National Veteran Service Officer Kevin Buckner interacts with hundreds of women veterans during ‘Boots on the Ground for Boots on the Ground’ event.
On July 24-25, hundreds of women veterans headed to the Henry B. González Convention Center for the first of what are five planned U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Southwest Region Women Veterans Enrollment Summit: “Boots on the Ground for Boots on the Ground” events. The initiative, presented by VA’s Center for Women Veterans, is focused on both enrolling women veterans in VA healthcare and providing them information on their potential benefits.
Kevin Buckner, a National Veteran Service Officer for The American Legion, attended the summit. And he came away impressed with what VA is doing to reach the nation’s women veterans.
“This was just an exceptional place to be, and just to be part of it was mind-blowing,” Buckner said. “The VA really knocked it out of the park. I can’t say enough.”
Buckner was on hand to represent the Legion as a veteran service organization and said he was able to interact with around 600 women veterans during the summit. Getting an opportunity to do so enabled Buckner to share with attendees that “we are there to stand for female veterans … so that we are there no matter what happens.
“A lot of (women veterans) feel that they, as a whole … have been undervalued and underpopulated because they are afraid to come forward – either because of (military sexual trauma) or they feel that they didn’t qualify for benefits. These females (veterans) came in and said I didn’t even know I was eligible for these. It just hit me … it was very overwhelming.”
Summit attendees were able to interact with multiple veteran service agencies, as well as get benefits claims assistance, learn about mental health resources, get career information and guidance, and learn about VA healthcare and other services.
Jacquelyn Hayes-Byrd, executive director of VA’s Center for Women Veterans and Acting Executive Director for its Center for Minority Veterans, said in her opening remarks that the summit was an opportunity for women veterans to make themselves a priority.
“I understand what many of you understand: taking off the uniform doesn’t mean we stop serving,” Hayes-Byre said. “Service stays with us no matter what. It shapes how we care for others and how we lift one another up. But there’s one lesson many of us have learned the hard way. It’s that women veterans are really good at taking care of everybody else. We’re caregivers. We’re planners. We’re problem solvers.
“But sometimes, we’re not so good at taking care of ourselves. Here today, I want you to make sure to do that. Today, it’s OK to choose you. It’s OK to ask questions. It’s OK to ask about the benefits that you have earned. It’s Ok to prioritize your health, your future and your well-being. Because you’ve earned it.”
Buckner said being able to share benefits information with veterans who previously had no idea they might qualify for some “was very overwhelming. I see it all the time because I do a claims clinic at the Washington (D.C.) Medical Center. I have helped people that have been denied for years. I’ve gotten them to 100 percent (Permanent and Total disability rating) just by talking to them. I get very emotional about it.”
Additional summits will take place in the West, Midwest, Southeast and Northeast. Click here to see when additional summits are scheduled.
- Veterans Healthcare