PORT TOWNSEND — Information, resources and networking opportunities will be available to women veterans at a Friday conference in Port Townsend.
The inaugural Veteran Community Partnership event, sponsored by the Veterans Administration Office of Rural Health, will be from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at Fort Worden Commons, 200 Battery Way.
It is intended for all women veterans of the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas.
“I think it’s the first of its kind around here,” said Rita Frangione, outreach coordinator with Vet Connect, part of Olympic Community Action Programs.
“We hope that this will be the beginning of an [annual] event to bring women veterans together.”
Admission to the conference is free.
Registrations are encouraged, but Friday walk-ins will be accepted.
Keynote speakers for the conference will be Alda Siebrands — who served in the Army, Coast Guard and Peace Corps — and Colleen McAleer, an Army veteran who served in Desert Storm, later flying helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft and serving in military intelligence. McAleer also is president of the Port of Port Angeles commission.
Veteran Community Partnership began as a VA pilot project in 2014 to partner with community agencies, especially in rural areas, to provide resources to veterans.
For more information, see Vet Connect Olympic Peninsula’s Facebook page.
To register, contact Rita Frangione at Vet Connect at 360-344-4940 or Barb Reuter at 206-277-4459 or Barbara.Reuter@va.gov.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
