Ondray Cleveland completed two tours of duty in Vietnam between ‘68 and ’71. The Soundview resident said his transition back to civilian life on his return to the U.S. was not plain sailing. Later, he would join the navy for two years, before ultimately leaving the armed services for good.

 

“[I] wasn’t doing too good once I came out of Vietnam because…stereotypes and all that stuff,” he said. “Then I got myself together and came back out…ups and downs but it’s been good.” Though many years have passed since then, Cleveland was one of over 60 veterans who found solace in recently sharing his wartime experiences with other veterans at a Veterans Wellness Summit organized and held at Manhattan College in Fieldston in conjunction with the James J Peters VA Medical Center in Fordham Manor on Friday, March 31. He described the event as “fantastic.”

 

“It was a really, really informative seminar,” Cleveland said, adding that the setting also really helped. “The space that we was in… I met some beautiful people,” he said. “I had a wonderful experience.” In addition to the stands and the various presentations, what stood out for Cleveland was when attendees were broken up into smaller groups and invited to share their experiences as veterans in a safe setting.

 

“We wrote stuff down about what we feel,” Cleveland said. “I shared my thoughts about how it was, like, very negative coming up, and how it came that this guy next to me later on in the class said, ‘You know, I had the same experience as Ondray’.”

 

Cleveland said the veteran went on to describe how over several years he couldn’t deal with German people because of what he said they did. “I don’t know what they did, but I’m just saying..” Cleveland said. “But he says it kind of set him free now,” he added of his colleague’s experience sharing at the event.

 

Cleveland continued, “Oh, I was so impressed because I understand what that feeling is like, you know? That really was the icing on the cake for me, for somebody to really see how you’re feeling…exactly. So, this whole environment about sharing and being vulnerable and letting go, just being vulnerable in a protective environment where you can share like that, and there’s no judgment like the lady said, no criticism…”

 

Cleveland said veterans also received information on the Deckert program, run by the National Veterans Foundation where veteran service officers help write and submit benefits claims to the VA on behalf of other veterans, and also help gather the information needed to support those claims. “So, I’m going to sign up for that,” he said.

 

Cleveland was also appreciative of the organizers for having invited him. “I’m in this process now [of] making this transition from the negative to the positive,” he said, adding that he had “kind of” started a business but had encountered some difficulties in doing so. “This seminar has given me information about businesses, about health programs, plus the information for veteran benefits,” he said. “I can get benefits, know how to get additional benefits, things like that,” he said.

We asked Cleveland if he had ever heard about such supports for veterans via his local community board veterans’ committee, for example. He didn’t appear to. “I would love that,” he said. “Yeah, that could be helpful.”

 

Cleveland’s impressions of the event were shared by fellow Bronx veteran and marine, Debbie Villalbasaavedra, who served four and a half years in Oklahoma and at Lejeune military base [in Jacksonville, North Carolina]. “Very beneficial,” she said of the event. “It was actually nice to know that there are services available for us. Been out [ex-military] now since 2017, so I had no idea that they had a lot of services for female veterans, which has just started to become a thing so it’s nice to know.”

 

Villalbasaavedra complimented Norwood native, Tiana [Sloan], one of the organizers of the event and director of the veterans success programs at Manhattan College, who, herself, later informed us the event marked her final day on the job. The summit had been a pet project of hers since February 2020, but had been delayed due to the pandemic.

 

Sloan later said, “It’s been a long time coming, the partnership that I’ve been doing with the Bronx VA. We have a Bronx student veterans coalition that’s designed to help get veterans better connected to care, to hopefully reduce incidence of suicide,” she said.

 

Sloan continued, “It was just a wonderful day. I think what was also important is we had different generations of veterans. So, at Manhattan College, we primarily serve post-911 veterans. Those are the ones who were using their post-911 GI bill going to college, but because of the wealth of community partners that we had here, we were able to get the word out. So, we have veterans from all different eras, and it was really such a nice way to see this array of generations here together, accessing care.”

 

Villalbasaavedra praised Sloan’s efforts, “[She] always makes these events available for us and helps us in anything we need,” she said. “Honestly, I’ve been here for maybe three hours, and I’ve learned so much more than I have since I’ve been [inaudible].”

 

We also asked Villalbasaavedra if she had not heard about the resources available to veterans through her local community board. She said, “No, I was just aware of this [event] due to Tiana. She’s amazing.” She added, “If I go to the VA, it’s not really advertised to us, so it’s something that none of us know. The majority of the information I got was extremely helpful. I had no idea.”

 

Asked for examples, Villalbasaavedra said, “Anything that has to do with health care, like homelessness or any free services for us…like we don’t have to go to the actual hospital. They have clinical sites for us. I had no idea…. Other ways to work on our compensation or other events [where] we can all just link up together and maybe do a mini hike or just the camaraderie, you know?”

 

She added, “Once you get out, you really don’t have that. You’re pretty much venturing on your own and gathering whatever information you get. So, it’s nice to know that they do these sorts of events to help guide us throughout the civilian world, which is not something that’s really an option for us.”

 

We asked Daniel Germain, veterans benefit advisor with New York State Division of Veterans Services, how the media could better serve veterans so that they are aware of the supports available. “Just that,” he said. “Keep spreading the word. Unfortunately, once they come back from service, they get into the weeds. The more we can reach out in the weeds and open their eyes to what they’re missing…”

He added in part, “The worst thing is when you walk down the street and you see a homeless veteran because obviously, somebody failed that veteran by not educating him what his rights [are], and if we can educate them on what’s available, I think we’d see a lot more veterans doing better.”

 

Jenny Pacanowski from “Womens Veterans Empowered & Thriving,” which primarily operates online to be more accessible to veterans who are parents said women don’t always attend outreach events and that was why they do their best to try to reach them virtually.

 

“We open our programming up to family members, so that the family have support and then all veterans, but specifically, our focus is on empowerment through breathing, writing, and skills that they can apply to their daily life to thrive, because veterans are really good at surviving, but we like to see people be happy and thrive.”

 

In the context of Women’s History Month, we asked Villalbasaavedra if she had any advice for young girls who might be thinking of a military career. “Don’t let anybody stop you,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what gender you are. We can do exactly what the guys do, right? It’s all mental, nothing is physical. We’re [expletive] awesome!”

 

For more information on veterans services in New York City, visit https://www.nyc.gov/site/veterans/index.page.