Commissioners and women veterans urge lawmakers to make Women Veterans Day permanent and fund KDVA program

Patty Minter, a commissioner and history professor who sponsored House Bill 318, told a livestream audience that she introduced the measure to establish Kentucky Women Veterans Day to "recognize the service and sacrifice of nearly 25,000 women veterans living in the Commonwealth." Minter noted the day ties back to the 1948 Women’s Armed Services Integration Act and said it highlights growing needs among women who served.

The program, presented by the Kentucky Commission on Women and moderated by Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, featured three women veterans who described persistent gaps in services and recognition. "What I would ask some of the policy, makers to do is, you know, collaborate with KDVA and also, if possible, fund the program," said Dina Parrott, the women veterans program coordinator at the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs (KDVA), urging lawmakers to provide a steady budget for outreach and services established under KRS 40.600.

Why this matters: Panelists said promises of recognition have not been matched by funding or program infrastructure. The KDVA position exists by statute, but staff must 'scrape pennies' to run statewide outreach events, Parrott said, limiting the department’s ability to connect women to benefits. Panelists also warned that many women do not self-identify as veterans and therefore miss services unless outreach is intentional and sustained.

Colonel (ret.) Terry Owens, a commission member and longtime Army veteran, emphasized the distinct health and caregiving needs of women who served, including mental health and reproductive care, and said those needs argue for policy responses that treat support as a lifetime obligation rather than an episodic courtesy. "We have to look at those support services and realize those are services lifetime because we do face unique challenges," Owens said.

The livestream also spotlighted homelessness and housing gaps for women veterans. Addie Maddox, director of Lady Veterans Connect, described a volunteer-run shelter campus and an ambition to build tiny homes. "Our property sits on 8 acres, and we can house up to 32 women veterans who are in transition," Maddox said, adding that volunteers provide shelter and connections to resources but that clinical services and steady funding are missing.

Panelists urged lawmakers to turn the annual proclamation into a permanent law so recognition does not require yearly renewal and to include women veterans in advisory bodies and budgeting decisions. No formal vote or legislative action occurred during the livestream; the session was a public conversation meant to raise awareness and press for concrete follow-up from the legislature and KDVA.

Next steps: Panelists and commissioners called for collaboration between KDVA and the legislature on funding the women veterans coordinator position and related outreach, and asked for durable policy steps — including making HB 318 law — to ensure that Kentucky's women veterans are seen and supported.