is transitional housing for male veterans, and because of security purposes, and they haven't ironed out the problems yet, but they, louder, sorry, and the women veterans, because of security, they cannot cohabitate women and male veterans within the same facility unless they have 24 hour security and a way to lock separation. So they are working on that, but that's, at least I can say they're working on it. They're not forgetting the issue. The second goal I had was to ask auxiliary members to volunteer, for volunteers from my auxiliary members from each county district unit to be the connection to women veterans in communities where personal contact is needed to complete the grant assistance. One of the rules of the grant program is that auxiliary will not give money directly to a veteran. At times it becomes necessary for someone to go shopping for the veteran, help with transportation, assist the veteran in finding the VA benefits and representatives. Appleton volunteers are currently working with a woman who had just moved from living in her car to her own apartment, and they are helping her move her furniture and things into her place. Stevens Point volunteers are currently working with a veteran with two children who was in domestic abuse crisis situation. They have contacted her, helped her move into her separate housing and continue to offer support as needed. Goal number three is why we're here today, to develop a program making connections women to women, which will assist Wisconsin American Legion auxiliary members in becoming a resource of information for veterans in their communities with special emphasis on the needs of women veterans and their children. And as you, as we continue through this program, the American Legion auxiliary is highlighting women veterans this year, but everything that we say and talk about applies to all veterans. Women are not exclusive and do not have special privileges as far as the VA. So when I say women veterans, it applies to all veterans. So kind of keep that in mind. Goal number four was to develop a resource directory of VA benefits and to be shared with anyone that wants to have it. I think we passed that out. It's on the department's website if you need to print more. This resource directory is not designed to show you how to determine eligibility, assess claims, or handle complaints, but to empower you with the knowledge to assist veterans. Yes, I guess I do. Now can you hear me? Starting in June, the following agencies held weekly roundtable discussions focusing on women veterans. The Madison Vet Center, Homeless Veteran Coordinator, Madison VA Hospital, Women Health Clinic in Madison VA Medical Center, Women Veteran Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs, Wisconsin National Guard Support Services, American Red Cross and American Legion Auxiliary. This focus group agreed on three main issues, helping women veterans know the benefits they have earned, helping them connect to the VA representatives and the resources available, and getting the veteran benefit information to women veterans in small communities and rural areas of Wisconsin. The following facts have kept us focused and motivated to do something for women veterans. Women veterans do not think of themselves as veterans or even understand who a veteran is. One of the first things women veterans will say to us is, well, we didn't go overseas or I wasn't in combat, and they dismiss the fact that they are a veteran. Women veterans are trained to take care of themselves. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. Women veterans do not apply for veteran benefits they have earned as often as male counterparts do. Many are not aware of they are eligible for veteran benefits. I think I just said this, but the reason is they didn't get shot at, and they have said that to us several times in some of these meetings we've had. Many women veterans have experienced military sexual trauma. One in five homeless women veterans report sexual trauma compared to one in 100 in male veterans. Once discharged women veterans do not trust Department of Veterans Affairs administrators or military staff. The majority of homeless or at risk of being homeless women veterans have minor children. Children therefore they will not ask for help from the VA because of an unfounded fear that if they ask for help they will lose their custody of their children. These veterans are smart, highly trained, highly skilled women with a blot of invisible scars. All they need is a little help and encouragement. Veterans need to hear about VA benefits and resources with easy access and availability in the community. Therefore this is where you guys you gals come in. Therefore it may perfect sense to ask the 26,000 members of the American Legion auxiliary to continue to do what they do best. Service not self for veterans. Outreach in small communities and rural areas of Wisconsin by making connection to the 28,000 women veterans in Wisconsin. And then now I'd like to introduce Rodney Purcell and he will walk us through a PowerPoint that this original focus group put together describing veteran benefits and I will just turn it over to him. Well first I would like to thank everyone here for giving me this opportunity you know to kind of you know give a presentation and information regarding you know the veteran services. You know and also too I guess first of all second of all is to thank all the veterans here for everything that you sacrificed because it wasn't for these sacrifices we wouldn't be free. You know today I'm going to give a brief you know by the time we end this presentation to everybody here is going to be skilled in land navigation. You know because it's something as we talk about these you know benefits and you know it takes a lot of you know it takes a lot of knowledge of the VA and kind of looking at the VA and the benefits and that you know it is a country in itself and if you don't know how to navigate through it and how to get direction you know it's tough it's like going into unknown territory and you can end up walking around in circles and talking to people who point you in this direction and that direction and by the time it's all over you know a person is like I've been on you know pounding the ground for so long it's you know I give up you know and it's especially difficult for veterans you know who are already experiencing wounds from the military and from war emotional spiritual physical to have to hump this trail when you're in pain you know and a lot of times you know you know you know to walk the trail alone so it makes it even a little more difficult so my objective today is to give a brief overview of the different you know services that are available but then also to you know who to contact to get more information to apply for benefits and if you have questions about you know different types of benefits because at the vet center you know our main objective is providing a variety of different support and counseling services but we know that every veteran that comes through the door has more than one need you know so might the best way that I can serve the veteran is to know a little bit about everything you know and I might not know how to fill out the paperwork or exactly what form but I do know the person that will help you through the entire you know process you know and if that veteran needs assistance you know I will travel to that veteran's house no matter where it is to pick that you know and and help them through the process because it is and so by the time we finish today everybody will in some ways be skilled in VA land navigation so and that's the thing too you know especially you know with veterans of past and present you know they come back you know and might not know what everything's you know what benefits they are entitled to or where to go and this is where everybody can benefit too is because with this knowledge you might be at your church you might be at the park at the grocery store you know and talking to somebody it's like oh yeah I serve but I don't know where to go this here too be able to help tell that veteran talk to Charlene at the county veteran service office or you know is you know I want to go to school out at Lakeland College what do I do talk to the VA financial advisor out there and so I kind of talked a little bit about everything you know key organizations you know what veterans need to access this service there's both federal state and county veteran services and programs they're all similar but in different you know have differences about the services that they provide the variety of different service organizations for veterans to obtain information you know file a service connected disability claim but also too sometimes within the VA the VA can't do it all so that's where it's important to know of community organizations you know as to provide you know food clothing child care support there's a program here in Sheboygan that there's a yoga organization where she provides free yoga for all veterans who are experiencing injuries you know from the military and so for them who want something other than maybe you know pills and operations through the VA I could say you know here's a person to contact that who does yoga you know you might want to check you know check her out and see how she might be helpful and that might just be what the veteran needs you know and and that's a thing you know too like that somebody had mentioned you know it's that as soon as you raise your hand and you're sworn in you're a veteran you know you've made the pledge to serve you know this is what I have to offer and will sacrifice which is all of me you know and until the day you know that you get your walking peppers you know you're a veteran from then and then until the man calls your number you're a veteran you know so everything that you've earned you know we will be talking about today the one thing too you know it meant a confidentiality is that you know all the services that we provide you know is all confidential so when a veteran comes in you know and talks about you know their needs or services whatever experiences they may have had you know everything has kept confidential you know VA medical centers you know they are a huge wide amount of services in the back of these federal benefit books you know in addition to talking about federal benefits they have a directory in here of every VA medical center VA hospital VA clinic you know vet center regional office because some people like to take trips or some people might like to go where it's warm in the winter time here in wisconsin let's say you move to you know florida or you go to texas and all of a sudden you might run out of your medication or you might have a medical need but where do I find out you know where the closest VA clinic or medical you know it's right here you know housing programs you know grants like I said you know the VA offers home loans they have home improvement loans a person's health changes over time and they might need modifications to their home because a wheelchair access or to address their needs the VA has programs you know grants that a construction crew will come in and modify that home for the veteran you know a tuition assistance here again too the federal GI bill there's a variety of different programs and they offer all education for like let's say the UW system here in wisconsin you know and where would you find out about what am I eligible for and what's the difference between the federal and the state contact Charlene Cobb at the county veteran service office because with the federal GI bill here again it varies but it's about 10 years that a veteran can use these services where the Wisconsin GI bill is lifetime you know that's something I learned out the other day you know and where the federal they pay for basically everything that there is book schools tuition everything it differs with the state where they have a I think it's called a reimbursement so anybody here that you know it's like I think I'm going to go back to school talk to Charlene say I would like to go to technical school I would like to go to UW Sheboygan you know I want to go to UW Eau Claire you know the Wisconsin GI bill is lifetime so there's never an also two is that there's a variety of different you know services you know for burial here again to you know the federal and the state differ but then also to I've learned that the county has different services too for as far as assistance so where you know so for all these benefits here a person can contact their county veteran service office for both state and federal benefits to find out who offers what and can I get both federal and state or is it one or the other and like I said you know key organizations the U.S. Department of Federal you know the benefits that's federal they have their own benefits rules and regulations as far as applying for a service connected disability their home loan their tuition programs you know land buying land buying homes um the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs you know each of the counties here you know you know they work with Madison you know and here the state and that's where sometimes too you know if a person moves to another state you know each state regulates its own you know state benefits so let's say that Karen all of a sudden wants to move to Alaska you know and all of a sudden she gets there and well first you have to find out you know what the what the resident residence eligibility is here in Wisconsin I believe it's a year you know but in Alaska it might be five days you know and benefits that the Wisconsin state offers they Alaska might offer more less or a variety of different different avenues so each state has a variety of different rules benefits when it comes to their own state benefits but when it comes to federal they're all the same no matter where you go county veteran service officers you know too here again too the county has benefits that the state and the federal might have you know and to find out what I'm what I'm eligible for as far as you know living in Sheboygan County you know Charlene would be the person to talk to but here that again too you might move to Manitowoc or you might worry about the Rock County here again all of a sudden what might be eligible and the benefits that you have in Sheboygan County differ up in Rock you know so everybody when it comes to state and county benefits everybody is different you know they're similar but they might have more they might have less of the benefits and with the VA medical centers you know throughout you know the United States here again too yeah you know because they're federal benefits you know they all run the same so whether you're in Wisconsin in Alaska in Michigan you know and as long as you got your enrollment card you know you can use any of these facilities you know that you might need but one thing too about VA medical centers is that let's say that you're someplace where there is a the VA hospital medical centers more than 50 miles away and you have a medical emergency you can use any of the civilian hospitals or clinics to get that taken care of and once you're stabilized then you then they would transport you to the nearest VA clinic and then once you're there you got to let them know where you were and then they'll contact that hospital and then that bill will be taken care of you know through the VA so you know one guy he likes to travel he says well you know I had this medical problem you know you know when I was up in Bayfield you know and I had to use you know I had to use a civilian clinic you know to take care of this problem it's like now what do I do with this bill well because there's you know a VA related injury that he had to be treated for it's covered a hundred percent you know by the VA you know his state the ambulance anything that he needed to be stabilized and then once he was stabilized he was transferred you know to the closest VA medical facility so so it's important to know you know too and talking with Charlene and different people about there's a lot that goes on you know with VA healthcare than just here's the hospital you know there's a lot of other benefits sometimes too when you're talking about you know homeless you know veterans is that they also have what's called a hardship program you know where a veteran may have been employed one day and the next you know they had lost their job the factory closed or you know you never know what the situation is and now I really you know I have I have this but I can't pay for it you know a veteran can apply for what's called hardship you know and they'll look at the situation and you know do their financial calculating but then that veteran can get all the services that they were at little or no cost you know because of their change the major key for getting into you know applying for any VA you know benefit is your DD 214 your discharge pay you know that right there you know let's you know the VA the clinic the county veteran service officer that that you are you know sad to say you have to prove who you are nowadays just because of the way the world is you know and so a a virtue you know basically to apply for any state federal county VA needs a copy of your discharge papers you know and it determines your eligibility you know honorable you know even a general you know makes you all VA benefits you know DD 214 and so if you don't have one you know where do I go you know you contact the county veteran service office you know or if you when you got all the service and you recorded at the courthouse you can get a copy there you know or you know if that wasn't registered you would contact Charlene at the county veteran service office and fill out a form and they would request it from the national personnel records department down in St. Louis you know and then that would come into mail you know from their records because there's records you know that from your military time that serve but in some cases too like my my father was a World War II veteran and back in the 70s they had let us know that there is paper some of the veterans records were destroyed down there from you know P to Z whatever so when I requested my dad's military records they said you know they were destroyed in the fire I said well now what do we do they can re they can reconstruct from what they do have you know that they can put a DD two together for you know form so they were reconstructed what paperwork that they did have because there's other places the military records are stored and the next you know it took them a while but they got a copy we got a copy of his DD 214 sometimes too you know unfortunately that a veteran for different reasons might get a bad discharge coming out you know and the inventions that I've met with over the time and you know and give guidance to that came out you know a lot of times the reason that they may have gotten this bad discharge is that it was after coming back from the war or they had been injured in the military and it was hard for them to perform their duties or because after returning back from the war you know they had difficulties readjusting back into the the military's you know structured life and the next thing you know they violated you know it and brought some rules and regulations you know and they got a bad discharge out I work there's people throughout the system here in the state of Wisconsin but just wrestling recently met with Gunnery Sergeant Gillett Gillett from the United States Marines that a veteran you know can find out if he or she is eligible for a discharge upgrade you know but also too you know a lot of times that you know that their discharge might not be upgraded but here with a with the paperwork process and the people that I would direct the veterans to they can still find a way you know with paperwork you know to get that veteran eligible for VA health care you know I was working with returning Iraqi veteran he did two tours in Iraq served 99.9% of his entire you know tour facefully and when he got back he started having problems because of the things that he encountered you know and the next thing you know they wrote him up and gave him a bad discharge out you know almost you know I'd say three years and 360 days he served facefully you know and he had you know basically you know because of that bad discharge he wasn't eligible for anything and one day he came in and says you know is is there any chance and it's like well let me let's contact these different people that work with discharge upgrades you know and there might be a chance and what I found out you know is that uh because even two you know a veteran might be having you know want to file for a service connected to injury and they're even denied that because of their discharge you know well I talked to you know her name is Anna Fierro in the benefits department and she says no you know there's always that chance that a veteran can be approved for serve filing for a service connected disability and she says what they do is they request all the veterans you know military paperwork and you review it and they said if it's and if his paperwork shows you know that this veteran served the majority of their time you know as they you know they served as they should you know they can say okay sure he's got the he or she's got this bad discharge but because the majority of their time in the service was served honorably and they did as they should they can approve that veteran you know to be to be able to file a service connected disability claim and basically what that is is like workmen's comp being heard on the job so now this veteran is in the process after he's been out since 2005 you know and struggling with his physical and his emotional injuries just to try to make ends meet now he's in the process you know possibly you know being found and approved you know for VA benefits you know so that's one thing you know you just never know what you're eligible for until you ask next please and right here you know too you know county veteran service office you know I would that be the first person to contact you know when it comes to whether it's your DD 214 or you'd want to file a claim for injuries you know to request medical records or your family might just want you know you know if the veteran you know has passed on just to get you know documentation of you know to kind of putting you know an album together you know or you know for history for their family history you know and what they would do is they would send it down to the national personnel records department you know there's also to you know where you can get on it well like everything on the internet and it's called e benefits you know and you can do everything and request your military records you can request a re issuance of all your medals you know through the internet you know and that's where the county veteran service office would have all the internet sites if you want to contact through the internet national personnel records department or if you want to find out about your your benefits you know there's called e benefits and also too there's always the state department and they have their own website which is wdva.org which is you know kind cooks you up with the Wisconsin department of veterans affairs and anything and everything about you know what am I what am I entitled to for veterans benefits and how do I apply it can all be done on their website and here again you know federal benefits you know we touched a little bit about that but yeah the best person to go to unless you're in Milwaukee you can stop down at the regional office but your county veteran service officer can also help you too with finding out what federal benefits are out there what you're eligible for but then getting you all the paperwork that you need to fill out that papers but also too is that they just don't give you the paperwork and say here you go you know they actually help you sit down and get everything filled up because you know you got to have the right words and the right places and you know your eyes got to be dotted otherwise they send it all back to you so they can guide you through all the paperwork and kind of like be the middleman and help you get everything sent out you know via hospitals and medical centers you know yeah it's throughout the state of Wisconsin Milwaukee you know they're putting a brand new icon like the call it the Super Walmart Green Bay Clinic up in Madison or up in Green Bay there's Touma there's Iron Mountain and like I said in the back of this this federal benefits book you know there's a directory of all the VA medical centers via hospitals clinics vet centers you know federal benefits regional office telephone numbers addresses so that way if you're traveling whether here in the state or out of state you know make sure you grab one of those because that's going to give you addresses and telephone numbers in case you would run out of medication you know or you would have some kind of need you know through the VA that you can look in that directory and find oh you know there's a small clinic in Rhinelander I looked at it and I thought it was the county highway shop you know when I turned the corner it's like oh no it's a VA clinic you know so anytime that you might be out and about yeah this is a good tool to have because it tells you where you need to go and the vet center I was talking about yeah we're department of Veterans Affairs we're a federal federal agency and how I describe the vet center is like a specialty if you would go to your doctor you and say well you know with with that foot problem I need to send you to a specialist and that's what the vet center is we work with the VA Medical Center but we're not a part of them you know our vet center we specialize in providing a variety of different support and counseling services to all wars owned veterans and their families so we provide support services such as you know providing counseling for veterans having a difficult time making that position back to civilian life post max stress disorder sexual trauma alcohol and drug problems gambling but also too we know we realize that those veterans coming through the door have more than one need you know so we try to know the best weekend of all the different services like the Red Cross might offer you know or the auxiliary you know or you know what does that refer to veteran the other day to the shared program you know he had lost his job you know and now trying to make ends meet as to you know providing food and different things you know for his family it's like you know you know what are we gonna do for food and it's that well there's a shared program throughout the state got him hooked up with the shared program now he's got the food and the things that he needs to care for his family and since he's got time he volunteers there so it gives him that sense of fulfillment that you know he's you know sometimes it's you know it's hard you know when somebody mentioned before the military you know you know it's it's hard to ask for help when you've been trained to be the force of one you know but we all know that in so many times during the military that we need more support you know there's something that you can do as one but a lot of times you need your unit and come behind you to get through the situation you know and the different programs you know that we offer is we also have a marriage and family counselor we also have programs for children all the vet center services that we offer you know it's a lifetime benefit you know and so a veteran can use us as offering as little that he or she wants and there's never a fee for any of the services that we provide but also too that we're mobile you know we're at the VA hospital you have to go to them now with Wisconsin there is Milwaukee Madison Green Bay Wausau the Cross you know vet centers but we have outposts because we realize that sometimes you know for a variety of different reasons you can't travel to those 50-100 three-hour drives so here in Sheboygan you know we have an outpost I I'm in the county veteran service office I have an outpost up in the Menominee Reservation over in Dodge County you know Green Bay has their outposts throughout you know the uh without the their catchment area because sometimes too if a veteran's working you know you know they can't travel a 50-100 miles because they get done with work at 430 you know you know it makes it a tough going we also have evening hours we also provide you know you know at a veteran's bringing she had to bring in her you know her child the other day because I don't got childcare we'll bring him in we got different things you know you know you know for your daughter to play us while we talk you know so we try to do the best that we can but also too like I said you know there's military one source that we cannot provide services to active duty you know but we still any veteran that comes through our doors you know we will assist them and for somebody that might come through you know you know that comes in it's like I'm still I'm still active you know we would send them to military one source you know and there's a warrior regiment program you know I just met with Gunny Sergeant Gillett here the other day and here again too they offer a lot of different programs you know for veterans having problems with their benefits discharge upgrade financial assistance and grants you know and so uh military family life and consultants transitional housing program recently I assisted a veteran to go into the homeless veterans program up in chip falls you know he didn't realize that it's something that is eligible for state benefits like I said you know you know state to state every benefit is different they have their own different services that they might offer and each state too just like Wisconsin has county veteran service offices so every county in that state like Wisconsin has a county veteran service office that can give you the details why just here from Wisconsin well you have to be a resident of Texas for so many days and then once you're eligible you know these are the different benefits that you can apply for well that well we didn't get that in Wisconsin well that's because we're Texas and then here again too you know the the best person icon you know because I travel so much you know and like I said I don't know everything about benefits but what I do know is that the most important person to know in your county is who do your contact and that's the county veteran service office they'll they they know anything and everything that you need to know about your state benefits you know and they can assist you for applying with all those benefits and that's one thing you know it's important to know these people because sometimes you know rumors get spread a few years ago I met with a veteran you know down in an outreach down in Milwaukee and she said that she was looking at the benefits table I said well what are you eligible for and she says well nothing and I said you know did you serve your for she says yes you know did I said you receive an honorable discharge yes and I said well what makes you think you're not eligible well you know somebody told me because I served peacetime I wasn't eligible so she had gone years without ever knowing that she had all these benefits and I said the one thing about benefits is that you know they do different regards to their specific benefits geared towards the needs of war zone veterans you know and peacetime veterans wouldn't be eligible for those but there's a ton of veteran benefits for everybody that serve peacetime you know there's housing benefits there's home loan benefits you know there's you know education benefits you know you know being able to go to the veterans home up in king you know and I said you know and I handed them one of those federal benefit books and a state benefit book and I said you know where it differs with you know veterans who serve in the war zone is that they have different needs you know because of their war zone experiences and injuries and those are specific for them but everything else in this state book the federal book their lifetime benefits you know one thing too about benefits too is that I had a veteran that that came in one day and he was looking for employment and I seen him he's limping and said well did you recently hurt yourself and he and he said no he says I was playing basketball you know while it's active duty and I fell and broke my ankle you know and when I got discharged out it's caused me problems in my everyday life holding down a job you know going to school it's kind of limited me and I said would you ever file a service connected disability claim he says no it's not war zone and I said it doesn't matter you know a service connected disability claim is this basically workman's cop you know and so he was still active you know and he was still serving and he got hurt on the job you know so he could have been playing basketball you know you know they could have got hurt during boot camp during training you know they could have been getting out of their truck you know and banged her head against the door you know they could have been exposed to something a chemical or you know that that all of a sudden you know it caused them to start having medical problems while there so here again too you know this veteran didn't realize somebody told him the only way that you can file for a disability claim is that you have to be hurt in war I said no you know it's a workman's cop claim so from the day that you say I do until your very end date no matter what you're doing you know you and and you got injured and you received medical treatment and then once you got out that medical problem was still giving you problems you can contact your county veteran service officer to say hey you know when I was you know uh uh working in the kitchen you know all of a sudden you know the one of the pots fell over and I got all this burning water on me or I was working in maintenance or no matter what it was and I got injured I was treated for you know and since I've been out you know it's been causing me problems ever since contact your county veteran service officer to file a disability claim because you were injured on the job you know and here again too for the emotional you know injuries that a veteran might experience is a variety of different services the VA has both outpatient you know in inpatient programs and listed in that in the book too it lists all the resources like the outpatient clinics for the veterans depending on where they are in the state there's the veteran suicide crisis line where it's man 24-7 you know and then that crisis line too can say you know where are you from and that person get get hooked up you know with the VA hospital clinic vet center depending where they're at and of different different services vet centers uh veterans crisis line uh real warriors wounded regiment you know so too you know if a veteran calls up you know that's still active duty you know we have resources like military one source that we can refer that veteran to and sometimes too you know what might keep a person you know kind of hesitant about you know getting these services is that I still I'm still in the military or I still want to be in the military or my job everything about the services that the vet center and the VA medical center's office is confidential the only way that anybody can get any type of information is that that veteran size of release of information saying this is a specific person and this is the specific information that I want to give to them you know even too if somebody calls up and says you know my dad or my mom is at your vet center you know can you give them this message we can't even acknowledge that person because we don't know for sure but here again too it's all about potentially protecting that confidentiality and how does that make it better for the veteran I feel safe I could come here you know and know that I'm safe and talk about the things that I need to talk about and not have to worry about word getting out or you know I'm still in the reserves you know I still want to continue my military history can they call up and ask information about me I said no well they can but we won't give it to them unless you sign a release saying you know I want to give this information to you know so-and-so sergeant but other than that you know the recovery in their program you know is safe so then they can you know continue on to doing and what they want to do but also too you know talked about we work with community programs you know so we also you know here again too because veterans needs you know in recovery differ you know they might not want to go through the regiment at the VA or it's just not a good fit so we try to have a variety of information regarding you know what does the community offer there's a program down in the south side of Wisconsin you know that uses horse therapy to work with veterans in their recovery you know while I work up in a monomony or veteran you know up in the reservation they have their traditional ways you know of recovery and healing for the veterans you know here in Sheboygan there is the woman that offered yoga classes you know so it's important to have these because in order for that veteran to recover you know finding out what works best for them and if you only have one way and saying you know no I'm really not interested in that do you have anything else no you know you know sir that veteran stands you know I have to suffer you know so that's where we try to make sure that we know who you know in the VA and who in the community you know the service is offered so that way that veteran gets what they need to suit their needs the best housing a homeless programs you know here again too throughout the United States there's programs set up you know to address the needs you know of homeless veterans right now down in down in Milwaukee at the VA hospital a Jill Feldman is just starting up you know the woman's resource center and healthcare center you know it's a whole new program you know that's being you know geared you know to to the other needs because one size don't fit all you know and also to here throughout Wisconsin you know there are homeless programs you know up in King you know Chippewa Falls Union Grove Fort McCoy both programs geared for the men and women that served in the military housing benefits yeah there's a variety of different state and federal home loan programs out there you know and they vary in what you know how I guess what would you say how they run their program like there's I think it's the federal benefit program where you don't have to have a down payment you know and they have their different rules and regulations where the state you know their interest might be cheaper but they might require a small down payment so the programs differ you know when I was up in the reservation the other day the veteran wanted one to buy the house he lived in because that's what he grew up in and now they have a program for tribal veterans to buy trust land you know but also too there's also programs that as the veterans needs changed you know he might need to get a different bathroom set up he might need to have you know their doors widened you know she might need a ramp you know built up through a home there's programs you know both federal state and county that can gear that house and change it to meet the needs of that the changing needs of the veterans you know in the program you also two works you know you know for you know for homeless students and community and basically you know here again you know all the different services I offered you know here again to their special departments within that that home to address the needs of homeless students you know homeless families so everybody everybody's pretty well covered here again to education you know like I said you know there's the federal benefit program they have all the different programs they offer they they may cover all of your tradition you know tuition and housing and books you know but also too that might differ you know from Wisconsin benefits and with state like Wisconsin state education benefits they cover UW systems you know UW Madison UW fondle like UW Sheboygan all the technical schools you know I'm not quite sure a person might say well I'd like to go out to Lakeland College that's private I'm not exactly sure at least for this state if that would cover a private school but otherwise you know it covers all the Wisconsin you know UW systems and technical schools you know one thing I found out the other day is that I was working with a veteran that she had a service connected disability she said I'd like to go full-time to school but I can't afford it found out from the Green Bay Vocational Rehabilitation Council he says you know if that veteran if she wants to go full-time to school what you know she'd have to go through the voc rehab program but then what would happen is that let's say that she has a 30 percent service connected disability once she starts full-time going to school and during those four years her disability raised a hundred percent so then she doesn't have to worry about you know how am I going to you know feed my family how I'm going to pay for car benefits so through that tire you know her college career you know her discharge would be raised up to a hundred percent so that she continued her in school once she gets out it might get lowered back to what it was but during that time it's just geez well that's a huge load off the last thing I know she was talking to the voc rehab you know Albert at Green Bay and getting everything started so here again too there's so many little details to all these big benefits you know and that's why it's so important to know who to contact you know to help this you know the same thing with the improvement you know Wisconsin has you know what's called you know veterans representatives at their different job centers here in Sheboygan um I can't remember what his name is but he travels from Manitowoc and he's a veteran specialist because sometimes you know you're again too with benefits you know they're different there are certain benefits that are specifically geared for veterans sometimes companies will request specifically we want to hire veterans you know we had a company down in Milwaukee you know that we found out I was looking for forklift drivers and they wanted veterans and they would provide all the training that they would need to certify them for you know forklift driving you know also too you know with employment because sometimes a veteran might have you know service connected disabilities there are also you know veterans representatives that work specifically with them to find out exactly what it is their disability is and then gears a program and training you know and educates them too about their rights as disabled people you know for employment and like I said there's one veteran organ uh I can't remember what his name is but he comes to greet you know to Sheboygan you know every other month you know and I had a veteran the other day that was self-employed and and well with housing being what had no built he had no work so there's a lot of education grants there's retraining programs there's schooling specifically for veterans you know and you know it's like where do I find out about them you know contact Charlene or you know you call the veteran and say you know we're one of these you know workforce development you know veterans representatives this is where I live well here's his phone number give him a call and then you can get everything and find out here again too all those educational benefits and retraining grants that you might have you know for the status of being a veteran but there's also his preference too you know we're working within the VA they look to hire veterans first before they hire a civilian so there's a lot of different you know employment rights and benefits that you know it's hard to match financial you know again too financial aid you know what they have with the federal benefits it's called a non a non-service connected disability and basically what that is it's kind of like I guess it might compare to like SSI you know a veteran doesn't have any service connected disabilities but you know he's experiencing financial hardship you know and what they can do is they can apply for this non-service connected pension that would pay them a monthly income you know to live you know and it's something I didn't know about till I talked to one of the county veterans service officers that I have I have this veteran and you know I talked with you know he served you know peacetime but you know he's having a hard time you know you know with paying his bills paying his home paying his rent he says well he might be eligible for a non-service connected pension you know next thing you know they give him money for his apartment for his utilities it's the same thing in Sheboygan County I know Fred was here before and he told me about all the benefits specifically for financial assistance that Sheboygan County has now down in Milwaukee they don't have that so but also too you know we work with state federal you know too you know all the different whole you know community organizations now like this one veteran that referred to the SHARE program now him and his family are eating well and it's one less thing that he has to worry about you know because now they have what they need again too you know social security disability you know where do I file there are certain benefits here it's called a wounded warriors program when it comes to social security you know and I think what that program is about is that it speeds up the disability process you know for that veteran where you know compared to civilian it goes through the normal process you know where it takes who knows how long but with the wounded warriors program you know it speeds it up so that veteran can get you know the income and the care the medical care that they might need you know in a faster time and now when it comes to legal services there's a whole new change you know you know program you know over these last few years about you know you know addressing the needs of veterans you know who might come into the legal court and what they've been discovering you know is that many times is that you know when we look at the training you know of the veteran you know they're trained for war you know everything that the veteran is trained for in the military would throw them in prison here in the civilian world you know what's been happening throughout the years is that when these veterans come out of the service you know and for you know for those who may have you know you know you know because of that military training it may cause them to experience some legal problems you know in the civilian world and so what's happening is that throughout the state like here in you know in Cheboyga county they're putting together what's called veterans courts you know so when that veteran comes to court you know and as they're talking with that veteran and they find out you know it's because of his or her military experiences that you know they're causing them legal problems you know it takes a different path where instead of just in the olden days you know you might just go to county jail you might go to prison you know you get locked up now if they see that that veteran is experiencing some type of problem you know due to the military and that was causing them problem they got back out in the civilian world they will offer that veteran you know different types of VA treatment you know to get that veteran the help that they need a few years ago I was asked by the monomony tribal police department you know to give a presentation about you know how does military service you know cause problems out in the in you know how can that lead to you know illegal problems when the veterans get out you know because what they had been seen is they started seeing a whole lot of veterans especially those coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan you know in the legal system you know and a good example is is that you know you know one of the Iraqi veterans when he came back home he drove just like he used to drive in Iraq you know fast you don't slow down for nothing you try to keep you know your area around you open when you park you know and when he came back here that's how he drove the next you know he lost his license the next you know he got in some accidents the next you know is before the court you know and in old days you know they would say well we're taking your license you know you know here's a whole bunch of tickets for you and off you go you know but you know it wasn't you know it wasn't the veterans fault it's how he had been trained you know and that's a hard thing you know when you've learned to live this way of life and you come back into the civilian world and there's no boot camp to train it to be a civilian again you carry on the military ways you know they said you know you know sometimes we might have to go to a veteran's house you know the next thing you know you know you know we got a situation you know if you're coming you know you're going to go back to the military you're trained for war you know veterans that has happened to he had done you know he had done four tours in iraq and so when he got out of the service you know all he knew was you know his world was war and that's how he lived and when these police came you know because you know of something going on at the house you know when they locked and loaded so did he and when they moved he counteracted you know because you know what is a soldier it's a different type of police officer you know so the next thing you know you know once they finally got you know obtained him and put him away you know you know the courts up there because they had this training and they found out what this vision serves two tours you know you know four tours in iraq you know and when his time was up you know out you go and he still lived just like he did you know in iraq you know he still had his battle mind you know this is all he knew and so when they discovered you know that he had done these tours he had he hadn't been out that long you know well these are the treatment programs and things that we want to offer because we see that your time and problems is due to your you know your experiences so that's where everything is being changed you know different states different counties you know to aid that version of the past and present because once it's discovered you know that these problems are due to problems that they've had in the military you know it's what we need to do to serve these veterans you know but like i said every county is different every state is different you know and depending if you live in a different county it's something that they bring to that county you know to the veteran service officer or you know you know your senators and representatives in the state because you know it's sad to say that there is a lot of veterans incarcerated in county jails that are due to there because of their military experiences but that's one thing too that that's also changes that i work with a gentleman donna moachi at the VA that david kagabitang and he works with incarcerated veterans it's a new program that's been gone for a couple years and he has certain federal prisons that he'll go to once veterans that have been identified and he'll go in there about six months before they release and do an assessment on them veterans to find out what they need you know so he goes to you know all the federal penitentiaries you know to cheetah and do an assessment with the veteran here again too you know it might be because that military experiences and problems that the veteran ended up where they did so that way when the veteran gets out they're already hooked up you know and admitted into the VA healthcare you know they've been contacted to find out what healthcare emotional spiritual that they may need you know employment services that you know to help that veteran retrain maybe found for a service connected disability you know it's a program where they go to the veteran you know and find out what it is that veteran needs you know i've gone to a lot of local you know you know county jails you know facilities to meet with veterans to find out you know once i get out you know you know what do i do where do i go because i've been in this facility am i still eligible for veterans benefits you know so there's a lot you know they have a lot of questions and for them you know we're the counties and the bailiffs and that like us coming in because then once that veteran finds out that there's help once it gets out the last thing that veteran might want to do is cause any problems you know or he might do or she might do what she needs to do to you know maintain so that we get out and i can get all the benefits you know to help be you know you know regear life because if it wasn't for the military it probably wouldn't be here in the first place but we can't always say that but there are a lot of new programs starting out to work with those veterans you know either just coming into the program or already in you know in the facilities and here again too you know if we all talked here there's a variety of different organizations out there you know both state federal and especially you know this is where it's important for the community resources because you know a lot of times you know this is where the veteran is you know and because they don't live next to a regional office or a state benefits place you know they might not really need to you know really know where to go you know and so everybody here you know is a can be a resource for that veteran as to find out you know where can i go for these different services who can you know this is how we can best serve the veterans by knowing what's out there and who to contact because you never you know you might meet them at church you might meet them at the piggly wiggly you might meet them at the hockey rink you never know you know you know you might be you know they might be standing outside of the salvation army you know because they just got back you know from Iraq you know and it's been hard to find a job you know and you know i got my children you know you know i really don't know where to turn because a lot of times when you're just about to get out you know all you want is out you know and people like me and other people are sitting in front of all the veterans talking and all they hear is wank wank wank wank let me out and all of a sudden they're out and all of a sudden it's like you know you know now what you know now where do i go you know and so especially too if you live in the rules there might be a whole lot there might not be a whole lot of people that they talk to you know so having this knowledge you know in the context you know you know how can you serve your veterans by knowing you know knowing a little bit you know about at least nothing else your county veterans service officer because that person there can give them anything and everything that he or she needs to know you know here again too you know you know the vfw is a great place the american league you know am vets purple heart you know they're all resources you know that can help veterans with their you know finding out what they're eligible for where to contact you know information yep the department of veterans affairs you know you know i work with the county county county human services here in shabuigan you know they didn't realize that they're you know of the vet center and all the different services so that way if a veteran comes through the county and they might not be eligible for county services and now instead of well we have nothing to offer you but that's important thing is like you know of asking a person is like you know are you a veteran because sometimes you know that's kept out you know and sometimes too like someone has mentioned is that you know you know the women don't consider them veterans even though they've raised their hand and did everything that you know that they was asked of them of everyone you know and the great thing about these va benefits too is that for many of them they're lifetime benefits whether you're 23 getting out of service or you know you're 86 you're 102 you know and it doesn't matter you know there's a lot of lifetime benefits out there both not only for those you know specific of benefits on veterans but all the uh but all veterans in general there's lifetime benefits you know because sometimes a person gets confused like in the civilian world like with filing a service like a workman's comp claim you got a year you know once that year's up you know it's all over but with a service connected disability and I worked with a World War II veteran he was a tail gunner in a B 17 you know and they're playing and gotten hit you know and the reason that he didn't file for benefits because he's like there's other guys that need more than me you know so he came to us you know and he is 86 years old and you know if it wouldn't have been for his flat jacket you know you know and what little protection he had in this tour you know you know he would have lost his life you know and then because you know when he turned to you know the county you know it's like he wasn't eligible for a lot of county services and state services and finally he came into you know you know to the vet center and he says yeah you know our bomber was hit you know during the operation you know but it's because you know you know there's other guys worse off than me I made sure they got cared for first but I said you fall in line just like the rest of them you know so after 86 years you know you know in all this time out of the service you know you finally got hooked up but here again too is you know it's that military mind you know force of one you know don't show signs of weakness you know you know you should be able to address any problem that comes in that confronts you you know but that's not always the story and when he found out everything that he was eligible for you know he says when can I've got this I said 60 years ago so but here again too you know we work we try to work with communities churches you know anybody and everybody that opens our door to us you know we can walk in and provide them with this land navigation class about what we do what's out there you know who to contact because somebody asked me how do I you know best serve the veteran I really don't know what their needs are I'm not a veteran myself find out who they can contact when they do have a need that's how you can show your respect and appreciation for everything they did by knowing and here again too you know it's all it's falling throughout you know you know variety different programs phone books calling you know there's also transportation like in shabuigan county if a veteran has an appointment at the cleveland clinic are done at the blocky depending your apple thing clinic depending where they may need to go but for different reasons that they can't travel take them serve themselves the county has a special transportation uh funding setup to take that veteran to their program the VA has buses you know in the da v they they travel the state and pick up veterans depending if you live in you know uh you know you live over in mayville or you live in bayfield you know there are programs out there to provide transportation to those veterans to get them that you know the resources they need and also too you know there's a lot of programs out there you know uh we're just getting all geared up for camp american legion you know it's not part of the VA you know any part of it but it's ran by american legion and its objective is to provide you know a retreat and rest and relaxation for veterans it's up in lake tomahawk i've volunteered up there you know to work on the camp and uh it's six to ten days free all a person needs is a referral for their doctor cabins heating plumbing lights three squares a day of recreation there's a variety of different programs and coming up in june there is a woman's retreat coming up in camp american legion you know and i've been up there and if you'd never have you know boy it's heaven and with camp american legion you know here again too you know it's free you know and each and every year you can apply to go up there and it's a lifetime benefit and again too you know wellness programs that's where you're like with community services yeah there's a there's i can't remember what they're correct name for it but there's a program that an organization has put down in canosha county that uses horse therapy you know as a treatment form for veterans you know so it's important to know these different programs and working with the community because yeah a group of veterans that i have in my group they never knew of camp american legion and they all they've ever known as mowaki and so i gave them the applications they got their doctors to sign them and they you know the only thing with camp american legion you know you got to get yourself there but after that you know everything is provided and you know seeing them after they come back you know it did so much for them they would have never known you know and i would have never known if i didn't work in the community again there are churches you know there's a variety too there's spiritual programs you know contacting churches organizations you know because also too that's the one thing that you never hear you know about the veterans coming out of the service you might hear about how many people has just been deployed or were enlisted in the military you hear about those who are injured in the service or may have lost their life but what you never hear when you you know for the veterans from all veterans coming out how that time in the service may have injured them emotionally how you may have injured them spiritually you hear about the physical wounds but you only hear about anything else you know and so that's where too you know we work with a variety of different churches programs there's a there's a program down in Milwaukee called appointment ministries here specifically for veterans you know so veterans who might be experiencing different you know spirituality injuries you know because of their service you know they might go through their local chaplain and the local chaplain can understand to a point but because you know he didn't he or she didn't serve in a military they can't give that veteran what they might need so I say here contact you know I call him chaplain charlie with appointment ministries you know he works specifically you know and has served himself so that way you know that veteran can take care of you know of himself or herself in regards to their spirituality but that's one thing you don't hear you don't hear about those those types of injuries you know what else you know I guess that's a thing you know I can't tell you what else because things are always changing you know benefits are improving new benefit programs are starting there might be some things that might be decreasing in that but that's the one thing I tell all veterans is that you know well I really don't need that benefit right now I said the important thing is is to sign up for it anyway because sometimes how it's changed in a person's life and because how the VA works hurry up and get your stuff in and didn't wait you know when you need it and one available is when that when you have the change occur you know but also too I said you know you know because things change with benefits nowadays you know things get cut and all of a sudden you might say oh I'm really interested in this housing grant or I'm interested in this particular school program you know or this new program they'd have you know down at the VA and the women's resource resource health center but I really don't need it now all of a sudden something changes all of a sudden you apply oh we cut that program because nobody was using it you know so I said sign up for it now whether you're needed or not because one thing to do it is a key it'll keep that benefit alive and active so when they that person has got the big cleaver out and they're looking to do the trim well wow all these programs are really being utilized you know boy look at all the people signing up for these programs you know let's keep them going you know or you might have a all of a sudden a change in I lost my job you know well it's going to take you a couple months to get your education the retraining grants programs going what do I do before that compared to oh we see that you've already you know enrolled in this this VA education program give us a week and we'll get everything rolling for you same thing with medical you'll change medically you know and where you know you might need this program you go that's like well you know we'll get your paperwork process and we'll give you a call from anywhere from one day to a year see you there so but sign up for those programs you know whether you need them now or not because you just don't know when you're you know changes might occur and you need it or it's one of those benefits that if nobody uses it might get directed to sending bees to outer space you know so with that you know I want to again you know thank you for the opportunity to train you and land navigation you know my car is over there and and yeah find out for yourself what's altered because you know that's the best way that you can show your appreciation for veteran is knowing so so thank you I'm Mary Liz Murphy I'm the service down forces manager for the western Wisconsin region of the American Red Cross and I'm over on the eastern side with permission from the eastern my counterpart so he knows I'm here and we partner with everything that we do so again thank you Bonnie it was a wonderful presentation I'm just going to do a quick wrap up of what where do we go from here so first I want to tell you a couple resources that we have Kathy has done a fantastic job putting together your resource books so you're not expected to memorize everything we gave you today all that information is in the resource book for you to take with you she's also put together a fantastic a little brochure that summarize key resources that you might need these are for you to take with you they're up here on the desk so after the session you're welcome to take those and they're a great resource to give to women veterans to take home with them because they highlight those key resources they might need so so the goal here today was to give you the outline of what the services are and all the wonderful things that are available for veterans as they come in and you find out what their needs are you're not ever expected to have that memorized what we what we don't want to become is the problem where we're trying to answer benefit questions but we really don't know those answers what we want to be is proactive and make sure we take our veterans to the proper people so they can answer those questions so who are you going to take them to for benefit questions county thank you the county veteran service officer the cvso and if they need counseling or they have other questions who are we going to go to the vet centers and the vet centers are so important because of that confidentiality piece so many times they're nervous especially women I think nervous about going back into the military system especially if they've had that experience and the vet centers offer that confidentiality I think that's so key their peer-to-peer support other trained counselors and they offer that confidentiality piece and I think letting them know that is really important so they we consider them the frame of that counseling that recovering program so where do we go from here we have a handout we're passing out to you to talk about that so pretty much pretty much it's it there's there's skies your limit there's really no blueprint as far as your creativity and women are very as far as your creativity and where you want to go from here you are free to do that so some of the ideas we brainstormed is to hold an open house for women veterans and invite them in to come and learn about their benefits you can invite the vet center back in you can invite the CVSO back in but have maybe an open house a free lunch maybe have child care in the back if they have children have gift gas cards gas is so pricey maybe to have a little catch you can have some gas cards you could offer or you can have another raffle but some way to bring them in to have an open house and offer some more information for them and build those relationships another suggestion would be to have something held around your holiday time the next holiday coming be Easter you might want to have an Easter bunny egg hunt for I'm sorry that's my cell phone buried somewhere yeah another Easter an Easter egg hunt for their their kids or or some spring fling where we can talk about renewing our spirits during spring we do have Mother's Day coming up if the veteran is a mother is she on her own who's going to honor her on Mother's Day so many female veterans in this current war went and served they came back the guys who given some time take some time before you come back and be father and take care of the kids the girls here's your kid we took care of it while you were gone here it is and they have to walk into those motherhood feet right away and and again we do that don't we and we don't take care of our needs it may be couch surfing they may be living at home still and that's how we define homelessness are you are you in your own apartment or your own home where you are paying the rent successfully if that if you're not doing that then you're homeless and so we want to make sure that we honor them on Mother's Day so if they're a mother you can have a special event for Mother's Day for them maybe get some local businesses to offer some free coupons or free items for them and and and provide that loving support for them on Mother's Day weekend you have the flag day coming up and Memorial Day coming up flag day weekend is May 19th then you've got Memorial Day weekend about a week or two after I'm sorry Armed Forces Day Flag Day is June I'm going to say that look you're right I got that wrong Armed Forces Day is that May 19th weekend and then Memorial Day shortly after that so those are some opportunities to really get out in your community and offer an idea some some groups love potlucks and they were going to have a monthly potluck or a coffee day or a coffee shop for women veterans so they're really disguised the limit where you proceed from here and the last page of the book that we gave you it lists all the counties and the veterans the women veterans in your county so you can look your county up and it breaks those women veterans down by age group so you might have something different if you have a large number of World War two veterans don't assume that they are taken care of this is a very different period in history for all of us there may be World War two women veterans who are struggling who have lost benefits who've lost jobs and they may be in the verge of homelessness or they may be living with family and and as Rodney said they're not aware they have benefits it got all these years and didn't know that they had benefits so that may be a population you want to have a potluck for welcome them in advertise that through senior centers advertise that through the libraries through the Department of Aging try to flush them out of your community and welcome them into your sisterhood another would be the young veterans they may want more of a coffee shop meeting once a month to talk about the issues they're going through talk about what it's like to be young a veteran and have these issues they didn't and they didn't know they were veterans they didn't know that they are entitled to things we ask you actually not to advertise if you're a veteran but to advertise have you served in the armed forces because women won't identify themselves at veterans so when you market your programs we want you to ask have you served in the armed forces and then we want to welcome you in and have a program for you here so really the skies where you can go with this and any of your ideas that that you can think of is really a way to bring them in and don't worry if you the first time you have something you get one veteran that's successful right we build one sisterhood at a time one veteran at a time in sisterhood we build so if you bring one in that's great they talk to each other don't think they don't so if they're couch surfing or or they probably have a friend who's a veteran and she is a friend who's a veteran so the next time you have your vent she'll bring that veteran along and then the next time she'll bring somebody along so don't think that you're that you're not successful if you don't have a it's one veteran at a time in sisterhood so the idea is we build that sisterhood we build that mentoring program and we help them reconnect into our communities reconnect onto their feet so they can be successful in life but we're here for so your task now is to be that army for them to go out to the communities and try to brainstorm how to bring them into your fold how to offer those services and how to build those relationships with them so that we're walking them back into the normal sea of life and on their feet and that sisterhood and that's what we can offer you are our army Rodney can't be everywhere and I can't be everywhere and Kathy Walmer can't be everywhere but you're everywhere you're in every community in every county and the CVS O can't be everywhere but they've got you now they've got you as their army to go out there and build that support to the women veterans and the CVS O's are elected officials so as a as a citizen and a non for profits we we can support them so if they say you know we want to do more but our county's only given us this amount of money we can go and support the county and say you know we want more money more hours more time to go to our CVS O for our veterans in our community and on the other hand if you have a CVS O in a community who's not doing the job we can hold their feet to the fire as you can get the and I say and say you know we're here now we're going to make sure you're doing that job and we're going to support you to succeed so so those are those are things we can do so you are the empowerment for you are the way that we can reach all those women veterans and bring them back to success in the sisterhood of support as a work forward in their lives and and return to normalcy so I want to open it up for questions does anyone have question for me for Rodney or for Kathy yes formative and a lot of good information and um at this time what we would like to uh progress uh Judge and Angela Cicaditch very good is here to tell us a little bit about that court that Rodney uh mentioned and it will be starting here next month so she's going to just fill us in a little bit on that and then we're going to go into lunch or we're not going to see closer well we'll have lunch and then um we'll have the drawing um say if every what time is it quarter to twelve say ten after twelve just you know ten after twelve we'll have the drawing at the for the auction things over here and be getting us move on to lunches things and um hi as you were told them Judge Angela Cicaditch branch three here in Sheboygan county and I was so happy to hear her speaker talk about veterans courts they're starting all over the state the first one was in Buffalo New York but they are sprouting up all over and we're really happy to have one here we've been working on it for over a year I've been working very closely with our county veteran service officer as well as the sheriff's department public defender's office DA's office probation and parole and we have noticed a lot of veterans that are involved in the criminal justice system just as our last speaker was talking about um we see a lot of domestic violence um a lot of people that are self-medicating as you know with the recent conflicts there's so much traumatic brain injury post traumatic stress syndrome and just some veterans that have lost their way and have gotten into alcohol and drugs um we are focusing on combat veterans but you do not have to be a combat veteran you just have to be a veteran that has a treatable need and is willing to leave the criminal justice system and work on getting that treatment um what will happen is our sheriff's department has already started identifying veterans um a lot of the people that i'm working with understand that people don't always realize that they are a veteran as you've heard today so we're asking have you served in the military and so that's the first step is to identify the veterans in the criminal justice system the next step is to have either the veteran themselves or a public defender or their defense attorney work with the DA to establish a contract that's approved by the court and what the contract does is the veteran will agree to get the treatment that he or she needs and to abide by some other rules and in exchange they're out of the criminal justice system for about a year to a year and a half if they successfully complete veterans court their charges will either be dismissed or they'll get a lesser sentence um if they're not successful unfortunately they'll go right back to criminal court but they'll just be in the same boat um what happens is once this contract is signed the judge that they're in front of them to come to branch three here in sheboygan county to veterans court we will be servicing about six different counties all of our surrounding counties almost all of the veterans courts in wisconsin are regional um it's because we have to have someone from the va come to veterans court which will hold about once a month here and um that it's a victim uh a victim justice coordinator outreach coordinator veterans uh someone from the va and they'll let us know how the veteran is progressing a very key component to veterans courts are mentors each veteran will be set up with a mentor which is a volunteer and we're hoping that if we have female veterans they'll be um have a female mentor to work with male veterans or the male mentor and we're also hoping to match up the branches of the service as well um most of the courts that we've spoken to have said that the mentors are really the key component that makes veterans court successful um it's like this uh woman here was saying about the paperwork the mentors can actually help with the paperwork as well we have a wonderful county veteran service officer here who really will help you with that as she's um i don't know if you know that's the same in every county but i think it is here but you really do need the one on one and a mentor will do that they can help them with that they can be there with them in court they're usually available by phone to have meetings with just to say you can do this you can get through veterans court you can make it through treatment and be successful um most veterans spend about a year to 18 months in veterans court in addition to the treatment they're meeting with their mentor they're staying free of alcohol and drugs they're staying free of not having any more and um hopefully just being a productive member of our community once again every veteran um had that pride that integrity they work together um on a goal and that's what we want to get those feelings back again as i said some veterans have just lost their way rounds up in the criminal justice system um just as our last speaker said putting them in jail it doesn't really help we want them to just get back to the way they were so i think it's a program that will make our whole community safer i think it will be wonderful for families and it's wonderful for veterans i'm trying to go around the county as are other people that are part of the veterans court just to let everyone know about this um we want to make sure that all the defense attorneys know we already have the da's office on board um and we're really just wanting people to know about it to spread the word um we have people that are asking when we're starting so we do have veterans already waiting we actually had a veteran in newton county i had a call saying that veteran would like to come here um we weren't up and running yet so we think that there's certainly a need uh we think it'll be a six something very successful if you are interested in being a mentor or you know people that are interested um please continue we haven't gotten the mentor program quite up and running but we do have a coordinator and we'll be starting that really shortly so i know lunch is coming i don't want to take up your time but i'll be here for lunch so if you have questions please come and talk to me about it it's something that i believe in very much and as i said i really think it's going to benefit our entire community um just a little side notes um it is something that there there's a bill actually in the legislature here in wisconsin stating that um every county must be part of a veterans court either have one in their own county or be part of a regional one so we're kind of cutting edge here and um ahead of the game because i believe that they are going that it will be the one wisconsin eventually and probably around the nation and i think it's great that our courts are finally realizing that you know as we heard radney speak about veterans are coming back and we need to recognize there are reasons why this is happening and address it rather than just putting them in jail which really helps no one so just appreciate the opportunity to speak today thank you so much i think the whole day seemed like a great idea thank you thank you very much okay just a couple quick things on the back table but in the back here there are some pamphlets of all uniforms from the past that might be of interest to some of you that's interesting and please don't forget to get a federal book over here and there are cards here for charlene our cvso she has sent along some of her business cards she couldn't be with us today so please help yourself to those and for lunch you can sit wherever you want the your key thing is that little piece of paper you got when you came in green or or orange they that indicates which lunch you're having so you would like to have that around you you got your colored tags okay oh yeah right give you a chance to another chance to get in on the auction okay then we'd like to have a veterans prayer before lunch so we go ahead with that now and then we'll be done talking most oil will read this big one people to hear you otherwise dear lord today we honor our veterans worthy men and women who gave their best when they were called upon to serve and protect the country we pray that you will bless them lord for their unselfish service in the continual struggle to preserve our freedoms our safety our country's heritage for all of us bless them abundantly for the hardships they faced for the sacrifices they made and for many of their different contributions to america's victories our over tyranny and oppression we respect them we thank them we honor them and we are proud of them and we pray that you will watch over these special people and bless them with peace and happiness in jesus name we pray amen thank you