Where are the women veterans in the tri-county area?
“Women in the military are highly visible. However, women veterans are so invisible that outreach to them isn’t working,” said Paige Jenkins, Master Social Work (MSW), Navy Veteran, and Founder/Director of Philomath’s Red Feather Ranch who has been tasked to create a supportive community of sister veterans in Benton, Linn, and Lincoln counties.
Jenkins, also the immediate past Steering Committee Chair of the Military Women’s Coalition (MWC), addressed the issues during an interview with House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mark Takano (D-Calif.), saying, “The two important things are for women to feel safe and to feel acknowledged and equal as veterans…When you walk in and don’t see yourself included in the VA motto, it’s like, ‘You’re a woman and you don’t belong here.’”
She continued, “We don’t have transition-out programs like we have transitioning into the military. It’s a different transition out for women, because let’s face it: women are different. Even if a woman didn’t experience sexual assault or harassment while they were in the service, many experience sexism. The transition out is acknowledging that women feel they don’t fit into the civilian world.”
The Grant
According to 2016 data by the Oregon Department of Veteran Affairs, the tri-county area has between 1,500 and 3,000 women veterans. Jenkins received a Delivery System Transformation (DST) grant through the InterCommunity Health Network (IHM) Coordinated Care Organization (CCO). While the money is from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA), it is Good Samaritan that is managing distribution as they want to serve their patients – and all women veterans – in the tri-county area.
This grant covers four parts. The first is a survey of local veteran women; from that group of respondents the non-profit will get more in-depth research, then present their findings to service providers to inform them if this population has a higher percent of other issues such as autoimmune issues, mental health problems, divorce, as well as addressing this segment’s strengths and challenges.
The fourth step would be to run a six-month cohort, “Harvesting Wisdom,” to build community and relationships at Red Feather Ranch.
Finding Participants
“The survey is the gateway to creating a community and trauma treatment,” said Jenkins. “Our goal is to reach 10% of the women vets in the tri-county area. We need 150-300 respondents, but unfortunately we only have 20.”
After the initial survey, they will take a deeper dive with 50 women for the information to present to service providers.
Jenkins expressed frustration that her efforts to reach this community has been challenging. In fact, one effort resulted in about 100 false entries.
“People responding gave incorrect answers, saying they were in the Vietnam War yet born in 1975,” she said.
Outreach Efforts
Jenkins faces several obstacles in trying to find local veterans. She has reached out to the Oregon Department of Veteran Affairs as well as VA clinics in Salem and Eugene – there are no veteran health clinics in the Corvallis area – and has received minimal response and no connections to her target audience.
Jenkins believes that the lack of response from these entities is in part the government not being allowed to show “favoritism,” in part due to HIPAA rules not allowing identification of veterans, and partially because of employees being overwhelmed with their own pandemic-related challenges.
A networking group known as VetNet – hosted by a vet at Good Samaritan – has 30 members, including people who work at VA benefit offices in Benton, Linn, and Lincoln counties, and the Tribal communities of Siletz and Grand Ronde. Jenkins has presented at these meetings, and has not received any response from members to connect with the women veterans under their jurisdiction.
Social media posts did get some responses to the survey. However, that also garnered the high response from non-veterans looking only to win the incentive posted. Jenkins has many other ideas for outreach, such as getting in touch with local businesses that offer veteran discounts, but is limited by her lack of personal time to do so.
These obstacles to connecting with women veterans through other means highlight the need to create a community where this group can easily find and connect with each other.
More About Red Feather Ranch
Red Feather Ranch will be offering retreats and vocational training in sustainable agriculture and food production once it is safe to resume in-person activities. All the programs integrate trauma-informed care through evidence-based, experiential, and holistic therapies for a variety of traumas. While the retreats were scheduled to launch in 2020, the pandemic postponed them to this year, as well as pivoting to a hybrid model between in-person and online.
Jenkins says, “Our online programs serve women vets across the country and we want to offer local programs that at least give local women vets priority,” said Jenkins.
Corvallis-area residents Kate Harris, Air Force Veteran; Melissa Bird, MSW; and Carol McClelland Fields, Board Certified Coach, serve as Board members.
How Can You Help?
Jenkins’ goal is to start the cohort “Harvesting Wisdom” this Spring with an in-person retreat, followed by online individual and group calls, and ending with another in-person retreat in the Fall. However, this can’t happen until they receive enough respondents to the survey.
Are you a woman veteran, or do you know any women veterans who would be interested in taking the survey? Help Red Feather Ranch by filling it out on their website.
By Stacey Newman Weldon
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