Veterans office not meeting needs, speakers say
By Noel Lyn Smith
Navajo Times
KAIBETO, Ariz., May 19, 2011
(Special to the Times - Donovan Quintero)
Linda Long, from Coppermine, Ariz., tells President Ben Shelly, sitting at center, that Navajo Nation veterans need a treatment center close to home.
At a town hall held here Monday, she had a lot to say about the Department of Navajo Veterans Affairs, and most of it wasn't very complimentary.
DNVA was established in 1972 to fund programs and services to benefit Navajo veterans.
Like many Navajo veterans, Chatter's husband Harrison has spent years asking for financial assistance from the department only to be denied for one reason or another.
"Even though I didn't go through it myself, I know what you veterans are going through," Chatter said about witnessing her husband's frustration with the office. He could not attend the meeting because he was at work, she said.
Since returning to the Navajo Nation, Harrison has sought housing assistance to renovate the 30-year-old trailer the family calls home in Tuba City, his wife said. He has also asked for assistance to cover transportation costs for medical appointments to facilities off the Navajo Nation, but was denied.
According to Chatter, her husband has submitted enough applications and supporting documents to fill a book.
When staff at the Western Agency DNVA office told Harrison in 2009 that they had lost all his documentation, it was the final straw, she said.
Tuesday's meeting was sponsored and attended by President Ben Shelly and his staff.
"I hope they can do something for him," Chatter said about the officials' attention to veterans' concerns.
Marine veteran Clyde Sampson said he grew discouraged by the lack of help from DNVA and by the red tape surrounding the application process for each form of assistance.
"We gave a life," Sampson said about his fellow veterans' service.
DNVA Manager David Nez was also at the meeting and reported that his agency is continuing to develop a Navajo Nation veterans' cemetery. That news did not sit well with some in the audience, including Navy veteran Rick Gray of Kayenta.
"I think the priorities of DNVA are wrong," Gray said. "The first thing we need is a VA medical center."
A VA medical center on Navajo would save veterans huge amounts of money in travel expenses and time - a particular issue since DNVA limits its financial assistance for medical transportation to once a year, Gray said.
"I might be suffering from PTSD but I'm alive," Gray said. "I need treatment."
He suggested that Shelly look into renovating some of the abandoned buildings on the reservation and transform them into VA clinics.
Linda Long, of Coppermine, Ariz., expressed the same sentiment.
"The first thing these veterans need is not a cemetery, they need a treatment center," she said.
Long's husband, Alfred, is an Army veteran who served in Vietnam from 1970 to 1972.
Having a VA medical center close to home would eliminate the need to travel to centers in Prescott, Phoenix and Albuquerque.
"We will use it," Long said.
Nez responded to Gray and Long's concerns by saying that money remains an issue for the department and there might be liability issues in renovating existing structures because they might be "unstable."
He also defended the department's policy of limiting medical transportation assistance to once a year. Nez said he understands veterans travel to medical appointments more than once a year but helping with each appointment would be costly and would take away from assisting other veterans.
"We have to be careful how we allocate funds," he said.
Before taking comments from the audience, the president's office made a PowerPoint presentation. Among the needs DNVA is working on are:
- Getting a current count of veterans living on the Navajo Nation to develop a more accurate distribution of the Veterans Trust Fund to the 110 chapters. The trust fund is projected to be $7.8 million for fiscal year 2011.
- Revising the department's policies and procedures with veterans' input.
- Using standardized forms in each agency.
- Hiring personnel who are certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to provide services that state veterans affairs office provide.
- Establishing the agency as a division, rather than a part of the Division of Human Resources.
DHR Director Tom Ranger told the audience that the purpose of the meeting is to address their issues and to establish the "best practices" to deliver services.
In his opinion, that can be accomplished by elevating DNVA to a cabinet-level agency so veterans' needs would be under the direct supervision of the president's office.
"I think it's a step forward," Ranger said.
There are two more veteran town hall meetings scheduled: Wednesday, May 25, at Dennehotso Chapter House, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and Thursday, May 26, at Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.