Our Mission
To insure Kentucky’s women veterans have equitable access to federal and state veterans’ services and benefits.
Our Goals
1. Perform outreach to improve women veterans' awareness of eligibility for federal and state veterans' services and benefits.
2. Assess the needs of women veterans with respect to improve the Women Veterans Program.
3. Make recommendations to the Commissioner to improve benefits and services.
4. Review programs, research projects, and other initiatives designed to address or meet the needs of Kentucky's women veterans;
5. Incorporate women veterans' issues in the Department's strategic planning; and
Participate in National forums and committees for women veterans.
The Military Women's Memorial
Do you have a family member or friend who is a woman veteran? She deserves to take her rightful place in history. Without her story, our nation’s history is incomplete. Register her service for free at womensmemorial.org. #HerMemorial #HERstory @MilitaryWomensMemorial.
Veteran Spotlight: Lois Howard Gray (1920-2012)
One of Kentucky’s first and most successful female entrepreneurs, died at the age of 91. According to her obituary, Gray served in the Navy as a WAVES officer (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) during World War II. She was described as a “stoic and trustworthy lieutenant” who showed loyalty and perseverance during her service. Gray is also notable for co-founding Gray Construction with her husband James Norris Gray. In 1940, she graduated from Transylvania University, and in 1997, was presented the Morrison Medal, one of the university’s highest honors. She obtained her master’s degree in arts and arts education from Vanderbilt University and in life worked as a watercolor painter and designer. A strong believer in education and the arts, Gray was deeply involved with Kentucky’s arts and education organizations, including serving on the boards of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, Governors’ Scholars Program, and many others. She had six children, including former Lexington mayor and current Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Jim Gray.
To learn more about Lois Howard Gray click here.
The Military Women’s Memorial (MWM) is the only major national memorial honoring all servicewomen – past, present and future. The MWM honors more than 3 million women who served and continue to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces since the American Revolution.
Women’s military service should be no less recognized than men’s but historically the focus of history and preservation has been on men.
Why it’s Important to Register?
EVERY STORY is important, EVERY STORY deserves to be told. Yet we have lost most of our WWI women veterans and our WWII women are fast coming to their final chapter. What history we have not recorded with be lost with them. We absolutely CANNOT let another generation go by without ensuring that our collective contributions are captured and remembered.
There is no cost to register! You can register any woman you know who is in or has served in the military. Let’s keep “HER-Story alive!
What is a Women Veteran Coordinator?The Women Veterans Coordinator maintains a database and email list of women veterans in Kentucky. This database includes only those women veterans who have volunteered their information to KDVA. The information in this database is strictly confidential. The database is used to distribute information of interest to women veterans, including resources and coming events. Our goal is to create a strong network of women veterans in Kentucky and to reach as many as possible.
History of the Women Veterans Program
The 2005 General Assembly authorized the Kentucky Women Veterans Program to address the unique need of women who have honorably served. In FY21, there are over 27,000 women veterans who reside in Kentucky. The mission of the program is to insure that Kentucky's women veterans have equitable access to federal and state veterans' services and benefits. The program provides information, advocacy, outreach and support to women veterans and their families. The goal is to assure that women veterans receive benefits and services parallel to their male counterparts and to discourage discrimination in the attempt to assure women are treated with resepct, dignity and understood by veteran service providers.