[00:00:01]
MISSING.MICHAEL CROSS, TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHICH.
[Veteran Affairs Commission on December 11, 2025.]
DECEMBER MEETING OF THE LETTER AFFAIRS CONDITIONS ORDER.UM, I'LL CALL THE ROLE DISTRICT ONE, PRESENT.
ONE IS ABSENT AND WE DON'T HAVE ANY.
ONLY COUNT SIX
SIX OF YOU THAT ARE GAME THIS WEEKEND.
WAS IT A QUORUM BASED ON, MADE A MISTAKE? SHOULD IT THE FULL COMMISSION OR IS IT THE ONES WHO ARE APPOINTED? THE COMMISSIONERS.
SO FROM WHAT I'M ABLE TO SEE, IT'S, IT'S TWO, UH, SMU.
THAT MEANS WE HAVE, UH,
COMMISSIONER SMITH, IF WE CAN JUST HAVE YOU UP.
IF WE HAVE A FORUM, WE HAVE A FORUM MEETING THAT EXCELLENT.
70% I SPEND MY, MIGHT ASK YOU TO CHECK NEXT TIME TO SEE IF THE VACANCIES COUNT TOWARDS HAVING TO HAVE THAT FORM OF SEVEN.
RIGHT? THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
I WILL RECHECK JUST 'CAUSE TO SEE IF THERE'S BEEN ANY, YOU KNOW, ANYTHING NEW AS FAR AS CHANGES WITH THAT, THANK YOU.
UH, FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS IS A PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.
SO STAND YOU SEE ANY FLAGS DOWN HERE? WHOOP.
UNITED, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
AND TWO REPUBLIC REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS.
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, LIBERTY AND JUSTICE
PUBLIC COMMENTS ARE FIVE AND SIX.
I DON'T SEE ANY PUBLIC HERE, SO, UH, WE'LL GO RIGHT TO THE
BEFORE WE DO THAT, I'D LIKE TO, UH, EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION TO THOSE MEMBERS WHO ATTENDED THE FEDERAL STATE PARADE AT FAIR PARK.
APPRECIATE YOU GUYS TAKING THE TIME TO COME AND DO THAT.
APPRECIATE YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH COMMITTEE.
DO I HEAR A MOTION TO MOTION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES? TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF OCTOBER 2ND.
MOTION HAS BEEN MADE TO SECONDED.
OPPOSED? MOTION CARRIES THE MINUTES FROM THE OCTOBER MEETING ARE ACCEPTED.
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S OF U PEOPLE MORE TIME, WE'RE GONNA SKIP THERE FOR A MOMENT.DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY COMMENTS? DO WE HAVE ANY PICTURES THAT REPORT TO SHOOT? SO WE DO HAVE PICTURES THAT WE'RE GONNA PLACE INTO THE REPORT, BUT JUST SO THAT IT, THE, THE EDITING PART BECOMES LESS DIFFICULT.
I WAS GONNA WAIT UNTIL AFTER WE GET ALL THE FEEDBACK FROM THE COMMISSIONERS TO THEN BE ABLE TO PLACE THE PICTURES IN.
SO WE DO HAVE PICTURES THAT WE'VE TAKEN FROM THE COMMISSION MEETINGS AS WELL AS SOME OF THE OTHER EVENTS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE.
AND WE WILL INCLUDE THEM IN, UM, HOPEFULLY THE SOONER.
SO THE SOONER YOU'RE ABLE TO PROVIDE THAT FEEDBACK, THE SOONER WE'RE ABLE TO INCORPORATE IT.
AND IDEALLY BECAUSE WE WANT TO TRY TO GET, GET IT TO YOU BEFORE THE JANUARY MEETING SO THAT YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO REVIEW IT WITH EVERYBODY'S INPUTS AND EDITS.
UM, YOU KNOW, DON'T WAIT, DON'T DELAY TO, TO SEND IT INTO ME.
AND THEN AS SOON AS I GET THAT, I'LL BE ABLE TO PUT THOSE PICTURES IN.
SO JUST SO THAT YOU CAN, YOU KNOW, UH, BETTER HELP ME OUT WITH THE TIME CRUNCH THAT THERE IS FOR US, UH, SO THAT I'M ABLE TO HOPEFULLY HAVE THE FINAL DOCUMENT, THE DRAFT FORM OF IT WITH THE PICTURES.
UH, I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IF I COULD HAVE IT FROM YOU FROM, YOU KNOW, EVERYBODY'S FEEDBACK AT LEAST ONE WEEK BEFORE JANUARY'S MEETING, WHICH IS JANUARY 8TH.
I DON'T RECALL GETTING DRAFT, SO WE DON'T NEED TO VOTE ON IT RIGHT NOW YET, DO WE? IT'S BEEN, I DON'T RECALL GETTING DRAFT.
IT, IT CAME OUT IN THE DOCUMENTS THAT I SENT OUT TO EVERYBODY.
SO IF THERE'S ANYBODY WHO HAS NOT GOTTEN IT, JUST REACH OUT TO ME.
YOU HAVE MY CELL PHONE, YOU CAN CALL, TEXT OR EMAIL ME AND I'LL MAKE SURE THAT I CAN SEND IT, UH, TO YOU.
YEAH, AND AGAIN, YOUR YOUR, YOUR INPUT ANY WAY YOU LIKE.
IF YOU WANNA JUST PUT 'EM IN AS COMMENTS ON THE PDF OR IF YOU WANNA, YOU WANT AS A WORD DOCUMENT TO BE ABLE TO TRACK THE CHANGES.
LET ME KNOW WHAT'S EASIER, BETTER FOR YOU.
AND I'LL WORK WITH YOU WIFE PASSED.
JUST ONE NOTE, IF ANYBODY TOOK A PICTURE OF ME WHEN I WAS PODIUM TODAY,
AND CAN I, CAN I GET ONE WE WOULD LIKE INCLUDED IN THE ANNUAL REPORT, BUT MY, MY WIFE
OH, SHE SUSPECTS SHE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN.
HERE COMES OUR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
WERE THERE ANY QUESTIONS AS FAR AS BEFORE? NO, JUST, UH, I MEAN, RIGHT BEFORE, UH, I THINK THAT'S WHAT IT'LL BE IN THE NEXT.
UH, SO SIR, MR. COLE AND I THINK, WELL NO, MR. BE AND, UH, THE STAFF ATTENDED, UH, MEETING TO SU PEOPLE, UH, BACK IN, UH, NOVEMBER, UH, OR OCTOBER.
UH, AND THEY GAVE US A BRIEFING ON THE STATUS OF THE WELLNESS, UM, ASSESSMENT.
SO I ASK THE SU PEOPLE TO PRESENT THAT SAME BRIEFING TO ALL OF YOU, UH, TODAY.
SO WITHOUT ANY FURTHER ADO, WE'LL TURN IT OVER TO YOU.
I AM ATTEMPTING TO SHARE MY SCREEN.
IS IT THE END OF YOUR, YOUR DECEMBER PROGRESS REPORT, DR. MCGEE? YES.
I HAVE IT, UH, SHOWN ON, ON MY SIDE.
CAN YOU PUT THAT UP THEN? IT'S NOT THE DECEMBER.
THE, THE, UH, POWERPOINT PRESENTATION.
IS THIS THE ONE THAT I JUST SENT YOU LIKE 15 MINUTES AGO,
BUT THIS WAS THE, THE, THE FIRST ONE THAT I GOT PROBABLY WHEN YOU WERE SETTING UP.
I'LL, I'LL, UM, JUST A MOMENT.
SO LET ME SEE IF THERE'S SOME WAY THAT I CAN STOP SHARING SO THAT THIS WAY YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SHARE YOUR SCREEN.
I THINK ALL OF US HAVE THAT HARD COPY THOUGH.
IT TURNS OUT DR. MCGEE HAS A, AN UPDATE, WHICH I DIDN'T CATCH WHILE I WAS DOWN HERE SETTING UP.
CAN YOU SEE MY SCREEN? YES, YES.
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UM, AGAIN, THIS IS A PROGRESS REPORT.UH, THIS IS UPDATED, UM, FROM WHAT WE SHOWED TO A SMALLER GROUP, UM, INCLUDING COMMISSIONERS, COLE AND HEIRS AND CHRISTINA, AND SPENDING ON, UM, NOVEMBER 20TH.
'CAUSE WE HAVE, UH, SOME UPDATED WORK SINCE THEN.
SO THE SLIDES THAT YOU HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU, IF YOU, IF THEY WERE PRINTED OFF IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU WILL SEE SOME DIFFERENCES IN THIS PRESENTATION.
THEN WHAT IS THERE? UM, BUT IT'S MOSTLY JUST UPDATES.
SO THE, UM, THE CORE OF THE PRESENTATION IS, UM, THE IDEAS ARE STILL THE SAME.
SO, UM, SO OUR OBJECTIVES FROM OUR, UH, UM, OUR, UH, OUR PROPOSAL THAT WE GAVE YOU WERE, UM, AS FOLLOWS.
WE WANTED TO ASSESS THE NEEDS AND CHALLENGES.
UM, WE WANTED TO IDENTIFY THE GAPS IN SERVICES AS WELL.
UM, EVALUATE MUNICIPAL SUPPORT AS BEST WE COULD, UM, RECOMMEND STRATEGIC ENHANCEMENTS.
SO WE DO HAVE SOME IDEAS IN THIS PRESENTATION.
THE IDEAS ESSENTIALLY HAVE NOT CHANGED, UM, BUT WE DO HAVE SOME MORE TO BACK THEM UP.
AND WE HAD, UH, WE WANTED TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS, UH, FOR POLICYMAKERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS.
SO, SO FAR, UM, THE RFP OBJECTIVES, WE, I DIDN'T LIST THEM ON THIS SLIDE, UH, OR THIS PRESENTATION IN THE INTEREST OF TIME, BUT THEY ARE ON THE LEFT.
SO THE RFP IS THE REQUEST FOR A PROPOSAL THAT WAS GIVEN OUT, UM, LAST YEAR, WELL, UH, ALMOST 18 MONTHS AGO NOW, UM, TO IDENTIFY THE, UH, CLOSE AND CLOSE WRAPAROUND SERVICE GAPS.
THAT'S WHAT, UM, WAS IN YOUR OB YOUR, UH, UM, PROPOSAL OR RE UH, REQUEST FOR, UH, PROPOSALS.
UM, WE HAVE, I HAVE LISTED THE PROPOSAL OBJECTIVES HERE THAT I LIST HAD ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
AND YOU CAN SEE IN ALIGNMENT WITH WHAT YOU WANTED AND WHAT WE HAVE PROVIDED.
UH, GREEN MEANS A STRONG MATCH, AND YELLOW MEANS A MATCH OR AN IN PROGRESS MATCH.
SO SOME OF THESE YELLOWS FROM YOUR SLIDES HAVE TURNED GREEN NOW BECAUSE WE FEEL LIKE WE HAVE, UH, ACCOMPLISHED THAT, OR ARE VERY CLOSE TO ACCOMPLISHING THAT GOAL.
SO, UM, AS RE RE, UH, REGARD TO THE FIRST ONE, THE ASSESS CURRENT NEEDS AND CHALLENGES.
SO, UM, WE DID COMPLETE SOME QUALITATIVE CODING OF 2000 REDDIT SOCIAL MEDIA POST.
WE, UM, CONDUCTED THE, UH, VETERAN INNOVATION AND INSIGHT FORUM, VIIF, WHICH, UH, MOST OF YOU I BELIEVE PARTICIPATED IN.
AND I APPRECIATE YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THAT 'CAUSE WE GAINED SOME VALUABLE INSIGHTS FROM THERE.
AND, UM, BY DECEMBER 1ST, WHICH IS ALREADY PASSED, WE HAVE CATEGORIZED AND, UH, A HUNDRED PERCENT OF THE QUALITATIVE FEEDBACK INTO, UH, THE FIVE KEY CHALLENGE DOMAINS, WHICH ARE HEALTH, HOUSING, EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AND COMMUNITY INTEGRATION.
SO THIS GRAPHIC THAT YOU SEE BELOW IS OUR SUPPORTING RESEARCH FOR WHAT WE HAVE FOUND OUT.
AND THIS IS, SO WE HA REMEMBER OUR PROPOSAL HAD THREE PROJECTS OR, UH, FACETS TO IT, THE, THE VIIF, THE SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT, AND THE VETERAN SERVICE IMPACT REPORT ANALYSIS.
SO THE RESULTS FROM THIS PIECE ABOUT ASSESSING CURRENT NEEDS AND CHALLENGES ARE MOSTLY FROM THE, THE, UH, ITEMS YOU SEE OUTLINED IN BLUE.
AND THE GRAY FONT WITH THE RED OUTLINE IS WHAT IS, WHAT IS NOT NECESSARILY INCLUDED IN THAT SUPPORTING RESEARCH FOR ASSESSING THE CURRENT NEEDS AND CHALLENGES.
SO, UM, THE NEXT SLIDE WE HAVE, UM, WE'RE IDENTIFYING SOME GAPS IN SERVICES.
AGAIN, MOST OF THIS WAS FROM THE VETERAN SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT AND THE SERVICE IMPACT REPORT.
UM, WE WILL SHOW YOU LATER, OR HOLLY WILL, I GUESS TALK ABOUT VISUAL MAPS, UM, THAT, UM, TALK ABOUT, UH, CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS, WHICH MIGHT BE UNDERSERVED.
AND, UH, WE WILL SUPPLEMENT THIS WITH, WITH SOME SOCIAL MEDIA DATA INFORMATION AS WELL.
UM, BY EVALUATING MUNICIPAL SUPPORT.
UM, WE ARE STILL IN THE PROGRESS OF THAT, BUT WE ARE MOSTLY DONE TO IDENTIFY THE CORE THEMES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, CURRENT VETERAN SUPPORT AND, UM, PRODUCE THE SET, SET OF FINDINGS.
AND, UM, HOPEFULLY WILL, HOPEFULLY YOU LEAD THESE TO SOME DECISION MAKING, UH, ON THE PART OF THE CITY OF DALLAS.
AND AGAIN, THESE THINGS ARE MOSTLY THE SUPPORT HERE FROM THE EVALUATING THE MUNICIPAL
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SUPPORT COMES FROM THE VIIF AND THE SERVICE IMPACT REPORT ANALYSIS, NOT SO MUCH FROM THE VETERAN SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT.OUR STRATEGIC ENHANCEMENTS, THIS COMES FROM ALL THREE OF OUR FACETS OF THE PROPOSAL.
SO BY MARCH, WE'RE GOING TO SYNTHESIZE FINDINGS FROM QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE.
IT SAYS QUALITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA.
IT SHOULD BE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DATA, UM, TO IDENTIFY OUR GAPS AND OPPORTUNITIES AND, UM, TO GET THIS INFORMATION.
SO TRYING TO BUILD ACTIONABLE INCOMES TO RECOMMEND THE STRATEGIC ENHANCE ENHANCEMENTS.
AND WE DO HAVE SOME, UH, CURSORY RECOMMEND OR NOT CURSORY.
WE DO HAVE SOME PRELIMINARY, I SHOULD SAY, RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, AT THE END OF THIS, UH, PRESENTATION.
SO, UM, AND OF COURSE WE WILL CREATE A WRITTEN SUMMARY, UM, OF ALL OF THESE RESULTS.
AND OF COURSE, OUR ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS.
OUR FINAL REPORT IS DUE IN MARCH.
AND, UM, WE WILL INCORPORATE THE DATA VISUALIZATIONS AND IN OR INFOGRAPHICS AS APPROPRIATE FOR SUMMARIZING OUR RESULTS.
UM, AND ALSO TO, UH, TO GIVE YOU THE RELEVANT QUALITATIVE INSIGHT SUMMARIES FROM THE VIIF AND SOCIAL ANALYSIS, SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYSIS PROJECT.
SO OUR PROGRESS THUS FAR, AND I'LL START WITH THE SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT.
UM, THIS IS NOT TOO MUCH CHANGE SINCE WHAT YOU SAW.
UM, WE USE THE REDDIT EXTRACTOR PACKAGE IN R SO R IS A STATISTICAL SOFTWARE SUITE.
IT IS OPEN SOURCE, SO WE CAN MODIFY CODE AS WE NEED, UM, TO, UH, TO ACCOMPLISH OUR AIMS. AND WE'RE ACCESSING, UH, ASSESSING, ACCESSING POSTS AND, UH, COMMENT STRINGS FROM REDDIT.
AND WE HAVE APPROXIMATELY 2200 OF THOSE.
WE ARE CURRENTLY, WHEN I SAY WE, I MEAN, UM, UH, AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AND I, SO WE, I WAS AWARDED A HAMILTON SCHOLARSHIP THROUGH THE MOND COLLEGE INTERDISCIPLINARY INSTITUTE FOR AUBREY BROWN.
UM, SHE'S AN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AND SHE'S A JUNIOR HERE AT SMUA, STATISTICS AND PUBLIC POLICY MAJOR.
AND SHE'S ALSO ON THE SMU SOCCER TEAM.
AND ANYWAY, WE, UM, USE THE TEXT ANALYTICS, UH, IN WITH, WITH MY, OR, OR SHE CREATED CODE, AND I MENTORED HER THROUGH THAT TO, UH, FIND MOST USED PHRASES AND EMPLOYED THE TOPIC MODELING.
SO, TOPIC MODELING IS A WAY TO DETERMINE, UM, INTERESTING TOPICS THAT LEAP OUT AS WE GO THROUGH ALL THIS, UH, UNSTRUCTURED DATA, WHICH IS BASICALLY TEXT.
AND SHE PRESENTED HER WORK IN JULY 20 JULY OF 20 24, 20 25, AND ONE THIRD PLACE IN THIS COMPETITION.
AND I'M GOING TO BRIEFLY TRY TO PRESENT HER PRESENTATION.
IT'S IN ANOTHER, UM, UH, SO CAN YOU GUYS SEE THIS? YEAH.
UM, SO LET ME SEE IF I CAN MAKE THIS WORK.
SO THIS IS HER PRESENTATION AND, UM, YOU NOTICE THE LEGO THEME, BUT THE REASON FOR THAT IS GOING TO BECOME APPARENT IN A MOMENT.
SO, AND, AND AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SERVICE, AND WE WANT OUR, UM, WE WANT OUR SERVICE FOR YOU.
UM, THE CITY OF DALLAS WANTS THE SERVICE FOR YOU TO BE AS EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE, AND ACCESSIBLE AS POSSIBLE, UM, BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU HAVE DONE FOR, UM, OUR COUNTRY.
SO HOW DO WE MAKE THAT HAPPEN? WELL, WE, FIRST WE HAVE TO EVALUATE IT, AND ONE OF THE WAYS WE DID THIS WAS TO TRY TO GET SOME ORGANIC CONTENT FROM REDDIT.
UM, SO FOR EXAMPLE, WE, UH, SEE A POST FROM VET 1, 2, 3, OBVIOUSLY A MADE UP PERSON.
WHERE CAN I FIND DALLAS SERVICES? SO THIS IS ON A REDDIT, UM, SUBREDDIT, I SUPPOSE CALLED, UH, VETERANS DALLAS.
AND THERE ARE SEVERAL SUBREDDITS THAT ARE RELATED TO VETERANS.
AND WE SEARCH SPECIFICALLY FOR VETERANS IN DALLAS AND, UM, VETERANS IN, UM, UH, OR IN AND AROUND DALLAS, BASICALLY.
UM, WE ALSO LOOK FOR SOME SPECIFIC, UM, UM, SPECIFIC SERVICES TO TRY TO SEE IF ANYONE WAS USING THOSE OR HAD SOME THOUGHTS ON THOSE.
SO HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF A THREAD.
SO WE HAVE THE, THE PRE, THE, THE MAIN POST, WHICH IS, WHERE CAN I FIND DATA SERVICES BY VET 1, 2, 3.
AND THEN USER 1 0 1 HAS AN ANSWER, A COMMENT, AND USER 1 0 2 HAS A COMMENT.
SO OUR 2200 THREADS ARE THE, THE MAIN PIECE, THE FIRST ONE, AND THEN ALL THE COMMENTS ARE MORE, ARE EXTRA TO GO INTO THAT AS WELL.
SO EVERY THREAD HAS A SERIES OF COMMENTS.
SOME OF THEM HAVE MORE THAN OTHERS THAT RELATE TO THAT THREAD.
SO THAT'S ONE OF OUR CHALLENGES IS
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MAKING SURE THAT WHEN WE ARE ANALYZING THIS, THAT THE THREADS THAT RELATE TO A PARTICULAR QUESTION ARE ALL KEPT IN ORDER AND KIND OF CLUSTERED, IF YOU WILL, BY THE QUESTION.SO HOW DO WE FIGURE THIS OUT? WELL, TEXT MINING, AND I'M GOING TO MENTION THIS AGAIN BECAUSE WE USE THIS QUITE A BIT IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE VIF DATA AS WELL.
SO IF YOU IMAGINE A PIECE OF TEXT AS A, A PARAGRAPH AS A LEGO SET.
SO THIS LITTLE LEGO CAR HERE IS MADE UP.
WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT A PARAGRAPH, WE SEE THE PARAGRAPH AND WE SEE KIND OF THE BIG PICTURE OF IT.
WHEN A COMPUTER LOOKS AT TEXT, IT SEES IT LIKE THIS, IT, THE PIECES ARE PULLED APART AND EXAMINED ONE BY ONE BY ONE.
NOW, TEXT MINING SPECIFICALLY INVOLVES LOOKING AT WHAT WE CALL TOKENS, WHICH IS NOT QUITE THE SAME AS WORDS, BUT FOR OUR PURPOSES, WE'RE GONNA JUST USE TOKENS AND WORDS INTERCHANGEABLY.
SO WE WANNA KNOW, FOR EXAMPLE, WHERE CAN I FIND DALLAS SERVICES? AND SO COMPUTERS GONNA BREAK THESE UP INTO THE LITTLE LEGO BUILDING BLOCKS AND USE THOSE TOKENS, UH, TO EXAMINE WHAT IS THE MOST COMMON.
UM, NOT ONLY THE MOST COMMON WORDS, BUT ALSO COMMON PHRASES.
FOR EXAMPLE, CO-LOCATIONS IS ANOTHER THING THAT WE LOOK AT.
THEN WE SEE THE WORD HEALTH A LOT, BUT IS IT CO-LOCATED WITH MENTAL HEALTH OR IS IT CO-LOCATED WITH HEALTH INSURANCE? SO WE LOOK AT WHAT WE CALL BIOS.
THESE ARE, UH, THESE ARE, UM, COMPONENTS ARE THAT ARE, OR TWO WORDS TOGETHER.
AND OBVIOUSLY MENTAL HEALTH HAS A VERY DIFFERENT DEFINITION THAN HEALTH INSURANCE, WHICH HAS A VERY DEF DIFFERENT, UH, CONNOTATION OR DEFINITION OR USE THAN HEALTH BY ITSELF.
SO WE ALSO TRIED TO KEEP TRACK OF THESE CO-LOCATIONS AS WELL.
AND THERE WERE SOME THAT KIND OF PUZZLED US, LIKE P AMP, UNTIL WE FINALLY FIGURED OUT THAT THIS IS, THERE ARE SOME OF THESE THAT ARE RELATED TO VETERANS, WHICH YOU WOULD PROBABLY KNOW, BUT WE HAD TO KIND OF LOOK FOR AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THEY MEANT.
SO P AND T, PERMANENT AND TOTAL DISABILITY, CNP, COMPENSATION AND PENSION, AND VR AND E, VETERAN READINESS AND EMPLOYMENT.
SO THESE ARE OTHER, OTHER KIND OF VERY VETERAN SPECIFIC TOKENS THAT WE HAD TO STARTED, WE REALIZED THAT WE NEEDED TO LOOK FOR AS WE WERE GOING THROUGH THIS.
SO THIS WAS PART OF THE DATA CLEANING AND GETTING THE DATA IN SHAPE TO ACTUALLY DO AN ANALYSIS.
OKAY, SO WE CAN DO THINGS LIKE COUNT THE MOST USED WORD AND THAT SORT OF THING, BUT THAT'S NOT REALLY, I MEAN, THAT'S HELPFUL, BUT WHAT'S REALLY OF INTEREST IS SOMETHING THAT WE CALL TOPIC MODELING.
SO HERE I HAVE TWO PICTURES HERE OF TWO LEGO SETS, AND WE SEE THE ONE ON THE LEFT HAS A HOUSE AND SOME TREES AROUND IT.
UM, SOME ANIMALS IN THE SIDE YARD THERE, AND THE OTHER ONE ON THE RIGHT HAS A FOREST AND OR A GARDEN, IF YOU WANNA THINK OF IT THAT WAY.
AND WE CAN CONSIDER, SO THE ANALOGY HERE IS THAT THESE TWO PIECES OF LEGO SETS ARE, ARE PARAGRAPHS OR MAYBE REDDIT POST.
AND WE WANNA FIGURE OUT WHAT IS THE COMMON THEME, WHAT'S THE COMMON TOPIC IN THOSE POSTS? AND THERE ARE STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY TO DO.
THERE IS STATISTICAL METHODOLOGY, WELL, I SHOULD SAY ARE, BECAUSE THERE ARE MULTIPLE STATISTICAL METHODOLOGIES TO DO THAT.
AND SO THE TOPIC MAY BE A SIMILARITY BETWEEN THESE TWO PARAGRAPHS, IF YOU WILL, MIGHT BE TREES.
SO WE SAY, OKAY, SO THIS REALLY IS ABOUT TREES, NOT NECESSARILY ABOUT A HOME AND A PASTURE OR A FOREST.
SO WE, UH, USED THAT WITH WHAT WE HAD FOR THE REDDIT POST AND CAME OUT WITH SOME PRIMARY THEMES OF NAVIGATING VA HEALTHCARE SERVICES, DENIAL OF VA DISABILITY CLAIMS, AND FINDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
NOW THESE RESULTS ARE FROM JULY OF 2024.
UM, WE ARE STILL UPDATING THIS.
UH, WE, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANNA DO IS TRY TO EXPLORE OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA SITES.
IT HAS A NICE API, UM, UH, UH, INTERFACE WITH R.
UM, SO PERMISSION IS REALLY EASY, BUT THERE ARE SOME SOCIAL MEDIA SITES THAT ARE JUST UNTOUCHABLE BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE, THEY DON'T ALLOW THEIR TERMS OF SERVICE.
DO NOT ALLOW WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO.
UM, THEN, UH, SO WE'RE TRYING TO FIND OTHER ONES THAT WILL ALLOW US TO DO THIS IN A REALLY, UH, SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.
UM, WE WANNA SCORE POST FOR POSITIVITY AND NEGATIVITY.
SO THIS IS WHAT WE CALL SENTIMENT, UM, MODELING OR SENTIMENT ASSESSMENT.
SO CERTAIN WORDS HAVE NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE CONNOTATIONS, AND OF COURSE WE HAVE TO USE MULTIPLE, UM, YOU, UH, THOSE, UH, CO-LOCATIONS I WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLY BECAUSE
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NOT ANGRY IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM ANGRY.AND SO WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE, UM, USING THE, THE WORD AS WE SCORE IT FOR POSITIVITY AND NEGATIVITY IN THE APPROPRIATE CONTEXT.
AND OF COURSE, WE WANNA FURTHER FILTER THE POST.
AND WHAT'S NOT ON THIS SLIDE IS, OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS GATHER POST BY MONTH AND TRY TO EXAMINE THE PROGRESSION OF THE TOPICS THAT ARE MODELED AND THE SENTIMENT TOWARD THOSE TOPICS.
UM, FROM, WE CAN GO ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2015 UNTIL HOPEFULLY DECEMBER IS WHERE WE'RE GONNA STOP.
SO THAT IS THE SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT.
AND, UM, LET ME GO BACK TO, UM, THE POWERPOINT IF I CAN FIND IT.
OKAY, NOW OUR NEXT STEPS, UM, WELL I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED THAT.
SO I'M GONNA MOVE ON TO THIS AND LOOK AT THE PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS FROM THE VIIF.
NOW, THIS IS THE PART THAT'S MOSTLY CHANGED FROM WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU RIGHT NOW.
SO WE MET IN NOVEMBER OF 2025, AND WE FOUND SOME TOP PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS FROM V-I-I-F-A NOTE HERE ON THE, ON THE RIGHT OF THE SLIDE.
WE HAVE, THIS IS THE KIND OF DATA THAT WE WERE EXAMINING.
SO YOU MAY REMEMBER LOOKING AT OR WRITING ON BOARDS, STICKING POST-IT NOTES ON THE BOARDS.
THIS IS WHAT WE HAD TO EXAMINE AS DATA.
SO THIS WAS, THIS IS WHAT TOOK SO LONG AND WHY WE DIDN'T REALLY HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF RESULTS UNTIL VERY RECENTLY WAS BECAUSE WITH THIS DATA NEEDED TO BE CODED BY HAND AND MOSTLY DONE BY DR.
INGER AND SOME, UH, UNDERGRADUATE ASSISTANTS THAT SHE HAD AS WELL.
SO, UM, MS SAYS, SHE SAYS OVER 8,500 DATA ARE WORDS HAND CODED FROM HANDWRITING AND STICKY NOTES, BUT I BELIEVE THAT IS NOW UP TO CLOSER TO 14,000.
SO, UM, SHE'S DONE A LOT OF WORK IN THE PAST COUPLE WEEKS.
SO THESE ARE THE MAIN FIVE INSIGHTS, AND WE THINK THESE ARE PRETTY STABLE, BUT AGAIN, THIS IS ONLY FROM ONE ACTIVITY, THE OPERATION TERRAIN MAPPING ACTIVITY.
UM, SO WE NEED TO PULL ALL THE OTHER ACTIVITIES TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS IS CORRECT.
SO THIS ORDER MAY CHANGE AND THE EXACT WORDING MAY CHANGE, BUT INSIGHT NUMBER ONE SEEMS PRETTY ROBUST ABOUT A FRAGMENTED SERVICE LANDSCAPE WITH SCATTERED INFORMATION, INCONSISTENT ELIGIBILITY AND DIFFICULT ACCESS.
SO YOU SEE STARS NEXT TO THESE ARE, WE HAVE HIGH, WE THREE STARS MEANS HIGH AND ONE STAR MEANS LOW.
SO WE HAVE HIGH IMPACT AND KIND OF MEDIUM FEASIBILITY FOR THIS.
AND WHY WE SAY MEDIUM FEASIBILITY IS BECAUSE IT'S GONNA REQUIRE SOME COORDINATION ACROSS DIFFERENT SERVICES FOR VETERANS WITHIN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
AND THAT MIGHT REQUIRE SOME INFRASTRUCTURE THAT'S NOT CURRENTLY PRESENT.
OKAY, THE NEXT ONE WE HAVE DECEMBER.
SO HERE'S THE, THE NEXT, UH, THE UPDATE I SUPPOSE.
UM, SHE SAID 14,000 DATA POINTS.
SO I WAS RIGHT IN THAT, UM, MOSTLY THE INSIGHTS ARE MOSTLY UNCHANGED.
AND, UM, SO AGAIN, WE KEEP, WE HAVE NOT EXAMINED THE, SOME OF THE OTHER LOCUS OF CONTROL, FOR EXAMPLE, FOR THIS.
SO WE MIGHT BE SOME SHIFTING OF THEMES, BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT THESE ARE PRETTY STABLE.
UM, THE, UH, NAVIGATION IS STILL NUMBER ONE.
MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL NEEDS ARE STILL NUMBER TWO, WE HAVE TRANSITION, UM, AS A MULTI-YEAR, NOT A MOMENT.
UM, ACTIVITY AND BELONGING AND SOCIAL CONNECTION AND EMPLOYMENT BARRIERS TO THAT UNDERMINE STABILITY AND PURPOSE.
SO IF YOU KIND OF FLIP BACK BETWEEN THESE, UM, YOU CAN SEE THAT MOST OF THESE ARE, THE TOP THREE ARE CERTAINLY THE SAME.
THE BOTTOM FOUR AND FIVE HAVE BEEN REWORDED A LITTLE BIT.
NEXT STEPS, UM, WE WANNA COMPLETE THIS REPORT.
UM, WE HAVE CURRENTLY ABOUT 30 PAGES DRAFTED.
SO THIS IS JUST FOR THE VIIF REPORT.
SO THAT'S GONNA BE SEPARATE FROM THE FINAL REPORT FOR THE, UM, FOR THIS WHOLE, UM, EXERCISE.
AND WE'RE, UH, WE ONLY USE GEOSPATIAL DATA TO TRY TO CONTEXTUALIZE THE TOP THEMES.
SO THAT'S WHERE HOLLY AND ERIC AND DR.
UM, WE'LL USE SOME TEXT ANALYTICS FROM THE SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT TO SEE HOW THE MORE FORMAL ASSESSMENT USING THE VIIF STRUCTURE VERSUS AN INFORMAL ASSESSMENT ON THE, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA, UH, WORK TOGETHER OR IF THEY MAY GIVE US SEPARATE NOTIONS AND DETERMINE EMOTIONS.
SO THAT'S WHAT THIS THING ON THE RIGHT IS.
THIS IS THE EMOTION SENSATION WHEEL.
SO THIS IS USED IN TEXT ANALYTICS AND OTHER ANALYTICS TO ASSESS EMOTIONS.
AND THERE ARE SIX MAIN EMOTIONS.
THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE CLOSEST TO THE BIG BLACK.IN THE MIDDLE WITH VARIOUS, UM, SUB EMOTIONS,
[00:30:01]
I GUESS, UH, THAT GO INTO EACH ONE OF THOSE.BUT WE'RE PROBABLY JUST GONNA CONCENTRATE ON THE SIX MAIN ONES, UM, TO TRY TO EXAMINE HOW, UH, INDIVIDUALS FEEL ABOUT THESE VARIOUS STATEMENTS THAT ARE BEING MADE, WHETHER FROM THE VIIF OR THE SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT.
NOW THE NEXT SLIDE WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT, UM, A REINFORCEMENT OF VIIF FINDINGS THROUGH THE SECOND ANALYSIS USING R.
SO A LOT OF THESE THEMES WERE CONTEXTUALIZED USING CHAT GPT.
AND I KNOW I MENTIONED THAT A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO THAT WE WERE DOING THIS.
AND THIS IS THE REINFORCEMENT OF VIF FINDINGS, THE ANALYSIS OF TEXT.
AND THIS IS ONLY THE OPERATIONAL TERRAIN MAPPING ACTIVITY.
THE OTHER ACTIVITIES HAVE NOT YET BEEN DONE IN THIS WAY.
BUT NOW THAT I HAVE DONE THIS, IT WILL BE FAIRLY SIMPLE FOR ME TO FINISH OUT THE REST OF THEM.
UM, 'CAUSE I, I THINK I'VE WORKED OUT MOST OF THE KINKS.
SO, UM, THIS CORP A CORPUS IS ALL TEXT FROM AN ACTIVITY REGARDLESS OF TABLE OF QUES OR QUESTIONS.
SO I'M ANALYZING WHAT I CALL A CORPUS.
AND SO THIS IS ALL OF THE TEXT FROM THIS ACTIVITY, FROM ALL OF THE TABLES AND ALL OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE ASKED DURING THIS PARTICULAR OPERATIONAL TERRAIN MAPPING ACTIVITY.
SO I FIT A TOPIC MODEL TO TRY TO ELICIT THE, UH, IMPORTANT, UM, TOPICS THAT WERE COMING UP OUT OF THIS.
AND YOU CAN SEE THEM ON THE RIGHT IN THIS, IN THE BAR GRAPHS.
WE HAVE LIVED EXPERIENCES IS THE NUMBER ONE THAT'S IN THE BLUE TOP LEFT OF THAT RIGHT GRAPH, STRUCTURAL BARRIERS, TRANSITION, BASIC NEEDS AND WELLNESS.
THE LENGTH OF THE BAR IS RELATED TO SOMETHING THAT WE CALL BETA IN STRUCTURAL, UH, UH, TOPIC MODELING.
IT'S THE PROBABILITY OF EACH WORD APPEARING WITHIN A TOPIC.
SO THE, IT'S HARD TO SEE, I KNOW FROM THE SLIDES, BUT THE TOP ONE IN LIVED EXPERIENCE IS EMPLOYMENT.
SO, UM, THIS IS A, A MAJOR THEME.
UM, EMPLOYMENT IS A MAJOR SUB THEME OF LIVED EXPERIENCES, SO WE CAN KIND OF THINK OF IT THAT WAY.
SO IN BASIC NEEDS, WE SEE THE NUMBER ONE IS RESOURCE.
SO, UM, UM, ANYWAY, SO THAT'S, UH, THAT IS ONE WAY OF DISPLAYING THESE DATA AND THE FIVE MAIN TOPICS THAT CAME CAME OUT OF IT.
SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN? UH, IN INSIGHTS WISE, UM, LIVED EXPERIENCES WAS DOMINATED BY TERMS SUCH AS EMPLOYMENT KNOWLEDGE AND GAP.
AND THIS TOGETHER REFLECTS NAVIGATING LIMITED INFORMATION, UM, AND SERVICE FRAGMENTATION.
GUESS WHAT, THAT WAS THE TOPIC THAT WAS THE MOST ONE THAT CAME OUT OF THE WHOLE VIIF EXPERIENCE.
SO WE DO HAVE SOME CONFIRMATION OF THAT FROM A DIFFERENT SOURCE.
OUR STRUCTURAL BARRIERS ARE STILL THERE, SO IT'S NECESSARY TO CREATE SOME SORT OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO TRY TO MITIGATE THE ISSUES WITH NAVIGABILITY IN ORGANIZATION, ORGANIZATIONAL SILOS, COMPLEXITY OF BENEFITS, ET CETERA.
UM, TRANSITION CAME UP THIRD JUST LIKE IT DID IN THE VIIF AND BASIC NEEDS AND WELLNESS ROUND UP THE TOP FIVE FROM THE KEY INSIGHTS.
AND AGAIN, THIS IS ONLY THAT ONE ACTIVITY.
SO AS WE LOOK AT OTHER ACTIVITIES, I'M SURE THERE'LL BE KEY INSIGHTS FROM EACH ACTIVITY, AND THEN THERE'LL BE AN OVERALL KIND OF KEY INSIGHTS FROM EVERYTHING THAT WE GAINED.
ANOTHER THING I WOULD LIKE TO DO, AND THE, UH, METHODOLOGY THAT I'M USING ALLOWS ME TO DO THIS, IS TO LOOK AT HOW THE TOPICS PROGRESS BY TABLE.
UM, SO EACH, YOU KNOW, EACH NOT ONLY ACROSS ACTIVITIES, BUT BY TABLE.
SO HOW, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE YOU WERE WITH THE SAME PEOPLE MOST OF THE TIME DURING THAT VIIF HOW THINGS KIND OF COALESCED AS WE GOT FROM THE VERY FIRST ACTIVITY TO THE VERY LAST ACTIVITY.
I HAVE NOT DONE THAT YET, BUT THE METHODOLOGY ALLOWS ME TO DO THAT.
SO POLICY IMPLICATIONS, STRUCTURAL BARRIERS IS A HUGE ONE.
SO STREAMLINED CENTRALIZED SERVICE NAVIGATION IS VERY IMPORTANT.
UM, PROBABLY SOME OF YOU FELT THAT IN YOUR GUT ALREADY AND NOW YOU HAVE DATA CONFIRMATION FROM IT.
AND WE HAVE PERSISTENT CONCERNS ABOUT EMPLOYMENT, CAREER TRANSITIONS, AND JOB SEARCH SUPPORT THAT ARE ALSO BROUGHT UP FROM THIS PARTICULAR ANALYSIS.
UM, AND AGAIN, THIS IS TO BE CONTINUED.
UH, SO, UM, THIS MIC CHANGE IS MORE DATA ARE ANALYZED AND VERIFIED, AND I STILL HAVEN'T DONE THESE OTHER ACTIVITIES AS WELL.
SO, UM, UM, AGAIN, I'VE MENTIONED THAT WE CAN USE FOR CROSS OR WITHIN ACTIVITY COMPARISON BY GROUP, ASSUMING WE HAVE ENOUGH DATA FOR CROSS AND WITHIN ACTIVITY, UM, BY GROUP.
SO I'LL HAVE TO LOOK AT THAT AND TELL THE STORY, UM, UH, ACROSS THE TABLES AND GROUPS AND WITHIN AN ACTIVITY.
I THINK THAT MIGHT, IT MIGHT BRING UP SOME OTHER THINGS IT MIGHT NOT, BUT IT'S WORTH LOOKING AT.
[00:35:01]
FOR YOU GUYS, UM, WE HAVE SOME QUESTIONS, UH, JUST TO THINK ABOUT.YOU CAN'T MAYBE NOT ANSWER THEM TODAY.
SO, UM, ISSUES REQUIRING STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS, UM, REQUIRING SERVICE COORDINATION, HOW YOU MIGHT MAKE THAT HAPPEN AND, UM, CAN MEETING VETERANS' BASIC NEEDS THROUGH SOME SERVICE COORDINATION AND STRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS AND REQUIRING MENTAL HEALTH AND BELONGING SUPPORT AS WELL.
SO THIS IS A WORD CLOUD, WHICH BASICALLY REPRESENTS THE SAME INFORMATION AS IN THOSE, UM, IT'S THE SAME DATA SET THAT I USED.
IT'S JUST A DIFFERENT REPRESENTATION OF THAT DATA SET.
SO THE BAR CHART WAS ONE WAY OF REPRESENTING, THIS IS A WORD CLOUD, WHICH IS ANOTHER WAY.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE WORD RESOURCE IS THE LARGEST WORD.
AND SO THAT WOULD BE THE WORD THAT IS MENTIONED THE MOST OFTEN.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE WORDS QUALITY AND ISSUES, JOB AND BENEFIT ARE THE NEXT TIER, HOUSE AND EMPLOYMENT.
AND THEN WE SEE SOME OTHER WORDS THAT ARE SMALLER.
SO THE SIZE OF THE WORD IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE NUMBER OF TIMES THAT IT WAS MENTIONED IN, UM, THE, UH, IN THE TEXT THAT WE ANALYZED.
OKAY, SO THIS IS HOLLY'S PART, THE VETERAN SERVICE IMPACT REPORT ANALYSIS PROJECT.
BUT I GUESS BEFORE I LET HOLLY GO, UM, I'LL STOP FOR QUESTIONS.
ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I DO HAVE ONE COMMENT.
SO DR. MCGEE, IT LOOKS, LOOKS LIKE FROM THE, FROM THE BEGINNING NOW, UM, SEEING ALL THE LITTLE DOTS TURN COLORS IS SHOWING THAT THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF PROGRESS TAKING PLACE AS, AS THE DATA GETS SIFTED.
I MEAN, RESEARCH IS NOT AS STEADY AND LEAST IN MY EXPERIENCE.
USUALLY THERE'S THE KIND OF A LULL AND IT'S KIND OF GETS FRUSTRATING AND THEN IT, ALL OF A SUDDEN THINGS START TO FALL INTO PLACE.
SO I THINK I'M CROSSING MY FINGERS AND TOUCHING ON WOOD AND EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE AT THE POINT WHERE THINGS WILL START TO JUST FALL INTO PLACE AND MOVE RATHER QUICKLY.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANYBODY, UH, ONLINE WANNA MAKE, WANNA MAKE A COMMENT OR A QUESTION? ANYBODY? SURE.
AND HOLLY, JUST TELL ME WHEN YOU WANT ME TO ADVANCE THE SLIDES.
THANKS EVERYONE FOR HAVING ME HERE.
I'M HOLLY, I'M A DOCTORATE STUDENT AT SMU IN HISTORY.
AND THEN WE WORK MIA AND ERIC, WHO'S ANOTHER DOCTORATE STUDENT.
BUT IN ANTHROPOLOGY, WE'RE THE ONES WHO THIS SEMESTER HAVE GONE THROUGH, RIGHT, LIKE THESE, ALL THE MAPS THAT WERE CREATED FROM THE VIIF AND HAVE PROCESSED, UM, THE DATA FOR THAT UNDER DR.
JESSE ZAGA, WHO IS OUR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS, OR COLLOQUIALLY OUR MAPPING PROFESSOR AT SMU.
AND SO THIS FIRST SLIDE, UM, WAS DONE BY ANOTHER MEMBER OF OUR PROJECT, DYLAN, AND THIS IS JUST AN OVERVIEW OF THE DENSITY OF THE VETERANS POPULATION WITHIN, UH, THE CITY OF DALLAS.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A LOT OF VETERANS IN THE CENTER AND ALONG THE EDGES DIAGONALLY UP TO THE RIGHT AND THEN DOWN TO THE LEFT, NEXT SLIDE PLEASE.
AND SO, AS YOU CAN SEE, THESE WERE THE MAPS I WAS TALKING ABOUT, UM, WITH ALL THE DATA THAT WE THEN TOOK, RIGHT, THESE PHYSICAL MAPS AND CONVERTED THEM INTO DATA THAT WE USED IN ARCH GIS PRO, WHICH IS A VERY ADVANCED MAPPING SOFTWARE.
AND SO THROUGH INPUTTING RIGHT THESE NINE OR 10 MAPS WITH ALL THESE STICKY NOTES THAT SAY AFFECT AND TEXT AND INFORMATION AND ALL THIS, UM, WE KIND OF HAVE THREE GENRES OF MAPS.
SO WE HAVE MAPS THAT INDICATE AFFECT IN THE CITY OF DALLAS, UM, BECAUSE A LOT OF THE NOTES, THEY'LL HAVE A SMILEY FACE OR A FROWNY FACE STICKY WITH IT, RIGHT? OR A TEXT THAT INDICATES THAT THIS IS POSITIVE OR NEUTRAL OR NEGATIVE.
WE ALSO HAVE MAPS THAT SHOW OKAY, WHAT RESOURCES WERE MENTIONED ACROSS ALL NINE OR 10 VERSUS WHAT IS ACTUALLY AVAILABLE IN DALLAS.
AND SO IN TERMS OF TOTAL RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN DALLAS, I MADE THAT DATABASE THROUGH THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE NATIONAL RESOURCE DIRECTORY, THE VETERANS RESOURCE COUNCIL, AND ALSO METROCARE, UM, WHICH HAD QUITE A COMPREHENSIVE LIST.
SO THERE'S AROUND 120, SO THERE'S A LOT OF GOOD STUFF AVAILABLE TO VETERANS OUT THERE.
AND THEN THE THIRD GENRE, UM, WE CREATED MAPS THAT SHOW HOW ACCESSIBLE ARE THESE RESOURCES, BOTH ONES THAT WERE MENTIONED AND NOT MEN MENTIONED
[00:40:01]
TO VETERAN IN DALLAS, WHICH TIES REALLY NICELY WITH WHAT MONEY WAS SAYING ABOUT HOW THERE ARE CONCERNS ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY AND TRANSPORT TO, TO VETERANS AND, UH, THE RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE.SO THIS OVERALL IS GONNA LET US SEE HOW VETERANS EXPERIENCE DALLAS, WHAT RESOURCES THEY KNOW ABOUT VERSUS WHAT'S IN EXISTENCE AND HOW EASILY CAN THOSE RESOURCES BE REACHED.
SO TH THIS WAS DONE BY MY PARTNER, ERIC.
UM, THIS IS OF THE AFFECT ASSESSMENT BASED OFF ALL THOSE MAPS.
SO THE YE THE YELLOW POINTS ARE NEUTRAL, THE PINK ONES ARE POSITIVE, AND THE BLUE ONES ARE NEGATIVE.
SO THE GOOD NEWS IS THERE ARE A LOT OF POSITIVE POINTS.
UM, ERIC'S DONE ALL THIS STATISTICAL ANALYSIS AND HE'S COUNTED IT UP AND, YOU KNOW, FOUND THERE'S MORE POSITIVE POINTS AND NEGATIVE POINTS AND THAT THERE'S A LOT OF POSITIVE FEELINGS IN THE CENTER OF DALLAS AND THE CENTER TO THE SOUTH, RIGHT? THERE'S A LOT OF POSITIVE AFFECT THERE, AND THAT'S ALSO WHERE THE MOST POINTS ARE.
SO HERE ARE JUST TWO HEAT MAPS.
UM, YOU CAN SEE WHERE DO THE NEGATIVE POINTS CLUSTER ON THE LEFT IN THE BLUE, AND THEN ON THE RIGHT YOU CAN SEE THE POSITIVE POINTS AND WHERE THOSE CLUSTER IN THE PINK, UM, IT KIND OF CONFIRMS WHAT THE LAST SLIDE JUST SHOWED, BUT MAINLY THE CENTER TO THE SOUTH OF DALLAS, UH, HAS THE MOST COMMENTARY, UM, REGARDING POINTS.
AND THAT IS MAINLY POSITIVE, BUT OF COURSE THERE ARE STILL SOME NEGATIVE.
SO THEN WE ALSO CREATED MAPS ON WHAT SORTS OF RESOURCES ARE VETERANS AWARE OF.
AND SO WE DID THIS ACROSS, UM, THIS WOULD BE ACROSS SIX OR SEVEN DIFFERENT CATEGORIES, HEALTH, LEGAL, SOCIAL, EMPLOYMENT, FOOD, HOUSING, AND EDUCATION.
SO THE HEALTH RESOURCES MAP IS ON THE RIGHT, SO THE STARS WOULD BE, OKAY, THESE WERE POINTS MENTIONED BY VETERANS RIGHT FROM THE FORM ACROSS, RIGHT? ALL THOSE 10 MAPS.
SO THE STARS ARE SPECIFICALLY A HEALTH RELATED RESOURCE, HEALTH, HEALTH BEING, IT COULD BE THE HOSPITAL, IT COULD BE A VA CENTER, IT COULD BE A MENTAL HEALTH TYPE RESOURCE.
SO IT'S HEALTH IN A VERY BROAD SENSE.
AND THEN ALSO THE RED POINTS ARE THE AVAILABLE HEALTH RESOURCES IN DALLAS.
AND SO, LIKE I SAID, THOSE DATASET I CREATED, UM, FROM THOSE THREE DIFFERENT SOURCES.
SO YOU CAN SEE THERE'S A LOT OF HEALTH RESOURCES, MENTAL, UM, VA TRADITIONAL MEDICAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE CITY.
AND THERE'S ALSO A HIGH SALINE C OR MENTION, UM, BY THE VETERANS THEMSELVES REGARDING HEALTH AS YOU CAN SEE WITH THE STARS.
AND SO THE CITY'S REFERRAL LIST IS, IS QUITE NARROW COMPARED TO THIS DATABASE I CREATED.
UM, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT THERE'S A LOT THAT IS WORKING WELL AND THERE'S A LOT THAT IS ACCESSIBLE AND IS HOW DO WE KIND OF OVERCOME MAYBE THIS AWARENESS ASPECT OF IT, BUT THIS HEALTH RESOURCE IS A GOOD OPTION OR JUST A GOOD REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE ARE AWARE AND THERE'S A LOT OUT THERE.
SO ON THE LEFT WE HAVE THE EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES.
SO WE HAVE THE MENTIONED, LIKE I SAID, WITH THE STARS VERSUS THE AVAILABLE, WHICH ARE AS PASTELS.
AND UM, SO THE GREEN ONES ARE LIKE NONPROFIT RESOURCES VERSUS THE RED WOULD BE FEDERAL AND THEN THE PURPLE WOULD BE CITY.
SO WE, WE HAVE MORE DATA AND CLASSIFICATIONS ACROSS THE ALL.
UM, BUT THEN THE RIGHT WOULD BE LEGAL RESOURCES, UH, WITH THE MENTION VERSUS AVAILABLE.
SO I HAVE THESE TWO JUXTAPOSED.
'CAUSE I THINK IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE, UM, FOR THE LEGAL THAT OKAY, THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE MENTIONING LEGAL TYPE RESOURCES FROM THE FORUM, BUT THERE'S NOT AS MANY PUBLICLY AVAILABLE LEGAL RESOURCES FOR HELP THAT I COULD AT LEAST FIND THAT ARE AVAILABLE.
AND THEN ON THE LEFT YOU CAN SEE, OKAY, THERE IS A LOT OF INTEREST IN EMPLOYMENT RESOURCES AND THERE ARE A DECENT NUMBER OF EMPLOYMENT TYPE RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO VETERANS IN THE CITY, WHICH IS REALLY GOOD NEWS OF OF NEEDS THAT THAT COULD BE MET.
AND I HAVE MAPS LIKE THIS FOR ALL THE RESOURCE TYPES, BUT THIS IS JUST, UM, YOU KNOW, A LITTLE SAMPLING FOR THIS PRESENTATION.
AND THE BORDERS, OF COURSE, I'M SURE LOOK FAMILIAR.
UM, THOSE ARE THE CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS.
SO WE CAN EASILY IN OUR REPORT OR OUR FINAL TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, PER CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT HERE ARE THE RESOURCES BASED OFF RESOURCE TYPE, WHAT THE NAMES OF, OF WHAT'S AVAILABLE AND WHAT TYPE, UH, WHO OWNS IT, THE CITY, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, NONPROFIT, ET CETERA.
AND SO THEN THIS IS KIND OF THE LAST GENRE OF MAPS THAT I MENTIONED THAT WE CREATED, BUT
[00:45:01]
IT'S HOW ACCESSIBLE ARE RESOURCES? UM, SO THIS MAP ON THE RIGHT IS THE NUMBER OF RESOURCES ACROSS ALL RESOURCE TYPES, RIGHT? SO HEALTH, LEGAL, SOCIAL, UM, EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, ET CETERA, WITHIN A 10 MINUTE DRIVE.AND SO AS THE KEY ON THE BOTTOM RIGHT SHOWS BETWEEN ZERO TO TWO RESOURCES AVAILABLE WITHIN A 10 MINUTE DRIVE, IT'S LIKE REALLY DARK COLOR.
AND THEN THE PALE COLOR IS SEVEN TO EIGHT RESOURCES AVAILABLE WITHIN A 10 MINUTE DRIVE, UM, ACROSS ALL TYPES.
AND THIS, IT WOULD BE THAT 10 MINUTE TRAVEL TIME WOULD BE TO YOUR NEAREST RESOURCE.
SO IT'S NOT, UM, AN AVERAGE ACROSS ALL RESOURCES, BUT JUST ASSUMES, OKAY, ACROSS THIS TYPE OF RESOURCE, YOU'RE PROBABLY GONNA GO WHAT'S CLOSEST TO YOU.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA GO TO THE ONE THAT'S FARTHEST AWAY.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE LITTLE POINT ABOUT THAT.
AND SO WE ALSO HAVE THIS TABLE, WHICH SHOWS THE NUMBER OF RESOURCES AND THEN THE NUMBER OF CENSUS TRACKS.
SO THAT'S WHAT ALL THOSE LITTLE SQUARES ARE.
SO THIS IS NOT IN THE DIVIDED BY CITY COUNCIL DISTRICTS, BUT IS INSTEAD BY CENSUS TRACKS BECAUSE IT'S MUCH SMALLER, IT'S MUCH MORE SPECIFIC.
SO FOR CALCULATING THESE DRIVE TIMES AND THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE IMPACTED IT IS, IT'S MUCH MORE PRECISE.
AND THEN OF COURSE, A NUMBER OF VETERANS THAT, UM, WOULD BE IMPACTED BY THAT.
SO WE CAN SEE THAT CENTRAL DALLAS IS VERY ACCESSIBLE, WHICH, WHICH MAKES SENSE WHILE NEIGHBOR NEIGHBORHOODS ON THE OUTSIDE ARE LESS ACCESSIBLE IN COMPARISON.
BUT I WOULD SAY THE REALLY POSITIVE NEWS IS THAT MANY VETERANS THEORETICALLY HAVE ACCESS TO AT LEAST FOUR RESOURCES, UM, WITHIN A FAIRLY MANAGEABLE ACCESSIBILITY DISTANCE.
WE ALSO HAVE THAT ANALYZE, UM, PUBLIC TRANSPORT.
LIKE OKAY, IF YOU'RE WITHIN A QUARTER MILE OF A BUS STOP OR A HALF A MILE OF A DART RAIL STOP, WHAT, LIKE, HOW
AND THEN I THINK THAT WAS MY LAST SLIDE, MON, IF YOU WANNA TAKE IT BACK, BUT WE'RE, I WAS, I WAS MUTED.
UH, DO WE WANNA STOP FOR QUESTIONS? NO QUESTIONS, BUT I A COMMENT THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING DATA AND ALL THESE MAPS, I'M A KIND OF A MAP PERSON, SO IT'S FASCINATING TO SEE ALL THAT
YOUR MAPS WILL GET A LOT OF SCRUTINY ONCE YOU'VE PUBLISHED YOUR REPORT.
OKAY, WELL, WELL THAT, THAT WILL BE SOMETHING FOR YOU TO HANDLE OR WHOEVER'S IN CHARGE OF PUTTING OUT RESOURCES WILL BE ABLE TO HANDLE THAT.
SO
THIS IS JUST A SLIDE TO LET US KNOW THAT WE ARE ON TASK WITH INVOICING AS FAR AS OUR EFFORT ON TASK AND COST.
SO COSTS ARE LAGGING BEHIND EFFORT, WHICH IS KIND OF THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.
UM, WE HAVEN'T UPDATED THIS, THIS IS THE BOTTOM LINE HERE ON THE, WITH THE BIG OVAL CIRCLING IT.
I THINK THERE ARE SOME INVOICES THAT SHOULD BE COMING YOUR WAY SOON IF THEY HAVEN'T ALREADY.
UM, BUT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT, UH, RACHEL ROBERTSON IS THE PERSON TO CONTACT, UH, HERE AT SMUI DON'T HAVE ANY CONTROL OVER INVOICING.
SO, UM, JUST FOR THE NEXT BUDGET, CITY OF DALLAS BUDGET CYCLE.
SO THIS IS SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE COME OUT WITH, AND THIS IS FROM, THIS HAS NOT CHANGED SINCE NOVEMBER.
UM, BUT WE, WE FEEL LIKE THAT THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR THE CITY TO CONSIDER AS THEY GO INTO THEIR BUDGET CYCLE, WHICH I KNOW WILL START IN, I BELIEVE STARTS IN JANUARY.
SO THE VETERAN NAVIGATION HUB, A FRONT DOOR TO ALL SERVICES AND A PEER LED NAVIGATOR CORE, UM, ARE TWO OF THE TOP THINGS THAT WE THINK WOULD REALLY HELP.
TRYING TO GET SOME OF THESE, UM, MAKES SOME OF THESE, UH, SERVICES EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO HELP WITH, UM, THE, UH, SILOED NATURE OR TO MITIGATE THE SILOED NATURE OF THE WAY THINGS WORK AND MAYBE TO, UM, UH, KIND OF, UH, AVOID, UM, DUPLICATION OF EFFORT, UM, OR MAYBE DISTRIBUTE THE EFFORT IN PLACES WHERE, UM, WHERE IS NOT, WHERE IS NOT AVAILABLE CURRENTLY.
SOME OF THOSE BIG BLOTCHY RED PLACES THAT HOLLY WAS MENTIONING ON HER MAPS AND SO ABOUT THE HOW YOU GUYS CAN HELP.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS AS WE PREPARE TO WRITE THE FINAL REPORT, WE WOULD LOVE IT IF WE COULD HAVE A PREFACE THAT WOULD GIVE SOME RATIONALE FOR THIS
[00:50:01]
CONTRACT FROM THE VAC AND THE CITY AND SOME BACKGROUND ON WHAT YOUR KNOWLEDGE WAS AND, UM, HOW OR WHY YOU WANTED TO DO THIS ASSESSMENT SO THAT YOU COULD, YOU KNOW, ACCOMPLISH YOUR OWN GOALS AND WHAT THOSE GOALS MIGHT BE AND SOME OTHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION AS WELL.SO WE WOULD APPRECIATE ONE OR TWO PAGES ABOUT THE PROCESS OF CREATING THIS AND, UH, THE RATIONALE FOR IT AND THE BACKGROUND.
WE APPRECIATE IT AND WE'LL BE IN TOUCH, UM, TO PROVIDE THAT LAST SLIDE INFORMATION.
MONTE, CAN I ASK A QUESTION, UH, ABOUT THAT LAST SLIDE? SURE.
I'M WONDER OUR MINUTES, UH, CONTAIN THAT RATIONALE THAT, 'CAUSE WE WENT THROUGH LIKE THREE MEETINGS WHERE WE TALKED ABOUT DOING THIS, AND I, I'M, I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING IS SPEND THEM IN CHRISTINA TO FIND THE MINUTES AND MAYBE COME UP WITH A, SOME LANGUAGE.
I THINK, I THINK MONTY HAS SOME PRETTY GOOD IDEAS.
HOW TO COORDINATE THAT EFFORT.
WELL, WELL THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO KIND OF PASS OFF TO YOU,
I MEAN, IF YOU HAVE THE MINUTES, UM, THERE AND, AND ACCESSIBLE THEN TO JUST TAKE THOSE MINUTES AND MASSAGE THEM INTO A COUPLE OF PAGES, THAT WOULD BE A GREAT PREFACE FOR THIS FINAL REPORT, I THINK WOULD BE VERY USEFUL.
DO YOU WANT US TO, TO ALSO PUT IN, UH, ONE OF THESE TASKS FROM THE CONSIDERATIONS, THE LAST, YOUR LAST SLIDE? UH, SURE.
I'M I'M JUST WONDERING IF WE SHOULD MAKE THAT NUMBER TWO DOES, SHE SAYS FASTEST WIND CAN LAUNCH WITH MODEST FUNDING.
IT SEEMS TO ME MAYBE THAT'S SOMETHING WE OUGHT TO PUT IN OUR REPORT.
I MEAN, I'M NOT READY TO SAY YES OR NO, BUT THAT'S VERY LAST, VERY LAST FAVORITE BECAUSE WHICH ONE PLEASE? LAST? NUMBER TWO, NAVIGATE CALL.
NAVIGATE A CALL AND WHAT YOU WANTED TO ADD.
JUST PUT THAT IN OUR REPORT TO THE CITY OR WHATEVER.
YEAH, I DON'T, UM, I KNOW THIS FINAL REPORT IS GONNA HAVE A WRITTEN, UM, COMPONENT, BUT I SUSPECT AS WELL THERE'LL BE ANOTHER PRESENTATION, MAYBE NOT JUST, UM, TO, UH, TO YOU, BUT PERHAPS TO PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY MAKE SOME DECISIONS AND GIVE SOME FUNDING.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? OKAY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
ALRIGHT, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS THEY WOULD LIKE TO MAKE? UM, I DO.
UM, TALKED TO IT LAST, LAST MONTH REGARDING, UM, A FUNDRAISER THAT I ATTENDED WITH, UH, FORMER GOVERNOR RICK PERRY AND OTHER ADVOCATES.
IT'S CALLED AMERICANS FOR IBOGA.
AND I'M JUST GONNA READ, UH, VERBATIM WHAT IT SAYS HERE ON THEIR WEBSITE.
IT SAYS, AMERICANS FOR IGA UNITES CLINICIANS, RESEARCHERS, AND ADVOCATES TO PROMOTE SCIENCE-BASED AWARENESS AND REDUCE STIGMA AROUND IGA THERAPY, YOUR EDUCATION POLICY ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS WITH PRESCRIBED TO EXPAND SAFE AND LEGAL ACCESS TO MEDICALLY SUPERVISED CARE.
THIS WAS IMPLEMENTED BECAUSE A LOT OF SPECIAL WARFARES SPECIAL OPERATORS WERE CONTINUED DOING THEIR JOBS AND THEY'RE JUST KIND OF GIVEN CERTAIN MEDICATIONS TO GET THEM GOING.
SOMEONE WOULD PTSD AND BEING, GETTING BLOWN UP TO HAD TBIS AND PAIN AND THEY WERE JUST GIVING MEDICATION.
WE ALL KNOW THAT PAIN MEDICATION IS ADDICTIVE, SO THAT'S WHAT IT'S PRESCRIBED.
BUT EVEN WITH THE VA, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS AS A VETERAN MYSELF, ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS THEY GIVE YOU WHERE THEY WANT TO GIVE YOU IS MEDICATION.
THEY JUST WANNA GIVE YOU MEDICATION.
SOME OF US GET ADDICTED TO IT, BUT WHEN YOU COME OFF DRUG BECAUSE THEY FIND YOU THAT YOU'RE NORMAL NOW, NOW YOU HAVE THESE KIND OF ADDICTIVE PERSONALITIES, RIGHT? SO NOW YOU'RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE.
SO SOME OF THESE GUYS HAVE ADVOCATED OR WHERE IT'S LIKE, HEY, IF WE HAVE, WE FOUND SOMETHING THERAPEUTIC, SOME SOMETHING
BUT FORTUNATELY, YOU KNOW, THE F-E-A-F-D-A AND THE UNITED STATES STILL NOT, STILL NOT WELCOMING.
SO IT'S STILL KIND OF LIKE A TABOO.
SO THERE'S A CLINIC IN TIJUANA IN MEXICO, RIGHT ACROSS SAN DIEGO AND A LOT OF SEALS, IT'S THE BUTS RIGHT ACROSS THE BORDER, UM, HAVE GONE THERE AS
[00:55:01]
RETIREES, AS SEPARATED, MEDICALLY DISCHARGED, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.AND THEY GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS WHERE THEY'RE, THEY DON'T REHABIL THEMSELVES NATURALLY AND IT'S A ROOT EXTRACT.
SO IT'S SOMETHING THAT THEY GIVE TO YOU.
THEY, THEY'RE SUPERVISED, IT'S, IT'S, RIGHT NOW IT'S A 14 MONTH WAITING LIST FOR YOU TO EVEN BE CONSIDERED.
SO YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE APPLICATION, YOU HAVE TO PAY AND IT'S
SO TRYING TO GET SOMEBODY HERE IN PERSON, YOU GUYS ARE INTERESTED SO THEY CAN SPEAK TO US IN PERSON OR IF IT'S CONVENIENT FOR THEM TO GO, YOU KNOW, BE ONLINE, GIVE YOU GUYS MORE INFORMATION.
WHY AM I SAYING THIS? BECAUSE WE'RE IN THE CITY OF DALLAS.
WE'RE LOOKING FOR FUNDING LIKE WE DID FOR SMU.
THIS CAN REALLY IMPACT SOMEBODY WHO'S IN NEED NOW.
UM, WE'VE ALL DONE THE PUSHUP CHALLENGES.
I'M SURE YOU GUYS HAVE SEEN IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
22 PEOPLE ARE STILL KILLING THEMSELVES AND NOW THEY'RE KILLING THEMSELVES AT THE VA.
SO THAT'S HAPPENED A LOT OF TIMES AND THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY HAPPENING.
IT'S REALLY IMPACTED SOMEBODY.
THIS GUY HAS BEEN IN JOE ROGAN BECAUSE DON'T KNOW WHO JOE ROGAN IS ONE OF THE BIG BROADCAST GUYS AND HE'S TRANSPARENT, CALLS PEOPLE OUT FOR BS AND SUPPORTS PEOPLE.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF, THERE'S A LOT OF SUPPORT, BUT IT'S STILL KIND OF BRAND NEW.
SO EVERYBODY HERE HAS EITHER STRUGGLES WITH ADDICTION, YOU KNOW, LEGAL ADDICTION, FDA ADDICTION, OR KNOW SOMEBODY STRUGGLES WITH THAT OR HAS UNFORTUNATELY, UM, KNOWN SOMEBODY WHO'S ACTUALLY KILLED HIMSELF.
SO, SO, SO YOU, YOU WANNA INVITE ONE OF THESE PEOPLE SPEAK? I DO, I DO.
AND I WANNA SEND YOU THAT GUY'S LINK SO YOU GUYS CAN SEE THE MOVIE ON NETFLIX.
YOU GUYS CAN SEE THE YOUTUBE, UH, UH, AND IT'S ALL HERE, SO THAT'LL BE THING.
WELL I KNOW WHAT THE CLINIC IS LIKE BECAUSE I THINK 19 THREE.
SO YEAH, WHY DON'T WE, UH, AND THESE GUYS ARE, ARE TRAVELING.
SO TRY, TRY TO SCHEDULE SOMEBODY JANUARY, FEBRUARY A TIMEFRAME.
I'M IN, I'M IN THE WORKS WITH HIM.
I JUST WANTED TO ANNOUNCE IT WHEN YOU GUYS ASKED HIM IF, IF THIS IS THE TIME COURSE IT SO, UM, SEEMS LIKE GETTING SOME KNOTS.
UM, SO FEEL, FEEL LIKE THIS IS UNANIMOUS.
YEAH, I THINK THERE WAS A 60 MINUTE SPECIAL ON IT TOO WHERE YEAH, YOU KNOW, BETTER THAT ARE STARTING WITH PTSD, TSD OR TRYING THESE OTHER KIND OF TREATMENTS BECAUSE THE MEDICATION IN THE THERAPY SOMETIMES IT'S IN UP VETERANS.
HAVE WE, WE ALL HAVE OPINIONS IN THAT, RIGHT? I I I FEEL IT'S, IT'S, AND WE CAN TALK OFFLINE OR CONTINUE.
DO DO I HEAR A MOTION THAT WE INVITE SOMEONE TO SPEAK TO THE COUNCIL ON MISSION? I THINK THAT'S HIS MOTION AND I SECOND HIS MOTION.
THAT I WOULD LIKE, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE? NOPE.
AND I'LL SHARE THE, THE LINKS WITH YOU GUYS SO YOU GUYS CAN, THAT'D BE GREAT.
THAT'S WHY I, I SAID WAIT, WAIT.
JANUARY, FEBRUARY SO WE CAN GET, HE HAS TO LOOK AT INFORMATION.
THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY.
UH, THIS WEEKEND IT'S A VERY SPECIAL WEEKEND BECAUSE IT'S A 250TH BIRTHDAY.
UH, UH, THE NAVY MARINE, OUR NAVY AND UM, ARMY EVERY, WE CELEBRATED THIS PAST YEAR, BUT ALSO THE ARMY NAVY FOOTBALL GAME IS GOING ON THIS WEEKEND.
SO ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS, UH, GO NAVY BEAT HARPER
UH, I WOULD LIKE TO ASK THE STAFF TO INVITE THE CITY MANAGER TO COME AND SPEAK TO US.
THEY BOTH NEED TO COME AND SPEAK TO US.
WE HAVEN'T HAD ANYBODY OTHER THAN ONE CITY COUNCILING, SO IT WOULD BE GOOD.
ANY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS OR IT'D BE NICE.
EXPECTATIONS ARE DO WHAT? BE NICE.
KNOW WHAT THEIR EXPECTATIONS ARE.
HAVE THE COUNCIL MEMBERS BEEN JUST ONE? WE HAVE THE OTHER FOUR.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE MORE THAN WELCOME TO INVITE YOUR COUNCILMAN TO COME AND SPEAK TO US.
IN FACT, EVERYBODY BUT CHAD THE VETERAN, SO HE'S YEAH, HE'S A VETERAN.
WITHOUT ANY OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS, DO YOU, CHRISTINA, DO YOU HAVE ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS SINCE YOU'RE THE DEPUTY DIRECTOR THERE? UH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR.
UM, WHAT ELSE? I THINK, UH, NOTHING FOR NOW.
I GUESS I, I THINK EVERYTHING'S BEEN DISCUSSED AND JUST, YOU KNOW, THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SERVICE, UH, NOTED ON THE INVITES TO,
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UH, CITY MANAGER AND MAYOR AND WE'LL MAKE SURE TO COORDINATE WITH THEIR SCHEDULE.YOU GET COOKIE? I'M GONNA DUNK DOES EVER SOMETHING.
UH, DOES ANYBODY, UH, OUT THERE AND CITY LAND, DO YOU WANNA SAY SOMETHING BEFORE WE ADJOURN? LADY THERE? HEY, THIS IS, HEY, THIS IS LAKIRA HOUSTON.
I WAS, UH, I WAS LISTENING TO THE, UH, CONVERSATION ABOUT THE, UM, BRINGING SOMEONE IN, UM, TO TALK ABOUT THE PTSD AND THE ISSUES THAT WE'RE HAVING AT THE VA.
UM, I JUST RECENTLY WAS AT THE WHITE HOUSE AND ARE TALKING TO CONGRESS ABOUT THESE ISSUES, UM, AND SOME CONCERNS THAT WE HAVE.
UH, AND MET WITH THE FATHERS OF THE TWO GENTLEMEN WHO ACTUALLY DIED AT THE VA IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, UH, IF, IF MOVING FORWARD THAT THESE ORGANIZATIONS ARE VA APPROVED THAT WAY IT'S NO ISSUES WITH, UM, THE FUNDING OR IF THEY TRY TO SAY, HEY, WE NEED VETERANS TO USE MONEY.
'CAUSE WE FOUND A LOT OF ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN, UM, KIND OF DOING SHADY THINGS WITH VETERANS MONEY.
UM, SO WE WANNA MAKE SURE THESE ORGANIZATION VA APPROVED AND THERE'S NO CONCERN.
HOW DO WE GET VA APPROVED? OR HOW DO, HOW DO THESE ORGANIZATIONS APPLY FOR VA APPROVED? SO BASICALLY THEY HAVE TO GO TO THE VA AND, UH, GET A CONTRACT, UM, THROUGH THE VA AND MAKE SURE THE VA, UM, HAS THEM ASSIGNED AS A MENTAL HEALTH PROVIDER.
IF THEY'RE DOING THAT, THEY HAVE TO BE ASSIGNED THROUGH THE, UM, THE VA.
SO THEY WILL HAVE TO GO DIRECTLY WITH THE VETERAN AFFAIRS AFFILIATED WITH THE CHOICE BILL.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS? QUESTION? DO I HEAR A MOTION TO ADJOURN? MOTION TO AURN.
OPPOSED? I SAY THIS MEETING IS HERE.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS.