10th District Commander’s November 2024 Report

It’s been a busy American Legion year so far, but I’m having a lot of fun, and I hope you are too!

Since my last article, I’ve been to a lot of places: Fridley for their Early Bird Dinner, Chester Bird (Golden Valley) for an event honoring Hennepin County Sheriff’s Deputy Jennifer Lacy, Princeton for an omelet breakfast, Anoka for the Halloween parade, and Osseo for the Trunk or Treat. I’ll be keynote speaker for the Anoka post Veterans Day event, and I’m planning to attend several others.

Veterans issues have made the news several times the past couple of months. The Minneapolis VA Medical Center broke ground on the Women’s Clinic in September. You may have heard me on MPR or KARE-11 talking about its significance.

You may also have seen Hennepin County’s announcement of reaching the federal government’s United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) definition of an effective end to veteran homelessness.

For my day job, I am a frontline worker in this space. I want to thank the posts which came alongside me to serve homeless and justice-involved veterans with emergency funding from your gambling revenues. This is your victory, too. We’ll continue to serve our veterans with steadfast support.

Last month, I sat down with Every Third Saturday founder Tom McKenna and veteran advocate Eric Geesaman to record a podcast about veterans health, benefits, and building a strong community. Support my commander’s project by sending them a donation.

In service.