Welcome to the Great City of Houston Robert Dembo III, CWO4, USN(Ret) Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs Senior Outreach Specialist cohova@houstontx.gov

City of Houston Opportunity: Petrochemical plants, NASA, Port of Houston, City of Houston, Medical Centers……. Diversity: One of five Houstonians is foreign born and more than 90 languages are spoken in the city 22 local historic districts The 466 acre Memorial Park-twice the size of NYC’s Central Park 4th Largest City in the United States Houston is about to be America’s 3rd largest city 2025 (2.7 million) 2nd Largest Veterans Population (Largest Females) 2,500 miles of bayous/waterways

Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs - Houston Former Mayor Bill White created COHOVA in October 2007. Current Director: Carl Salazar We still have men and women deployed in harm’s way and many will come home with their lives changes forever. But that’s where we come in. Reaching out to veterans of all eras. Mission: To assist all veterans of the United States Armed Forces through advocacy, referral and counseling, to ensure that neither the veterans, nor their dependents, nor survivors are denied access to the entitlements promised to them by a grateful nation.

Our way of doing business manifests in one of four ways Collaboration Communication Connection Coordination

Collaboration The veterans community is far too large to be served well by any single organizations , so it is crucial that we work with other agencies to serve our veterans population

Communication Variety of formats Monthly Community Newsletter We talk to groups at all the Veteran, Non-Profits, and Profits Organizations Connection with Veterans on College Campus

Connection In addition to working with shareholders, we work with individuals Phone calls/Emails Walk in People call us for help when they aren’t sure where to go They ask us for assistance in learning their Veterans benefits; housing; emergency assistances, jobs, special programs (i.e. - caregivers, etc……… We are at the center of meaningful connections

Coordination Ensuring other organizations are working together proving services and resources that are valuable to Veterans and their families Feedbacks

Events CAREER GEAR- Mission Possible

Employment

Office of the Mayor Mayor Annise D. Parker (who is leaving office after six years due to term limits) Houston effectively ends Veterans Homelessness (Functional) Becomes Largest City in the Nation to Create System to House any Homeless Veteran

America’s Wars Relieve the Watch World War I 1917-1918 World War II 1941-1945 Korean War 1950-1953 Vietnam War 1964-1975 Gulf War 1990-1991 Global War On Terror 2001 - Present

Contact Info www.houstontx.gov/vetaffairs COHOVA@houstontx.gov Contact phone: 832.393.8147