Lincoln Navy veteran receives state, national honors

Lincoln Navy veteran Melissa Washington was named Military Friendly California Veteran of the Year and National Veteran of the Year for her work in advocating for women's rights in the veteran space. Washington joined the Navy when she was 18 years old in 1991. "When I was 18, I was going to community college, getting my certification in early child education, then I joined the Navy. Nobody believed I joined the Navy or joined the military – period," she shared. Washington had a three-year career where she spent time as a storekeeper on a rescue salvage ship. Throughout her career, she spent time in the Mediterranean and Somalia. Once she retired, she began to focus on women's representation and community for veterans like herself. Ten years ago, she got a group of women together in Sacramento to chat about their experiences. This meet-up grew into a global organization: Women Veterans Alliance. Using her background of event planning from her career post-Navy, Washington decided to host her organization's first event. "We put one together here in Sacramento, over at McClellan, at the officers club there, and in 2016 that was our first, what we call the unconference, as it's not a traditional conference, and we've had seven of them," Washington said. She also created the Women Veterans Magazine. She wanted a space where women could have articles about them, as most veterans articles are male focused. "We're such an underserved and unrecognized community," Washington explained. "I got together with a friend of mine, who is an Air Force veteran, and she's an editor, graphic artist, she has all like this experience to put this magazine together. So we agreed to both her and I are co-publishers of the Women Veterans Magazine." The magazine started in California. It's full of articles written by and about women veterans. The cover is filled with women from California in and out of uniform. Washington shared it's a good resource for non-veterans as well. "Anybody could use it if you need information about veteran organizations or benefits or other information," she shared. Washington is passionate about encouraging women to use their earned benefits. "There are a lot of women that don't consider themselves veterans, so if they don't consider themselves a veteran then they're not utilizing their earned benefits," Washington said. "If you served in the military, you are a veteran, and there are a lot of earned benefits out there that our veterans are not utilizing, and it's very important for them to do it." She shared Placer County has great resources for veterans. "Here in Placer County, we have a great veteran service office, which can definitely help all our veterans," Washington stated, sharing the resources can help veterans, their spouses and their children. "Here in the state of California, you know, kids can, veterans can go to school for free. I mean, there's so many great benefits out there."