Reaching Veterans in Southeast Louisiana

Partnering with a local community church, Southeast Louisiana VA hosted a Veterans Info & Benefits Fair in New Orleans East. Nearly 200 people registered for the event.

VA experts answered Veterans' questions on a wide range of topics including VA eligibility and enrollment, scheduling an appointment with a benefits counselor, claim assistance, suicide prevention and PACT Act Information.

"We all have to remember that VA's top clinical priority is preventing Veteran suicide," said Renard Dominique, community engagement & partnerships coordinator. "Everything we do is focusing on that goal. You don't have to own a gun to advocate for gun-owning Veterans to be safe and secure with their ownership just as you don't have to own a car to tell someone to drive safely."

Pictured above, Outreach Coordinator Cynthia Marquez distributes PACT Act information to Veterans.

A booth at the event was set up specifically for women Veterans. Danielle Weber provided information on women's health primary care providers, mammograms, breast health, cervical cancer screening, maternity care coordination, a new pelvic therapy clinic and other related topics.

Weber is a registered nurse navigator with the Women Veterans Program. "Outreach events like this help put a friendly face on site to answer questions, relate concerns and connect. Face-to-face interaction allows for a personal rapport, a partnership, a sense of trust. I enjoy meeting and speaking with our Veterans in the community. It is an absolute treat to just listen," Weber said.

Southeast Louisiana VA regularly holds outreach events across the area it serves.

"Outreach events like this provide us with yet another opportunity to serve Veterans in Southeast Louisiana. It's important we make this connection with our Veterans," said Fernando O. Rivera, medical center director. "Our staff serve Veterans at our main facility and our seven community-based outreach clinics, but it's critical to meet and talk with them in their neighborhoods and places they frequent. We want them to know VA is as much a part of the community as they are and through outreach we can learn to better serve them."