Veterans make up one of the most vital demographics within our local community. Many of us may have heard about our veterans, or know someone who is a veteran, but how much do we really know about our veteran colleagues, friends and neighbors, and the challenges they face?

 

Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7)’s Veterans Affairs Committee dug deeper into this topic by seeking feedback from several agencies and partners, and from veterans, themselves. To date, the committee has covered quite a few important veterans’ topics, such as the importance of accessing dental care, why caregivers are important, knowing one’s rights as a tenant, transition to civilian life, discharge upgrades, addressing the need for reduced MTA fares for veterans, and veterans’ exemption tax credits for veteran homeowners.

 

Our veterans put their lives on the line to ensure our basic freedoms and our democracy, as a nation. They also continue to fulfill missions within our community, like participating in our workforce, joining community clean-up events, raising families, and serving in leadership roles in our government. Our veterans want to do more, and this adds to the reasons why they are important to us. They also want to be able to have a good quality of life, and because our veterans put their lives on the line for our country, we need to do more for them.

In this regard, a few members of our neighborhood ought to be recognized for their resilience, and for their countless hours of service to the community in relation to their work with our veterans.

 

These are Mr. Shawn Kingston for his outstanding work in the VA and his contributions to veteran outreach efforts, Mr. Emmanuel Martinez, Bronx Community Board 7 chair, for his vision in helping our veterans on the ground and for advocating for their well-being; Mr. Sirio Guerino, the father, son and grandson of a veteran, for his countless hours devoted to community clean-up events and for his lobbying of our elected leaders to address various neighborhood issues; and Mr. Amjad Mujaahid, the original veterans committee chair of Bronx CB7, who continues to advocate for better health outcomes for the veterans in our communities.

 

[Guerino was recently honored for his community work as reported by Norwood News.]

Our veterans are proud warriors who can share valuable life lessons with us. One of the best ways to be supportive of our veterans and families is acknowledging our veterans, finding out what their needs are, and most importantly, understanding them both individually and collectively. What better way to start than by joining the groups, clubs and organizations which support them, like our veterans committee, or by arranging buddy check-in calls. Bronx CB7’s veterans committee would also love to have more veterans attend more of our meetings so we can listen, learn and tell your story.

 

Chad Royer is a local resident, a member of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7), and chair of Bronx Community Board 7’s Veterans Affairs Committee for the year 2021/2022.