ASF

Dr. JoAnn Fisher is DETERMINED TO HELP WOMEN VETERANS

“Women veterans have already dealt with enough,”

-JoAnn Fisher

Over the past six years, WVUCI has changed directors and experienced many other transitions. Nevertheless, Dr. Fisher “refused to let it go,” and she is now the organization’s CEO. Nowadays, Dr. Fisher is as determined as ever to assist women veterans and motivate them to reach their personal and professional goals. “What we do has reached deep into women veterans’ souls and hearts,” Dr. Fisher said. “Although some are bruised and hurt, we have given them a chance to speak. We want women veterans to know that they can do, and accomplish, anything they want. If I can walk away from welfare and Section 8 housing, they can do the same. Grab my hand and come forward. No matter how hard it gets, we can do this. Yes, we can do this!” Although WVUCI is “a very strong sisterhood,” Dr. Fisher said that she relies on her organization’s directors and other organizations to work together to reach women veterans in need. Moreover, in 2020, WVUCI setup over two dozen events to help women veterans cope with living through the pandemic. Doing a Great Job

“Women veterans have already dealt with enough,” Dr. Fisher said. “Some women have returned from war with military sexual trauma (MST) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that have negatively impacted their families, especially their children. Women veterans have higher rates of divorce than both civilian women and veteran men. Unfortunately, since the onset of the pandemic, cases of domestic violence involving women veterans has dramatically risen. Women veterans need to know that we are here for them.” Dr. Fisher believes that women veterans are in a better position today than they were a couple of decades ago. Specifically, she is thrilled to see how many women veterans have secured key leadership roles in major organizations. Still, Dr. Fisher is adamant that women veterans, who have sacrificed their “blood, sweat and tears for America,” must be provided with more resources both when on active duty and after returning home from military deployment.

The U.S. military is currently comprised of 20 percent women and there are more than 50,000 women veterans in Maryland alone. One of those roughly 50,000 Marylanders is a resilient and inspiring woman named Dr. JoAnn Fisher, who served in the U.S. Navy Reserve on active duty for 15 years before receiving an honorable discharge. However, Dr. Fisher had to overcome major obstacles and hardships before she joined the U.S. Navy Reserve. For eight years, the then-married mother of three was a working, welfare recipient who joined the Navy Reserve and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area in Section 8 housing with her two daughters, son, and mother. After struggling for nearly a decade, Dr. Fisher personally contacted former California Congressman Ron Dellums about becoming a reserve enlisted sailor. Congressman Dellums responded to Dr. Fisher’s inquiry and, shortly thereafter, she was placed on active duty.

“I can’t say enough great things about the late congressman,” Dr. Fisher, who was born and raised in Southeast Washington, D.C., said. “He changed my life. Workers at the California Department of Social Services said they had never had a woman welfare recipient go on active duty while taking care of their family.The U.S. Navy Reserve provided my family and me with housing on Treasure Island. At that moment, I promised myself that I would honor Congressman Dellums by doing everything possible to help women veterans.” In 2015, Dr. Fisher realized her dream when she and several women veterans established the Women Helping Woman Veterans

“Psychiatrists must be available to assist in addressing the needs of women with children.” Dr. Fisher said. “Sometimes, after being away from their children for extended periods of time, women feel like they no longer fit as a mother. We need to help veteran mothers who have been away from their children.They need more benefits, and they need to have access to more qualified doctors. Basically, they need to be taken care of better.” As a nonprofit organization, WVUCI depends on donations to ensure that women veterans are “taken care of better.” Dr. Fisher, whose two daughters, Phyllis and Ericka, also served in the United States Armed Forces, urges caring people to support their great cause. “We are doing a great job,” Dr. Fisher said. “Still, there is always room for improvement, and we need donations to help our heroic women who served in the military. We constantly have fundraisers and people can always donate to our cause. One person’s help can go a long way.” Despite having ample room for growth, WVUCI is “doing a great job” and Dr. JoAnn Fisher has come “a long way.”

Veterans United Committee, Inc. (WVUCI) in Oxon Hill, Maryland. “Our mission at WVUCI is to work with women veterans to let them know they are not alone,” Dr. Fisher, a department commander of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Department of the District of Columbia, Inc., who earned her doctoral degree in 2014, said. “We want to be the voice to recognize the hardships and celebrate the accomplishments of women veterans. We also want to ensure the needs of women, such as clothing, food, care for their children, protecting them from domestic violence, and more, are met. We are women, and things can be tough for us.”