Amid calls of “oorah” and “Air Borne,” about 40 people — representatives of veterans’ groups and staff from the offices of elected officials — recently gathered at Cal State Fullerton’s Irvine Center to meet one another and focus on areas of concern to Orange County’s more than 130,000 veterans.
“It’s important to show support to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to our country,” said Bobby McDonald ’75 (B.S. physical education), chair of the Orange County Veterans Advisory Council, who led the meeting. “We want our newly elected federal, state and local city council members to understand the issues facing veterans in our state. We also want to thank those incumbent legislators who have been supportive of reaching out to our veteran population.”
Sponsored by Cal State Fullerton, the Association of American Cities — Orange County, and Orange County Veterans Advisory Council, the Feb. 9 program focused on multiple priorities in the county:
- Eliminating homeless veterans
- Encouraging and developing dedicated housing with supportive services for low-income and homeless vets
- Improving VA healthcare services
- Providing clinical mental health support to 10,000 veteran students
- Adding new programs to reach out to socially isolated senior veterans
- Expanding employment opportunities for unemployed
- Finding additional support for charities providing local veteran services
- Supporting programs to reduce veterans suicide rates
“I want to thank Cal State Fullerton and other sponsors for bringing us all together,” McDonald concluded. “By working together, networking and getting to know the services we all provide, we can offer greater support and care to our veterans.”