Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP)

Thank you, Adam Farina, for that warm welcome and my thanks to Conrad Washington for helping organize today’s event. Most of all, thanks to all our faith-based and community partners, Veterans, and VA teammates participating today. There is no audience that I look forward to talking with more than all of you—it’s a privilege to be here with so many great leaders from different faith communities. And I couldn’t be more grateful for all you do, and for our partnership serving Vets, their families, caregivers, and survivors.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Uniting Communities with Veterans.” Veterans’ impact resonates in the heart of every community across this great country. They are our neighbors, our friends. They’re our pastors, our first responders—cops and firefighters, teachers, local leaders, coaches, and loved ones. And I was reminded of the power of the Veteran community in one of the last places you might expect—behind bars—in the Cook County Jail, on the West Side of Chicago. A few weeks ago, I traveled there to hear from incarcerated Vets—and to meet John Coddington, one of the jail’s incredible correctional officers.

John’s dad was an Army combat Vet who served in Vietnam and passed away from exposure to Agent Orange. So when it was his time to serve, John joined the Air Force and deployed during the initial invasion into Iraq. He grew up in a proud Catholic family, but says he lost his faith after bearing witness to the horrors of combat overseas. That is a fight John shares with some of the great thinkers and doers of the Catholic faith, including none other than St. Francis. As the scion of a wealthy family, St. Francis was set to spend his life serving in the military but he gave it all up—his wealth and his military training—after his first military expedition. Because St. Francis felt called to a different fight: the fight against poverty.

Well when John Coddington came back home after his deployment to Iraq, he rejoined his community and started working at the local jail. In those early days, John pushed the jail to start asking inmates whether they served in the military as part of its intake process. That seemingly small but significant information helped John connect better with incarcerated Vets, started new conversations, and began building trust.

So John would listen to their stories, meeting with thousands of Vets coming from all walks of life. In one of the loneliest places in the world—behind the bars of a jail cell—those Vets finally had someone to talk to and to share their stories of service, sacrifice, leadership, and hope. They helped John heal, too. John says, “hearing their stories gave me my faith back.” He goes on, “Everyone who is here on Earth has a job to do, and this is mine. This is my purpose. Maybe this is why God put me on this planet.”

For the first time—in perhaps a long time—Veteran inmates received support rather than judgment, understanding rather than condemnation. Then John went one step further by helping fill out their VA benefits paperwork and connecting them to Veteran community organizations, maybe connecting them to some of you who are on this call.

And in 2013, with their innovative Sheriff’s support—Sheriff Tom Dart—the jail opened a dedicated tier for Vets in custody. Vets in the unit receive specialized counseling from Cook County psychologists, assistance with substance use issues, attend Vet resource fairs, and other programs that recognizes their unique circumstance as Veterans. They’re visited weekly by three of my VA teammates—Carmen Ramirez, Melissa Ornelas, and Nancy Lucena—who connect them with VA resources and establish early relationships with VA.

Most importantly, those incarcerated Vets have built a strong community, putting aside their differences, living together, breaking bread together, taking care of one another, explaining services available for Veterans, including as they transition from incarceration back to life with friends and family. In a jail notorious for its history of violence, the Veterans tier has only seen one reported security incident. The Vets hold themselves accountable, working together to squash any problems before they spiral out of control. Together, they run the Veterans’ tier with pride befitting of their service to our country, a bond that transcends walls and barriers.

And when they are released, John gives each Vet his personal phone number so he can keep helping them. We know the transition from jail back into the community can be fraught with challenges. So John works with VA—with Carmen, Melissa, and Nancy—to be there by their side, especially when times are hard, supporting them every step of the way. John has seen many of those formerly incarcerated Vets turn their lives around repairing broken relationships with loved ones, staying sober, finding stable housing, starting their own businesses, and always giving back to the Vets who are still in jail. One recently released Army Vet says, “I thank God John Coddington put me in that community. We developed a bond. He put a lot of responsibility on me—on all of us—to take care of each other.”

Veterans helping Veterans, always there for each other, never leaving behind a fellow Vet—no matter the circumstances. There is truly nothing better.

I tell John’s story because it’s the story of what real, positive impact looks like. John saw one way he could make a difference in the lives of his fellow Vets. Today, nearly 4,000 Vets have accessed VA services through John’s support.

His selfless work reminds me of what President Biden calls our nation’s most sacred obligation. That obligation is to prepare and equip the troops we send into harm’s way, and to care for them and their families when they return home. It’s a promise that our country makes to anyone who signs up to serve in the military, and it’s as simple as it is fundamental. If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you. If you serve us, we’ll serve you. If you care for us, then we’ll care for you when you come home. The thing is, the whole country makes that promise. But it’s our job at VA—with the help of partners like you—to keep that promise.

And, as you’ll hear from VA leaders joining you at this summit, we’re fighting to keep that promise in so many ways. We’re providing world-class care to Veterans. We’re delivering timely access to the benefits that Veterans have earned—including toxic exposure benefits, educational benefits, survivor benefits, home loans, life insurance, and so much more. And we’re giving Veterans the dignified, lasting resting places that honor their service and sacrifices.

But, as you’ll see throughout the course of the next couple days, we can’t do that great work without your help. Here’s why. One of our top priorities is getting more Veterans into our care. There are about 9 million Veterans enrolled in VA care right now—but there are about 19 million Veterans in America. Among the Vets who do receive their care from VA, approximately 90% trust VA to deliver their care. And we need to build more trust with women Vets, whose trust score is around 86%, and significantly improve trust with our younger, post-9/11 Vets. Across the board, the younger the Veterans, the less they trust us. So, we need to build that trust.

We need to reach those folks and bring them into our care, because Vets in VA care do better. And that’s where you can really make a difference. It’s one thing for a Veteran to hear about VA services from us. It’s an entirely different thing for them to hear about VA services from someone like John Coddington or from someone like you. Because you are the people in Veterans’ lives and communities every day. You pray with them, work with them, and spend time with them. You are the folks they know and love. You are the folks they trust. So, a recommendation from you can go a long way toward convincing a skeptical Veteran to give VA a try. And doing that can change their lives.

Now there are many ways you can support Vets in your community. You can attend events like this, where you’ll hear directly from the experts about all the services VA offers—so you’ll know exactly where to send Veterans in need. You can join the fantastic webinars that Conrad and his team host each month, discussions that tackle issues like suicide prevention, or women’s health, or Veteran homelessness—and explain how you can help Vets in need. You can join VA’s Rural Community Clergy Training Program—led by VA chaplains—that equips rural clergy with the tools they need to connect rural Vets to mental health care resources. You can host an event for Veterans in your community and invite VA leaders, connecting them directly with our services. And you can even start a Veterans’ support group in your organization if you don’t already have one.

However you want to partner, whatever you want to do, please work with Conrad and his team to do it—because we are always here to help. All I ask is that when that day comes when a Veteran comes to you, struggling, and asks for help, send them to us. We will not let you down. We will not let them down. We will stop at nothing to get Veterans the help they deserve.

So, thank you for being here today and for partnering with us every day. It’s an honor to work with you to serve Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors as well as they’ve served us. May God bless you, all our service members and Veterans, and the United States of America.