For thousands of veterans, finding the right resources is a long and arduous fight. On September 20th, veterans and families attended the third Veterans Resource and Job Fair.
Veterans find help from the Junior Chamber International, many community organizers, Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, and the College of the Canyons Veterans Resource Center.
Held in the Honor Grove, located in front of the Central Commons building on campus, JCI co-chair Jimmy McCoy explains how navigating the VA system is not an easy road.
“When I discovered, when I got out, you really have to sort of become a private investigator to figure out what benefits or entitlements you might have access to…and you don’t know what you don’t know,” said McCoy.
Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, representing District 40, shares her story.
“I work a lot on veteran issues and am the daughter of a Vietnam veteran who is disabled, a sister of a veteran who was in the Iraq war and a, and so personally veteran issues are really important to me,” said Schiavo.
“Our office does a lot of work to support veterans, to make sure they know what resources are out there, what their rights are.”
“Since I’m transitioning out of the reserves, I’ve been trying to get in contact with a VSO, preferably one local, because I live here in Santa Clarita,” said Kayden Mendez, a Marine Veteran.
“I wanted to bring him out here because he just explained his challenges,” said Shaun Mendez, a Marine Veteran.
