CITY OF HOUSTON CREATES OFFICE OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
By Carolyn Feibel
Houston Chronicle
www.chron.com
October 30, 2007 - Mayor Bill White's crusade to make Houston a national leader in providing veteran services took another step forward Monday with the creation of an Office of Veterans Affairs.
"We're proud of our work in taking care of veterans, but we heard there are new challenges," White said.
Right now, the office has a $100,000 annual budget and a staff of one, Director Edwin A. "Buddy" Grantham, an Army veteran and logistics expert who helped the city resettle Katrina evacuees.
"The role Buddy will play will be to cut red tape and serve as my eyes and ears," White said. The new office can be reached at 713-437-6393 or www.houstontx.gov/vetaffairs.
Grantham will work with Harris County, the local Department of Veterans Affairs office, and religion, military, and nonprofit groups, such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"A lot of it is information sharing, because people just don't know" where to go, Grantham said.
He most recently worked as chief operating officer for the Coalition of the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, where he encountered veterans among the homeless.
"The fact that Buddy Grantham has had to pull veterans out of underpasses and get them into housing, means that some of these folks are not aware of what the (area) offered," said Darrin Hall, the mayor's deputy director for governmental affairs. "It's a recognition by the mayor that the city needed to step up and provide that service."
White made headlines in June by convening a regional summit to address the needs of wounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Out of that summit, four committees were formed to address returning veterans' needs for housing, mentoring, public assistance, education and work force reintegration.
The new office will focus more broadly on veterans from all past wars, and their families, Grantham said.
White will host a second summit Nov. 15, when the committee members will present their recommendations for reducing bureaucratic hurdles for local veterans.
They also will unveil a resource book, listing services available to local veterans. It will be produced in print and online, Hall said.
There are 196,173 veterans in Harris County. The VA spent $735 million in Harris County in fiscal year 2005, according to data compiled by the mayor's office.
White on Monday also urged Houston residents to attend this year's Veteran's Day Parade on Nov. 11, despite it taking place on a Sunday. The downtown event will feature memorial ceremonies, a military flyover, parade and music. Events begin at 11 a.m., with the flyover and parade starting at 1 p.m.