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VA Reaches Out To Growing Number Of Women Veterans

Danielle Corazza, national outreach coordinator at the VA's Center for Women Veterans.
(Photo courtesy of Danielle Corazza)
Danielle Corazza, national outreach coordinator at the VA's Center for Women Veterans.

When you Google veterans, the first images you’ll see are often those of soldiers saluting or propping up American flags, the ranks holding rifles in at attention in a straight line. And, most of these images are of men.

But, women veterans are a growing population, and they’re the ones that Danielle Corazza wants to reach. She is a veteran herself and she’s also the new national outreach coordinator at the VA’s Center for Women Veterans.

And, when she talks about the VA, she doesn’t sound like your average government beaurocrat.

"The department of Veterans Affairs isn't your grandfather's VA anymore. Our population is getting younger and younger, and women veterans in specific, our median age is about 49," Corazza said. "And I think that surprises people, because they get this image of the old guys wheeling around in their wheelchairs inside the VA. That's not actually the population that we're serving."

She says over a quarter of a million young women have served in the post 9-11 conflicts, so the VA is adapting to meet their needs. Corazza’s new role focuses on social media outreach that’s specifically designed to talk to those young women veterans.

The Show's Lauren Gilger spoke with her more about this, and why the VA decided to launch the program to address it.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.