A year-long series featuring Detroiters who are driving positive change in their communities.
Driving Community Sponsored by Ford Motor Company Fund
Zaneta Adams, Director, Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency This veteran heads an agency that connects Michigan’s 600,000-plus veterans with crucial benefits and resources.
M ichigan Veteran Affairs Agency Director Zaneta Adams says the wealth of resources available to veterans that they just simply don’t know about is akin to having a $1 million inheritance deposited into your bank account – but never being made aware. The help exists. MVAA’s goal is to first educate Michigan’s more than 600,000 veterans about the employment, education, health care and financial 6 BLAC • AUGUST 2020 • BLACdetroit.com
opportunities out there, and then connect them to the sources. “Our job is to be the statewide coordinating center to connect veterans to state and federal benefits and resources,” Adams says. “One of the main things that I want to make sure that we’re doing is educating veterans on what’s available. Prior to the pandemic, one of my focuses was getting out there in front of veterans, giving them the informa-
tion and the tools to be successful.” COVID-19 has forced MVAA to adapt their programming, but, she says, “It’s been a blessing in disguise in the sense that we have created some different initiatives to reach veterans, and I think we’re reaching a lot more of them.” They’ve launched virtual coffee hours to address varied topics from workforce development to LGBTQ initiatives to mental health. Adams
reminds that suicide rates among veterans are higher than the general population, and the isolation forced by COVID creates added cause for concern. MVAA’s Check on MIVet (pronounced “my vet”) initiative aims to help remedy that seclusion. Veterans – or the friends and family of veterans – are encouraged to complete a form online to schedule periodic check-ins. Someone from MVAA or one if its partner organiza-
