PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Ashton Stewart, Veteran Liaison at MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care
0:58:51
·
3 min
Ashton Stewart, a Navy veteran and Veteran Liaison at MJHS Hospice and Palliative Care, testified about the importance of veteran support in healthcare and voter engagement. He highlighted MJHS's involvement in the We Honor Veterans National Initiative and their efforts to provide culturally sensitive care to veterans at the end of life.
- Emphasized the crucial role of civilian volunteers in building trust with veterans and helping them self-identify
- Shared success stories of connecting veterans with resources and recognition through MJHS programs
- Stressed the importance of cultural connections and language support in veteran care, citing an example with a Chinese veteran
- Called for more veteran involvement in advocacy work and encouraged veterans to run for office
Ashton Stewart
0:58:51
Good morning.
0:58:52
My name is Ashton Stewart.
0:58:53
I'm chair holding members of the council committee on veterans.
0:58:55
Thank you for holding this hearing today.
0:58:58
I'm a Navy veteran who served in the 1st call for, and I'm also the veteran liaison at MGHS working in hospice and palliative care.
0:59:06
Yesterday was national voter registration day.
0:59:09
And 10 years ago, I was the executive director at the League of Women voters of the City of New York, and I produced a very large and national voter registration day event right here at City Hall Park.
0:59:19
Partnering with CUNY, the New York City Board of Elections, and voted Latino.
0:59:23
We held a mock election using the new voting machines.
0:59:27
We had Lady Pink, who we commissioned to create a spray paint mural depicting the word vote to show the power and struggle behind the word.
0:59:37
As you know, the the separate movement was very powerful in earning the women women the right to vote.
0:59:43
It's now housed at the New York Historical Society's Museum.
0:59:47
It was ten foot by twelve foot.
0:59:48
It was awesome.
0:59:49
It was a great day.
0:59:51
Getting back to MJHS is a not for profit health system that was founded in 1907 and has grown into one of the largest health systems in the region, and volunteerism is a key part of our hospice programs.
1:00:03
MJHS understands unique net needs and challenges that face veterans of all cultural backgrounds as they approach the end of life, including the very real and often not yet need need for the unmatched peer to peer support from other veterans.
1:00:19
MJHS is proud to be a part of the We Honor Veterans National Initiative, which is a partnership between the VA and the National Hospice And Palliative Care Organization.
1:00:27
Last year, we earned the 2023 We Honor Veterans Outstanding Program Award.
1:00:33
And we also connect they connected us to several civilian volunteers, and I just don't want this to get lost.
1:00:40
Civilians who work with the volunteer population are so important because they are the bridge to get the trust from the veterans to self identify.
1:00:49
I've seen this in examples with one veteran in particular.
1:00:53
He was speaking with his social worker.
1:00:54
He trusted her.
1:00:55
He shared that he was a veteran.
1:00:57
He shared that he got kicked out and boot camp out with this terrible thing that happened to him.
1:01:02
And then she reached out to me to help advocate for him.
1:01:04
We got him housing health.
1:01:06
We got him inducted into New York State veterans hall of fame.
1:01:09
We got him comfortable identifying as a veteran, and it was huge, and it was all because of that one social worker.
1:01:16
At MGHS, we've had one volunteer who finished our onboarding process, and he's helped us put it together our packets for veterans and their families, for proclamations, signed by Governor Hochul, and we honor veteran certificate and he is getting more involved in the program.
1:01:33
He represented us at the United Veterans War Council event for Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day.
1:01:39
He's getting more involved in the work we're doing We had another volunteer who spoke fluent Mandarin, who helped us connect with a family of a a Chinese veteran, who didn't really it
James Hendon
1:01:52
it was great because we
Ashton Stewart
1:01:54
may I just finish this one little anecdotal piece?
1:01:57
She spoke his language, and I think the cultural connection that they shared, after we got his permission to connect them, we were able to to share resources with him that he was unaware of and that that was incredibly helpful.
1:02:10
So when we work with veterans in the veteran space, it's just crucial.
1:02:14
And I I I wanna work with the council in any way I can to try to get more veterans involved in this work and more advocates that want to support veterans and certainly more veterans who wanna run for office.
1:02:25
Thank you.
Robert F. Holden
1:02:25
Well, that that's what we really need.
