Commissioner Mata testimony: Remembrance Ruck and community connection
Commissioner Mata introduces herself as a veteran and soldier, describes the inaugural Remembrance Ruck across the Brooklyn Bridge with over 1,200 participants, and emphasizes that connection and community must be part of mental health approach.
Good afternoon.
I'm Commissioner Mata for the Department of Veterans Services.
Thank you, Chair Murano, Chair Caban, and members of the Committees on Veterans and Mental Health for this important hearing.
My name is Yesenia Mata, and I serve as a commissioner of the New York City Department of Veterans Services.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today about the mental health and well-being of New York City's veteran community and the work we are doing to strengthen pathways to support.
As a veteran and as a soldier, I know that asking for help is not always easy.
Military service teaches us resilience to accomplish the mission and to take care of the person standing beside us.
But sometimes the person who is struggling is not the person who will raise their hand first.
That is why our approach to veterans'mental health must begin before a crisis.
It must begin with connection, community, early.
intervention and trusted pathways to care.