Weekly Report 🎖
K9's For Warriors | TVLC | Vietnam War Commemoration | Veteran Protest
Commanders Coalition is 100% pro Veteran and 100% apolitical.
Nearly 100 veterans and supporters gathered outside the Florida Capitol on March 14 to protest the Trump administration. As the editor of a veteran-focused newsletter, I cover the news regardless of which side is sharing it. Here are some pictures sent in from the protest.
Learn more about the K9’s For Warriors mission by watching these videos. Our local point of contact for this organization is Mary Allen and she is in the midst of planning another event. We will share more information as we get it.
At yesterday’s Legal Clinic at Lk Ella (Thursday), our volunteer team totaled 21 (including 6 attorneys), assisting 19 Veterans and family members in person plus 3 Veterans in phone responses who couldn’t come to the in-person clinic! Cases again included several county and state jurisdictions outside Leon! More Vets asked for Driver’s license assistance. Our truck broke down this week, but see pictures from last Friday’s food delivery.
The Leon Co Veterans Treatment Court is in session 3 pm this Monday, March 24 at the Leon County Courthouse downtown, Courtroom 2E and you are again encouraged to come observe when you can. We still need more Veteran Mentors to give one on one contact with Vets trying to recover from substances or other treatment needs. (2 more Veterans in the clinic yesterday expressed interest in becoming mentors.)
More Vets called in again this week or responded online from around the state, and we instructed them to come to Thursday Clinics or, if outside Leon or the State, to look for local Veteran services. Thanks to Susie C., Omar and others for helping respond to this week’s phone and website calls for help/info (Veterans in prison, NW Fl, etc.). And thanks to Khalid Shafi and Margaret Deciano for the consistent volunteer administrative work at the computer/files table with Susie throughout our Clinic sessions.
The Florida Legislature has started passing Veterans-friendly legislation (more than a dozen of the bills already) thru committee hearings and one even passed the Senate floor this week by unanimous vote.. If you want to know more, we can help you track any of them these next two months. We’ve identified more than forty bills already (and that does not include local funding requests).
Call your friends who work for the federal VA to let them know they’re appreciated and give them your contact info in case they lose their VA cell number amidst the funding cuts, layoffs and firings that are including probationary employees, as well as former military Veterans in a variety of specialties (and the latest projections target some 84,000 VA jobs and programs to be cut!) And be sure to let us know about parttime job opportunities for Veterans on subsistence, as well as any emergency housing, shared rentals, etc. since housing is still scarce and services are delayed via waiting lists.
What else?
Thank you,
Dan Hendrickson, for the Tallahassee Veterans Legal Collaborative
📌On Thursday, March 27 at 1500HRS (be there at 1445) at the Tallahassee National Cemetery, there will be a ceremony honoring all Vietnam Veterans at the Final Vietnam War Commemoration as proclaimed by Public Law 110-181 SEC. 598.
Please attend and honor these valiant veterans, many of whom have never been welcomed home. Invite family and friends to attend also!