Let’s Rethink This Chooses Meta J Mereday as January’s “Impact Journalist”

Meta J Mereday is a Civilian First Responder, better known as a Domestic Warrior, with a family background rooted in the military with even deeper and even deeper roots in community, social and economic justice by way of advocating for veterans and other under-served constituencies. How best to bring attention to these diverse areas – and so much more – than to write about them to bring awareness and, ideally, positive change?

That predilection dates to grade school, where teachers were able to channel her creative talents and energy through writing and leading initiatives. They found they could keep her busy by supplying her with sufficient quantities of pencils and paper in addition to artistic and collaborative projects. She tutored students in her class and younger students and served as Office Assistant. This multifaceted formula continued during her years at Roosevelt Jr - Sr High School (Roosevelt, NY) where she mastered numerous activities including All County in Music, playing three musical instruments for Orchestra, Concert and Marching Bands and served as Sports Broadcaster and Editor for the Yearbook. She was named Class Speaker and Most Artistic.

 While pursuing her degree at San Jose State University’s (San Jose, CA) School of Journalism and Mass Communications, she continued to freelance and incorporate her creative talents to design photo layouts and promotional pieces for aspiring publishers and local business owners. There, she refined her writing and editing and graduated with a BA in Advertising and Speech Communication. Years later the school honored her in a blog profiling her work and community service. (Editor’s Note: SJSU is my Alma Mater)

“I am cause-activated,” she says. “Injustices motivate me.” Derogatory remarks by some NFL officials while she was attending a sports event motivated her to become a member of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) and to be Co-Founder of the National Black Public Relations Society, Inc. Upon her return she returned to New York, she attended Hofstra University (Hempstead, NY) to add an MBA to her profile to add to her credentials and focus on economic empowerment to “raise all boats” to potentially equally levels.

Fast-forward to 2013

We have to get here quickly to get to today’s accomplishments, saving me from having to catalog past numerous heroic efforts (For example, she became known as a 9-11 Civilian First Responder and Front Line Media Correspondent during her volunteer service at Ground Zero immediately following the attacks on September 11, 2001 and reporting onsite to various media outlets including live for a television station in in Columbia, SC.). While advocating for diverse business inclusion for the rebuild of lower Manhattan and seeing the need to build up veteran-owned businesses to create jobs for unemployed veterans; she launched VEDI, Inc (Veteran Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives) as a New York State not-for-profit to address a growing need within the Veteran Owned Business and Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business (VOB/SDVOBs) for growth and development training. VEDI, Inc has become a national resource for veteran business development and veteran community advocacy.

VEDI, Inc is a task force member of the National Veterans Business Development Council whose mission is to increase the certifications for veteran-owned businesses and to help grow their operations and create jobs to reduce veteran unemployment.

Now, let’s get back to her journalism chops. Meta was recognized by the nonprofit Military Veterans in Journalism (MVJ) recently when they selected her to be included in their Expert Directory in recognition of her longstanding involvement in reporting on veterans issues and her advocacy for veterans and their families.

Lastly, Meta’s participation with the collaboration Veteran Mission Possible (VMP) is a story in itself. Like several other “Solution Providers” that found their way to our site, she made submisstions to an initiative launched by the VA entitled Mission Possible to see if she could secure a share of the $25M in grant funding. There were 1,370 competitors (VMP was one of them). She (and we) were not among the 40 chosen. However, when she discovered that VMP had started a community to give people “a second chance to make a first impression,” she came right to our doorstep. And, discovered that we were/are a key affiliate of MVJ. Having yet another opportunity to showcase her talents to uplift proactive solutions to combat the issues impacting our veterans and their families – and our nation as a whole – was right where she needed to be.

How could we not select her? 

Meta J. Mereday, president and founder of the Veterans Entrepreneurial Development Initiative from Baldwin, was selected to be included in the Military Veterans in Journalism’s expert directory on Nov. 11 in recognition of Veteran's Day.

Mereday, who was a civilian responder at the world trade center attacks in 2001, is an advocate for veterans, and a media executive. She was recently included in MVJ’s esteemed list that includes veteran and civilian experts in military and veterans’ affairs and community coverage. Military Veterans in Journalism, a non-profit news institute, focuses on getting more military veterans working in America’s newsrooms and providing balanced coverage about veterans and their issues.

“Being selected in the directory speaks to the importance of having informed civilians in the military journalistic space,” said Mereday. “We need as many people involved to fully understand and be aware of the needs of our veterans and their families."

According to the United States Census, approximately 7 percent of Americans have served in the armed forces, however; only two percent of media professionals are military veterans. Military Veterans in Journalism recently launched an extensive media guide to provide a broad range of resources to increase the hiring and utilization of veterans as journalists.

“The directory serves to combat the many misconceptions about veterans by giving journalists a resource to speak with experts in the field,” said Mereday.

 Their “expert guide” provides style points and useful resources to better understand and report on the military community and includes an expert directory that features established content leaders with expertise in the understanding of the veteran community and awareness regarding effective and informative coverage.

Mereday, who is a nationally recognized advocate for veterans and media expert, was included in the directory due to her longstanding involvement in reporting on and advocacy for veterans and their families. In addition to being a 9-11 First Responder following the September 11th attacks on the United States, where she provided support for recovery teams at Ground Zero, she also reported directly from the site to national media.

Mereday also witnessed firsthand and reported on the preparation for soldiers via the innovative Military Journalism Experience 2012 that she took part in with an immersive experience at both Fort Leavenworth and Fort Leonard Wood. During this experience, the selected group of journalists participated in morning exercises, disarmament activities, training sessions and briefings along with graduation exercises preparing America’s military.

As the Founder of Veterans Entrepreneurial Development Initiatives (VEDI), Inc., she has been a staunch advocate for veterans and drafted many stories and initiatives to improve the transition for veterans into successful civilian lives and to help their caregivers.

With a focus on diversity and inclusion, Mereday has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Black Journalists where she coordinated an event with the US Army that recognized Black and Hispanic Veterans including those who were journalists during the historic Unity Conference. She is also a co-founder of the National Black Public Relations Society, Inc.

Most recently, Mereday joined forces with the collaborative venture Veteran Mission Possible to provide media support and to assist with platforms to address the high rates of suicide and medical debt within the military. She is the co-founder and senior editor of Influence-DiCOTA, a diverse, global multimedia platform that is a job creator for under-utilized creative people of color, and the Veterans Entrepreneurial Development Initative, Inc. and was welcomed to the Task Force of the National Veteran Business Development Council's Military and Veteran Task Force to increase awareness and opportunities for veteran-owned businesses to create jobs for other veterans.

“I am humbled and appreciative of this recognition with MVJ, and I look forward to engaging with others who are featured in the directory to achieve MVJ’s mission to not only increase and diversify the number of military journalists, but to improve the coverage of veterans throughout the media itself,” said Mereday. “The diversity and inclusion focus within MVJ resonates with me and it ensures that inclusive and accurate coverage will be a priority.”

Originally published in LI Herald by Andre Silva.

WASHINGTON – Starting Jan. 17, Veterans in acute suicidal crisis will be able to go to any VA or non-VA health care facility for emergency health care at no cost – including inpatient or crisis residential care for up to 30 days and outpatient care for up to 90 days. Veterans do not need to be enrolled in the VA system to use this benefit.

This expansion of care will help prevent Veteran suicide by guaranteeing no cost, world-class care to Veterans in times of crisis. It will also increase access to acute suicide care for up to 9 million Veterans who are not currently enrolled in VA.

Preventing Veteran suicide is VA’s top clinical priority and a top priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. This effort is a key part of VA’s 10-year National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide and the Biden-Harris administration’s plan for Reducing Military and Veteran Suicide. In September, VA released the 2022 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, which showed that Veteran suicides decreased in 2020 for the second year in a row, and that fewer Veterans died by suicide in 2020 than in any year since 2006.

“Veterans in suicidal crisis can now receive the free, world-class emergency health care they deserve – no matter where they need it, when they need it, or whether they’re enrolled in VA care,” said VA Secretary for Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough. “This expansion of care will save Veterans’ lives, and there’s nothing more important than that.” 

VA has submitted an interim final rule to the federal register to establish this authority

under section 201 of the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment (COMPACT) Act of 2020. The final policy, which takes effect on Jan. 17, will allow VA to:

• Provide, pay for, or reimburse for treatment of eligible individuals’ emergency suicide care, transportation costs, and follow-up care at a VA or non-VA facility for up to 30 days of inpatient care and 90 days of outpatient care.
• Make appropriate referrals for care following the period of emergency suicide care.
• Determine eligibility for other VA services and benefits.
• Refer eligible individuals for appropriate VA programs and benefits following the period of emergency suicide care.

Eligible individuals, regardless of VA enrollment status, are:

• Veterans who were discharged or released from active duty after more than 24 months of active service under conditions other than dishonorable.
• Former members of the armed forces, including reserve service members, who served more than 100 days under a combat exclusion or in support of a contingency operation either directly or by operating an unmanned aerial vehicle from another location who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable.
• Former members of the armed forces who were the victim of a physical assault of a sexual nature, a battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment while serving in the armed forces.

Over the past year, VA has announced or continued several additional efforts to end Veteran suicide, including establishing 988 (then press 1) as a way for Veterans to quickly connect with caring, qualified crisis support 24/7; proposing a new rule that would reduce or eliminate copayments for Veterans at risk of suicide; conducting an ongoing public outreach effort on firearm suicide prevention and lethal means safety; and leveraging a national Veteran suicide prevention awareness campaign, “Don’t Wait. Reach Out.” 

The rates of veteran suicide are unacceptably high. Veterans deserve the best care. They sacrifice so much for all of us, and they deserve much better care than they’re getting for the consequences of their sacrifices. One organization that’s seeking to address this problem is Let’s Rethink This.

I work for a company called First Tracks. It’s a public benefit corporation. And our work is featured in this article by Jerry Ashton, the founder of Let’s Rethink This. First Tracks is about putting together mental health solutions for employers that work. We’re focused on making sure people who are in the most need get the right help. Often, that is veterans.

I’m thrilled that our work has been mentioned in this dispatch, and I hope you follow along, because this is a health problem we can’t afford to ignore.

Jerry Ashton is one of the people behind RIP Medical Debt. This organization is responsible for eliminating over $7 billion in medical debt. Now, his focus is on ending veterans’ medical debt and ending veteran suicide, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be working with Jerry and everyone who is on this mission to help our veterans!

You can read the article here!

It’s a Wonderful Life and Veteran Suicide

It’s that terrible/joyful holiday period when we push aside our pains and disappointments to join with the joy of the season and imagine a coming year full of wonders and possibilities.

Of those pains here in America, none is greater than that of the specter of suicide, especially those among our military veterans – now averaging 44 per day. 44 per day!!!

Can we ever hope for a time when those numbers abate, and the tragedies recede? Yes, if we just take lessons from the much-beloved movie classic, It’s a Wonderful Life and bring them into practice in our own lives. Read more in Jerry’s new article!

—Owen Scott Muir, M.D.

I need you to do one thing—Spread the word!

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