Morano thanks committee and personal staff

I also want to thank the committee staff.

Our outgoing legislative counsel, Hannah Cohn, our senior legislative counsel, Sarah Sucher, our legislative analyst, Raina Lee, making her debut.

I'm very, very excited to have Raina here.

And Raina, I think that you'll find that when we go through legislative analysts,

quickly here.

Hopefully it's not because I'm difficult to work with, but I'm committed to, while we're working together, really leaving an impact on veterans issues in New York City.

I'm excited to work with you.

Legislative policy analysts, Mahnoor Boot and Justin Campos, who, as always, have just been incredible.

Financial analyst, Sandra Gray, and community associate and someone who's absolutely indispensable in all the work this committee does, Sebastian Neme, for their hard work.

in preparing for this hearing.

I also want to thank my staff for their work as we continue to serve our constituents and the city as a whole,

particularly my chief of staff, Frank Rapacciolo, but also my director of communications, Alexis Winters, who's here today and hails from the great borough of Queens, the borough with the highest percentage of veterans

in our city.

Thank you, Alexis.

I'm looking forward to today's testimony and to strengthening support veterans facing accessing mental health and substance abuse services throughout New York City.