Richland Campus hosted a Veterans Resource Fair on Nov. 3. The resource fair provided resources for veterans in the Dallas area. As the 43-day long government shutdown neared its conclusion, federal resources that previously ran into shortfalls are expected to reopen to provide Veterans with resources. However, local programs continue to offer solutions despite issues with the Veterans Affairs Department.
As a result of the government shutdown, thousands of government employees had been furloughed from their positions.
The Department of Veterans Affairs said in a press release that “Nearly 37,000 Department of Veterans Affairs employees to be furloughed or continue working without pay.”
These positions, such as the GI Bill hotline and the Regional Benefits offices, were either not functioning or working at limited capacity. With these conditions, people in attendance at the event had concerns about veterans’ services in Dallas.
Billy Yost, an Air Force veteran and program lead for Veteran & Military-Connected Services, saw issues with federal veterans’ services as directly affecting the ability of veterans to enroll.
Yost said, “For certain veterans who are working with the Veterans Readiness and Employment Group or that particular employment benefit, they do not have access to their case managers.” These case managers assisted in class enrollment and benefits.
Yost also had issues with contacting the Department of Veterans Affairs. “The VA customer service line, the education line, they’re not taking calls. So just the lack of staff is making it very difficult for Dallas College to carry these out,” he said.
While these issues are soon to be resolved, Dr. Shirley Higgs, the executive director of military compliance and veterans external affairs, saw the shutdown as prompting more people to enroll.
Higgs said, “Well, normally the way society works, you know, when there’s a shutdown or different types of situations, circumstances that are going on, people do come back to college because it’s another means to provide additional support and incomes for their families.”
As veterans potentially enroll in Dallas college, numerous organizations at the resource fair showcased the benefits offered not just by the college, but across the Metroplex. Rachel Estrada, a member of campus counseling services, said they “help students with any type of anxiety, depression, any type of stress or issues they’re dealing with.”
However, Estrada acknowledged the negative stigma attached to counseling. “There is still a stigma with counseling, but, overall, we are very utilized at this campus. In fact, we’re the campus that has the most student that we see,” she said.
Joshua Parker, a therapist with Lifeologie, also recognizes this stigma. However, he said, “I would encourage everybody to not look at it as a means of inferiority, or like ‘I’m weak’ because I’m seeking services. If you’re hungry, you go to a food bank. If you feel like you need to go to a gym, you know, to get strong, that’s where you’ll go. Mental health is no different.”
Parker spoke about his own experience with getting counseling services and how a lack of access impacted him. “It took me a while to get the services that I need, and I was on the brink of committing suicide, so it wasn’t until I got the proper help that I needed that I was allowed to turn the page into a new part of my story,” he said.
Being a Marine, he has experience with veterans and saw the shutdown as affecting the ability of veterans to get mental health services. “Counseling and gym are the first things to go out of a budget, unfortunately. We would love to see an uptick occur when benefits come back,” he said.
When asked about how the college approaches veterans benefits, Cliff Boyd, a vice chair on the Board of Trustees, said, “When we look at a veteran, we look at their whole family.
We look at the whole community and how they’re involved, because, as you know, we have a lot of wraparound services that really help a lot of people.” These services provide veterans with the services they need.
“We have too many of our veterans who are not earning a working wage. They can’t live on what they earn after they’ve retired. We can change that,” he said.
Dr. Justin Lonon, chancellor for Dallas College, spoke about how the college is working on expanding its benefits for veterans.
“This has been an evolution over the last few years as we want to ensure that we’re doing all we can to support our veterans, that our veterans feel welcome at Dallas College and that you recognize and understand that we are here to serve you in your journey, just as you all have been here serving all of us through your service in the military,” said Lonon.
While Dallas College has been growing their veterans services, Lonon recognized the difficulty veterans may have attending college.
“We know for our veterans population, oftentimes there are barriers that we want to make sure that we’re removing those,” he said.
When asked about future plans for campus veterans benefits, Lonon said, “You’re part of the Dallas College family, and so we will do everything we can to help ensure that either we can provide resources or connect you with available resources that may exist.”
