Joanne Yepsen, County Supervisor for Saratoga Springs, New York, has made it a priority to improve the lives of female veterans in her area.  She spearheaded the effort to get the first female homeless veterans shelter in her area up and running and on the afternoon of Monday, October 17, 2011, she is hosting a Woman Veterans Symposium at the New York State Military Museum.  Yepsen has invited  about 70 individuals and organizations to attend to discuss the unique issues female veterans face and how the community can help the women assimilate back into civilian life.  Yepsen hopes that at the end of the symposium, there will be the beginnings of a working plan of services and resources so that the community may begin reaching out to the female veterans who need a helping hand.

The symposium will be more like a working group, according to Yepsen, with breakout sessions and brainstorming.  Also in attendance will be Eugene Ratigliano, commander of the VFW Hudson Mohawk Counties Council; Harriet Finch of the Friends of the Military Museum; Cindy Harrington of Shelters of Saratoga; and Jeannine Mannarino, Mary Ellen Melton and Paula Gabris of Patriot Hills of New York, an organization dedicated to the therapeutic healing of returning veterans and their families.

The next step will be to organize Women Veterans Service Night Out in the spring where female veterans will be invited to attend an event that will showcase the resources and information that was developed at the symposium.

Those who would like to participate or get involved should contact Harriett Finch at harriettfinch@aol.com.