Connecting those who served

Richard Jackson, a veteran service officer with San Mateo County, has been focused on spreading the word about the many resources available to veterans in the four to five years he has worked with the county. He is hoping a sharpened focus on veterans affairs in recent years and an increase in staff dedicated to serving veterans in the county’s Human Services Agency will leverage the local resources to help a segment of the population that often falls through the cracks.

“We have the ability to get them all the help they need,” he said. “But we don’t have the people to get it done.”

A U.S. Army veteran himself, Jackson understands the barriers that often stand in the way of veterans’ access to services and resources designed to support them, including a complicated bureaucracy, mental health conditions, limited access to email and stigmas around asking for help. He remembers how difficult it was to navigate the many steps required before he could access veteran benefits needed to treat the injuries he sustained during the Gulf War.

“You have 100 people telling you what to do,” he said, of the sheer number of processes he had to follow with several different agencies to receive medical care.

San Mateo resident and U.S. Marine Corps veteran George Smith said the effort to highlight several organizations and services at one event is a step in the right direction for the large community of organizations dedicated to the more than 32,000 veterans he said reside in San Mateo County. Smith, a member of seven organizations focused on veterans affairs, credits the creation of the San Mateo County Veterans Commission in 2015 with being among the first of many efforts to effectively coordinate the many veterans-focused groups and expand their impact on the community collectively.

“It’s given us an opportunity to work with all the veterans organizations in the county,” he said.

Smith said $2,100 recently collected from 13 veterans groups in the county funded the purchase of hundreds of backpacks that were stuffed with toiletries, snacks and socks and distributed to homeless veterans at the event, which he said wouldn’t have been possible had the groups acted alone. For Smith, the coordination of the groups is critical in reaching more veterans, many of whom benefit from a sense of community as they work through what can be a challenging transition from service to civilian life.

For Vietnam veteran and South San Francisco resident Jesse Grenier, connecting with veteran service officers like Jackson has marked a shift in his perspective on reaching out for help. Grenier has experienced depression and physical pain stemming from his time in the Marine Corps more than 40 years ago. Following difficulties with his business a few years ago and unsuccessful attempts to access resources through government agencies, he was initially disappointed to find himself with his wife, Kathy, at the county’s Human Services Agency office in late 2015 looking for resources like food stamps.

“We just thought nobody cares,” he said.

But after meeting Jackson that day, he had finally found someone who understood what he was going through and was willing to help him. Grenier said Friday’s event made him made him more optimistic about continuing to pursue resources available to San Mateo County veterans.

“It makes me feel like there’s a lot of hope in this world,” he said.

Grenier said connecting with other veterans who have had similar experiences has made him more comfortable talking about his own, a topic he used to avoid.

“That’s the healing, that’s really good,” he said.

Making sure that the county’s veterans are connected with even one group or resource, said Smith, can keep those who would otherwise be cut off from critical resources informed on how navigate the changing landscape of the laws and regulations concerning veterans benefits. By strengthening the community of San Mateo County veterans, Smith hopes these groups can ease the path for those who choose military service in the future.

“We have to make sure that the future is provided for our future veterans,” he said.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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