By Dorothy Meindok
The Post Newspaper Veterans Consultant
All core event organizers said at the beginning that if we helped ONE veteran not commit suicide and find some hope with the Texas Veterans Town Halls, we’d count it as a successful mission, so Congratulations to the TVTH team! We surpassed our goal! All of us – TOGETHER.
People told me if we invited “so & so,” nobody would come; we invited everyone anyway & over 225 people showed up with just a few weeks of grassroots organizing & shoestring budget marketing.
People told me it was too risky, in today’s climate to ask the VA to attend (ask them to meet on our turf, so to speak), and then joked that I was “nuts” to invite all different walks of life to put aside the “extra,” join us and come together for veterans, but TEXAS delivered again. In fact, so did Colorado, Mississippi, Louisiana and a few other states people flew into Houston/Galveston from, just to visit a safe, white-flag zone focused on the shared general and personal issues veterans face, information sharing and also to meet allied supporters in the local community at large.
I’ll not fail to mention that VA toxic screenings had a line when they got there at 5 PM (an hour before scheduled) and they had a solid veteran line, all night past 9 PM, to privately speak to the actual medical doctors and specialists VA provided. A veteran that showed up early, just to be first in line, anticipating it would be busy, remarked that it was the first time he felt that the VA truly listened to his health history from Vietnam. Another remarked that the doctor actually knew where he served and how to spell the names of the remote, foreign cities where he served, which was half of the battle as far as his anxiety was concerned; he even said he felt like he could just talk about what he was there for rather than wondering if the doctor even knew what “DMZ” meant (DMZ stands for demilitarized zone and they are often very volatile regions despite “peacetime” service years in many countries, something important & helpful for a VA employee to know).
Elected officials from all over were represented, as they were meeting with and connecting with attendees, all in support of veterans. Even those in hopes of being elected into future public service were there to engage and learn about what veterans & their caregivers need. The crowd’s political preference reflected a demographic composed of Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and even veggie-loving Green veterans & supporters.
Since the start of the TVTH project began to take shape in December 2022 and commencing in Beaumont, Texas on February 22, so many blessings have transpired for veterans. One is that PACT Act funding has been approved to build a new VA facility to serve our Texas Golden Triangle veteran populations; another is strengthening relationships among local veteran leaders, VA, veteran-owned businesses, veterans organizations, nonprofits, federal & Texas government leaders and communities have been seeded for growth.
Maybe we’ll get a new and improved expanded CBOC (community based outpatient clinic) in Galveston County or at least a new Vet Center (to support our veterans and local mental health care providers. I’m certainly going to ask.).
Overall, PA speaker issues aside, a few loud plane departures, naysayers and even some haters, the good outweighed the bad.
VETERANS WON! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Our Texas community made it happen and I thank The Post Newspaper family for allowing me the print and online space to share my thanks for all of you!
This has been a great experience as Event Chair for the Galveston/Houston Texas Veterans Town Hall and I was honored to serve with you all.
Be blessed! Dorothy Meindok
Dorothy Meindok is The Post Newspaper’s Veterans Consultant. Ms. Meindok served her nation in the United States Navy and is currently a practicing lawyer advocating for our nation’s veterans. Her column appears on Sundays.
