Women Veterans have always been part of our military and Veteran community, but that has not always meant they are consistently recognized as Veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs has a Center for Women Veterans, our national CVSO association recently launched its HER STORY series, and MACVSO has added a Women Veterans technical assistance coordinator. Those efforts help increase recognition, awareness, and access.
The purpose is not to set women Veterans apart from everyone else. It is to help ensure women who served are recognized as Veterans, know what benefits and services may be available, and are connected with appropriate resources when gender-specific needs are relevant.
For some women Veterans, the barrier can be as basic as being assumed to be the spouse rather than the Veteran. Others may not readily identify themselves as Veterans or may be unfamiliar with benefits and services available to them. There can also be health care needs and military experiences for which specialized programs, providers, or outreach are appropriate. Recognizing those needs is part of serving Veterans effectively.
My approach at the county level is fairly simple: start with the Veteran and the individual circumstances. Gender, age, era of service, military occupation, deployment history, disability, family situation, and many other facts may become relevant when discussing a particular benefit or service. Those characteristics may affect which benefits or resources are relevant, but they do not change our responsibility to assist the Veteran in front of us.
That means some topics appropriately call for women-specific information, while many do not. If a benefit, health service, event, or resource is specifically relevant to women Veterans, it should be identified. When a program applies broadly to Veterans, it should be presented broadly.
The goal is inclusion without making anyone feel like an exception.
Your County Veterans Service Officer is a good place to start with questions about benefits, services, claims, or available resources. Women Veterans may also contact the VA Women Veterans Call Center at 855-829-6636 for information about VA health care, benefits, eligibility, and women-specific resources.
Perhaps the simplest message is also the most important: being a Veteran is not defined by gender. If you served, you belong in the Veteran community, and you should feel welcome asking what benefits, services, or resources may apply to you.
Veterans come from a broad collection of backgrounds and experiences. Our responsibility is to meet the Veteran in front of us, listen to the story, and determine where we may be able to help.
Brad Anderson and Melissa Crandall are the Lake County Veterans Service Officers and can be reached at 218.834.8326 or Vets@LakeCountyMN.gov
Karen Christianson is the Cook County Veterans Service Officer and can be reached at 218.387.3639, or karen.christianson@cookcountymn.gov
