Gov. Roy Cooper asks Fayetteville veterans how NC can better support them

After Lesley Bush moved to the Fort Liberty area in 2002 as both a soldier and a military spouse, she received orders to go to Iraq.

That order led the new mother to get out of the military. However, fresh challenges emerged as she tried to adapt to civilian life.

“There was no education or information on how to transition,” Bush told Gov. Roy Cooper during a roundtable discussion Wednesday at the NCWorks Career Center in Fayetteville. “I found myself with a brand new baby ... just getting out of my career that I thought I would invest my entire life in.”

The governor was in town to hear from veterans about their transition out of the military and if there is anything the state can do to further support them.

Bush said she found support from her family and found work at Womack Army Medical Hospital, but in 2019, she received a breast cancer diagnosis.

“During that time it was right before COVID started. My daughter quit going to school. It was a huge change,” she said. “And I think, because of that, I became physically and emotionally exhausted in my life. So I quit my job and I paid off all my bills and I got in my car.”

What was intended to be a couple of months of hiatus, turned into a cross-country journey to visit with battle buddies she hadn’t seen for 20 years.

But once Bush returned to North Carolina, she said, she found herself with no healthcare. She also became homeless for a period.

She said she was able to get back on track with the help of NCWorks, which, along with the Department of Veterans Affairs, also found her a place to live.

“I guess my frustration was that I did have to become dire in order to be opened up to all these different experiences and opportunities,” she said. “ And I did come across certain people that were working for veteran agencies that were trying to make it difficult for me on purpose (telling me) ‘You've been in the program for too long or why haven't you been working?’ And actually, one person told me that my mental health and my physical wellness should not be a barrier towards finding a job.”

She is currently a substitute teacher in Cumberland County and working toward a master’s degree.

Being homeless, Bush said, introduced her up to opportunities she said she otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

She told Cooper she would like to see veteran opportunities better publicized.

Cooper heard from three other Fayetteville veterans Wednesday who also spoke about transitioning out of the military.

Justin Cloud said he was adopted at birth into a military family and later joined himself.

“But as I got out of the military, I was trying to find my way as a man and what I can bring to the table and locking in that job, and really say this is me — was kind of difficult,” he said.

Cloud sold insurance, was a car salesman and considered a mixed martial arts career, before embracing his love of cooking.

He said he didn’t know what resources were available to him, but he eventually found the NCWorks Career Center, which has supported him in becoming a chef.

He said he is in the process of opening a food truck in the area.

“My biggest dream is to not to cook for everyone, but to pass it forward, pay it forward. I want to teach the young children here,” Cloud said.

Cloud said he’d like to open up a small school for chefs like himself who are getting started with a small business.

Asked by Cooper about what advice he’d give to other service members leaving the military and preparing to transition to civilian life, Cloud said he’d encourage them to set pride aside and to trust others.

Married couple King and LaTonia Parks were both in the Army for more than 25 years before retiring. LaTonia Parks got out four years before her husband and started a real estate business.

Once King Parks got out of the military, the couple became owners of Cold Stone Creamery in Hope Mills and also own a UPS store.

King Parks said that while the local community is made up of veterans, retirees and service members who are supportive and understanding, one of the challenges with opening a business was not having business credit.   He said it became a little easier once they opened their third business.

Asked by Cooper why the Parks make it a point to hire fellow veterans, King Park said veterans have discipline that’s been ingrained in them.

“I knew if I hired the veteran, they would understand the basic level of everything that I needed, how to manage their time and themselves, and how to manage themselves in the position we've asked them to go into,” he said.

Aside from their businesses, LaTonia Parks said she has also worked to support military spouses who can be affected by the transient nature of the military. She is part of a Fayetteville chapter of Women Veterans Interactive, which helps female veterans suffering from food insecurity, housing issues or childcare.

Supporting veterans

Asked by Cooper what the state could do to better support veterans, Bush said hosting discussions like the one Wednesday to learn about community needs is a step in the right direction.   "I think just doing this and having the forums and getting the information and then going back and trying to figure out, OK, based on what they said what's a reasonable thing that can be done to help,” she said.

Cooper told the group the state has taken strides in supporting veterans and military spouses seeking professional licensing in North Carolina, while the General Assembly passed a law to give military retirees income tax breaks.

He said that the state has established the North Carolina Department of Military and Veteran Affairs to work with the federal VA and the North Carolina Department of Commerce to support the state’s military-connected residents better.

Meanwhile, NCWorks provides support for resumes, job interview skills and how veteran benefits can be applied to finding a job, he said.

“I’m grateful for my freedom, and it’s because of the veterans and men and women who have the courage to represent our country to defend our country and that freedom. And the debt can never really be repaid, but we’ve got to work to try," Cooper said. "Our job as government officials is to assist and make sure that that talent, ability and determination shines … for other veterans.”

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville veterans tell Gov. Cooper how NC can support them