The Florida Department of Veterans Affairs top legislative priority is getting in-state tuition for out-of-state student veterans.
Another priority - not tied to Tallahassee - is reaching out to the 160,000 women veterans in Florida. So, the state is hosting its first ever conference at Bay Pines VA Regional Office in St. Petersburg specifically for women veterans.Alene Tarter, Larri Gerson, Cynthia Brown, Jacquelyn Consentino, La Sonda Isidore, Sherrel Pinson, Chava Grier; All those women are veterans. They wore the uniform, saluted the flag, served the country. And there are 160,000 more of them living and working in Florida.
Alene Tarter is director of benefits and assistance for the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs based at Bay Pines.
"We have so many women veterans in our state", Tarter said. "Many of them don’t even realize they’re veterans. They feel they’re not recognized as veterans."
One such veteran is Larri Gerson who supervises the claims section for Florida veterans.
"In my situation, I didn’t know I was a veteran for 25 years because I didn’t grow up in a military family", said Gerson. "For me, it wasn’t until I came here working at the Florida department of veterans affairs that I realized how important it is to have that knowledge."
So, the Florida VA is sponsoring its first ever women’s veterans conference to spread the word about available benefits, services and support. Learning about benefits is not a top priority for most women when they transition out of the service. Just ask 20-year Navy veteran Cynthia Brown.
"Even after retiring I had a concern about finding a job figuring out how to translate my skills so that someone would hire me at that time I was single with three children and it was somewhat scary", said Brown. "And I cannot say that the VA was the first thought."
Brown now serves as the state women’s veteran coordinator for Florida and is organizing the conference around the current issues affecting women vets.
"Employment issues, homelessness, mental health issues and obviously health care and benefits", listed Brown.
One of those benefits rarely used by women is the government hiring preference according to Jacquelyn Consentino, the veterans’ preference administrator for Florida.
"Men use it they use it all the time but for some reason when the women fill out their applications they just glide over it and don’t seem to use it", Consentino said.
Consentino will be one of several panelists who will field questions at the end during an open-microphone session.
"What I want them to know when they come to the conference, I’m here to help them and if they’ve been overlooked if they’ve not been given that preference what is available for them", said Consentino, "and they can call me and we can actively do something for them.
The conference is only for women veterans. The fact that it’s gender specific is a plus for Chava Grier – a former US Army military police officer.
"A lot of times services are geared towards men and their needs", Grier said, "but for women we have separate needs and health issues and this allows for a forum for us to come together hear our voice determine what our needs are out in the community and as women veterans
The half-day conference scheduled March 7th is also a chance to honor the women’s service says Cynthia Brown.
"Many women have sacrificed quite a bit, time with children and family", Brown pointed out. "So any woman veteran is welcome."
Online registration is not required, but it is preferred. You can find more information at www.floridavets.org .