WEST ALLIS, Wisc. — Reaching out for support is never easy.
“That is the biggest issue with most, if not all, veterans. You're trained to be a warrior and not ask for help,” said Quentin Hatfield, Executive Director, Wisconsin Veterans Network.
Quentin Hatfield knows that hesitation firsthand.
As a Vietnam War vet, he says he can relate and that is what drew him to the Wisconsin Veterans Network.
With close to 60 percent of their clients coming from lower-income or lower-middle-income households, the cost of living is pushing more veterans to resort to making life-altering decisions in order to meet their basic needs.
Hatfield says his hope is to identify what local vets may need as quickly as possible.
“From homelessness and finding both temporary and permanent housing for veterans and their families, to food assistance, to connecting to job and employment opportunities. It's an unbelievable range and almost anytime we think we've seen it all, we find a new situation,” said Hatfield.
According to the U.S. Census, nearly 10 percent of Wisconsin’s veteran population is Hispanic.
Hatfield says VetsNet has spent the last five years trying to uplift and focus on the needs of this growing demographic.
“They are not well represented in veteran services because they may not know or be aware of what's available to them. So for us, it was a matter of injecting ourselves into community events and the Hispanic community,” said Hatfield.
To address that growth, VetsNet began printing their literature in both English and Spanish and having representatives at Hispanic community events with a veteran resource table to get the information to as many people as possible.
Joseph Zablocki is on the frontlines of that effort.
The Marine Corps veteran says he strives to make sure every fellow serviceman and woman he encounters feels seen and heard, regardless of the language barrier.
“I felt like the purpose that I had when I was in the military kind of diminished when I got out so I really wanted to relive that again. And the best way I felt to do that was to help veterans,” said Zablocki.
With VetsNet now serving 1 in 10 Hispanic veterans in our state, both Zablocki and Hatfield say they’re only just getting started.
“Let's get more. Let's try to help everyone who needs help. Let's try to help them all, honestly. That's that's our goal here. Any veteran, any time, any place,” said Zablocki.
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