Fighting for Women Veterans’ Rights

In a special high school Veteran’s Day Chapel on Monday, Oct 5, former Army Major Jas Boothe who served in the U.S. Army during the Operation Iraq Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom campaigns,and documentarian + CH parent Lysa Heslov (mother of Maya ’20) provided insight about the unique challenges and triumphs women veterans experience.

Major Boothe shared with students that in 2005, as a single mother, she lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and just a month later, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer which made her unable to deploy to Iraq as she was scheduled to do. Now homeless and, because of her medical condition, facing military discharge, she tried to find services to help her and her son. She was informed that there were no programs to help women veterans and that she should turn to welfare.

After her recovery, Major Boothe was determined to help homeless women veterans who faced similar circumstances and to provide them with much-needed services and resources to help them get back on their feet. She founded Final Salute Inc in November 2010 as part of her commitment to "Never leave a fallen comrade". Since then, the organization has raised over $3 million and helped more than 5,000 homeless female veterans and children.

Lysa Heslov featured Major Boothe in her award-winning documentary, Served Like A Girl.  The film followed American, female military veterans from around the country and their participation in the 2015 Ms. Veteran America competition (founded by Jas Boothe) -- a competition created to bring awareness of homeless female veterans in the U.S.
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