Category Women Veterans

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Yountville’s Chief Doctor Can Attest: Servicemembers’ Fighting Spirit Doesn’t End with Separation from the Armed Forces

Dr. Julie Fields will tell you that once a soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman—always a soldier, sailor, Marine, or airman. “Our veterans, like the active duty sailors and Marines I served, tend to be extremely resilient and sometimes downright stubborn,” said Fields.

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Too Early to Deploy, Redding Home Vet Found Herself Swamped with Paperwork

As the Korean War raged in 1951, Lois Sweeney decided to become one of “The few. The proud. The Marines.” She enlisted and soon found herself at Parris Island, South Carolina — one of the 138,000 recruits who trained there throughout the war. “I was in the swamp,” the 92-year-old resident of the Veterans Home […]

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Women Veterans: Elevate Your Voice

Your experiences matter, and your voice is invaluable. CalVet is on a mission to enhance the support and services we provide, and your insights will help us better serve women veterans.   By completing this survey, you’ll make a lasting impact on the support services we offer all California women veterans, now and for future […]

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CalVet Agents Cut Through Red Tape to Cut Home Loan Deal for Paradise Veteran

(This story first appeared as a Guest Perspective in the State Treasurer’s Office November newsletter.) By the spring of 2023, Navy veteran Sue Bone had given up hope on buying a new home. After her home in Paradise vanished in a wall of flames during the Camp Fire of 2018, she found herself up against […]

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Home Is Where the Veteran Is for CalVet’s New West Los Angeles Administrator

As the new administrator, Stephanie Weaver’s goal for the Veterans Home of California-West Los Angeles really is quite simple. “I could end up as a resident here someday,” said Weaver, appointed to the post by Governor Gavin Newsom in September. “I want it to be the best Home in the system. I want for them […]

CalVet logo, text "Veterans Serving Veterans," and image of Jennifer Rudquist.

Helping Veterans Know Their Benefits Is Like A Family Affair for CalTAP Training Coordinator

Jennifer Rudquist recalls her arrival at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas on Thanksgiving Day 1996. Now the recruiting trainer with CalVet’s California Transition Assistance Program (CalTAP), she stepped off a bus that day, into basic training and her brave new world.

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First Time Buyer in Awe with CalVet Home Loans Team to the Letter

Another satisfied veteran, another CalVet Home Loans success story. Frequently, CalVet Home Loan agents receive “thank-you” notes, flowers, or letters from veterans whom they’ve helped achieve the dream of homeownership. This one, from U.S. Navy veteran Stephanie Barker of Sacramento, to CalVet Property Agent Adam Cone and his team that includes home loans processor Jamie […]

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WAC Vet Answered the Nation’s Call, Now Answers Veterans’ Questions at CalVet

One day during the early months of 2018, soon after she hired on as the office technician in CalVet’s Communications Division, U.S. Women’s Army Corps veteran Yulana Low handled a telephone call she will never forget. “The older brother of a young veteran couldn’t get over his brother’s death,” she said. “I believe he was […]

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From One Family to Another: Kinship During Deployment Set Stage for Veteran’s Future

Liz Hargrove-Washington’s world changed in an instant during the winter of 1996. As a young staff sergeant in the Air Force stationed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, and the young mother of a baby girl, she received orders to deploy to Saudi Arabia. “It was one of the most challenging, difficult times of […]

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Helping Other Veterans Comes up Roses for Nurse at Barstow Home

As a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) at the Veterans Home of California-Barstow, U.S. Army veteran Kimberly Malott has a passion for caring for the Home’s veteran residents and their spouses. She also has a passion for passing out roses—at the behest of a veteran resident who routinely bought them for the women at the Home. […]