ASF Resource Guide

Dr. JoAnn Fisher is DETERMINED TO HELP WOMEN VETERANS

W hen the CEO of A Step Forward Inc., Dr. Lela Campbell, wrote her dissertation, she focused on women veterans. She realized her sample size of Baltimore homeless veterans was not large enough, so she had to include men. However, Campbell still had a heart to see women veterans recognized for their service and receive fair treatment. Her work with veterans to include the Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust allowed her to cross paths with Dr. JoAnn Fisher. 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 twomdaughters, son, and mother. After struggling for nearly a decade, Dr. Fisher personally contacted

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 Veterans United Committee, Inc. (WVUCI) in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

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