 I joined DAB because I wanted to influence and impact veterans. They said, you know, this is what we do. We help veterans on a larger scale. We have more veterans coming through our office than you would see in other situations like county offices. They said, we need help with our female veteran population. Can you help? And I said, of course. My name is Callie Rios. My family has a long history of military service. I joined the military because I was a single parent and I was looking for better job opportunities, a better life for my child. So I followed in my family's footsteps and became the first female in my family to join the military. I joined the U.S. Army because I wanted to see the world. I wanted to work with new people and experience new experiences. I got a very large sense of pride carrying on that family tradition of military service. What I got out of it was I got to meet a whole lot of awesome people. I got to see a whole lot of cool things that I got to serve people. I got to serve my country honorably and carry on that family tradition. There was a turning point in my military career at Fort Knox when I was the victim of a sexual assault. It really changed my perspective and I did not really find much support in my unit. I didn't really find much support anywhere. It was a very lonely time for me. I came back out of it and now I'm ready to help other women who are in the same position as I was. Callie is one of our volunteers. She helps coordinate that and as the junior vice commander of the chapter she is an intricate part of all the charity events that we do. We do Heroes and Heels, a female veteran conference. We also try to incorporate a post-traumatic stress clinic for first responders. That's something to just bring our females in, let them know that we're here, that we have the same experiences as them. During our last year's conference we had clinicians here that could talk to first responders, that could talk to veterans and kind of give them some insight on where they can get help and how they can get help. I joined the Texas State Guard because I was looking for a home. I was no longer on active service. I was kind of feeling useless. I was looking for something to help me transition into civilian life. The Texas State Guard and also the Virginia Defense Force gave me a home. The Texas State Guard is unique in that we only deploy within the state of Texas. Sergeant Reyes has almost nine years in the Texas State Guard which speaks to her volunteerism. Sergeant Reyes actually deployed in response to Hurricane Harvey. She worked in an American Red Cross shelter operation. She also served in a pod which is where we dispense supplies to civilians impacted by the disaster. She's always coordinated with us whenever we had events. She reaches out to people. She doesn't sit back and wait for them to call her. And with DAV and Harvey and the representative that she is, she's the one that comes in and she reaches out. She'll just come in and say, hey, how's your day? What's going on? Being disabled is not easy sometimes, making ends meet. I went to my veteran advisor here at the school, Kay Shipper, and she said, you know what? Give Callie a call from the DAV and she might be able to help you. I did, and three days later, no questions asked. Her and her organization reached out to me and were able to help me by replacing the transmission with my pick up. Any program the DAV can touch to help the veterans' lives improve, she's all over it. It doesn't take anything but a phone call to get her attention and to get her involved in that veteran's life. I love people. I volunteer and I give back so much because I love people. If I can help them, if they can find a piece of my story that connects with them and helps them in any kind of way, then it's worth it for me. She's just there. She's one of those bigger than life people. She's always been there when I've called her, when I've had a need or a student's having a need or a veteran's having a need and she's always there. Callie brings heart and brings kindness to the chapter and just helps bring unity, helps bring some of the glue of the organization together. I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't be here in school. I wouldn't be where I am in my life if it hadn't been for people like her. I would tell other veterans out there, never give up. Never stop fighting. Just don't quit. Just don't quit. Thank you.