Q&A
Strategies for improving veteran outreach and communication
2:01:11
ยท
48 sec
Council members and veterans' advocates discuss various strategies for improving outreach and communication with veterans in NYC. Ashton Stewart suggests alternative methods to reach veterans who aren't currently engaged with the VA system.
- Stewart proposes communicating through other veteran advocates, families, and social workers
- The Vet 2 Vet Cafes program is mentioned as a way to bring veterans together and share information
- The importance of raising awareness about end-of-life benefits for veterans is highlighted
- The discussion touches on the VA's recent campaign to inform veterans about burial benefits
Robert Holden
2:01:11
And I Well, that's a great argument, but it's a catch 22.
2:01:14
If we can't communicate with them, if we don't have a budget that we could communicate No.
Ashton Stewart
2:01:18
We can.
2:01:18
We can.
2:01:19
We can do it through, communicating with other veteran advocates, with their families, with people who work for social workers across the city, with empowering programs like the Vet 2 Vet Cafes that we do just to get people together and talk, talk about end of life benefits that a lot of veterans don't know about.
2:01:34
And the VA did a huge campaign last September because only, like, 20% of veterans are even aware of these benefits.
2:01:41
You can get buried for free in a national cemetery and have a full military burial.
2:01:44
People don't know about these things, and that's a huge cost saving.
2:01:47
And your spouse can be buried with you.
2:01:50
It's it's such a wonderful, beautiful thing for for those who are patriotic and wanna go back to that time of their life when they served and ends the same way.