{"id":7603,"date":"2026-06-06T20:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7603"},"modified":"2026-06-06T20:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T20:30:00","slug":"supporting-veterans-with-more-than-a-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7603","title":{"rendered":"Supporting Veterans with more than a meal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"tni-source-date\"><strong>Originally published:<\/strong> 2026-06-06T20:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Eastern Oklahoma VA social worker delivers food and hope to Veterans in need<\/h2>\n<p>Each month, social worker Jennifer Edwards, a Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) case manager with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/eastern-oklahoma-health-care\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System<\/a> (EOVAHCS), starts her morning by loading her car with bags of donated food from The Coffee Bunker, a Tulsa nonprofit dedicated to supporting Veterans. What looks like a simple delivery route is, for Edwards, one of the most meaningful parts of her work.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Addressing food insecurity<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/06\/03192026Jennifer-Edwards-001_r1-scaled.webp\"><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Jennifer Edwards, LCSW HUD\/VASH Case Manager with the Eastern Oklahoma VA Health Care System, delivers food to Veterans each month. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Many of the Veterans in the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/?s=HUD-VASH\">HUD-VASH<\/a> program face ongoing food insecurity, even after achieving stable housing. The Coffee Bunker\u2019s monthly donations allow Edwards to bring not just groceries, but peace of mind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am so grateful for the relationships I have been able to grow over the years with the Veterans I work with,\u201d said Edwards. \u201cI\u2019m so happy to be able to give them the additional support every month when food insecurity is an issue and just surviving is a struggle. They really make my job worthwhile. I am so proud to be a VA social worker.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building trust through connection<\/h2>\n<p>On her visits, Edwards often spends a few minutes catching up with each Veteran\u2014checking how they\u2019re doing, celebrating progress and offering support through tough seasons. These connections, built month after month, have become a lifeline for many.<\/p>\n<p>And for Edwards, the impact is clear: Every bag delivered is an opportunity to strengthen trust, offer dignity and remind Veterans that they are not alone.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p class=\"tni-attribution\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/news.va.gov\/147236\/supporting-veterans-with-more-than-a-meal\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A social worker delivers monthly meal support, offering hope and connection to Veterans facing ongoing food insecurity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Supporting Veterans with more than a meal - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A social worker delivers monthly meal support, offering hope and connection to Veterans facing ongoing food insecurity.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=7603\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supporting Veterans with more than a meal - 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