Ms. Veteran America Competition Puts Homeless Women Veterans, Their Kids First

Twenty female veterans will gather Oct. 11 in Tampa, Fla., for the 15th Ms. Veteran America competition, raising money to help other women who served find housing for themselves and their children.

The competition at the Renaissance Tampa International Plaza Hotel supports Final Salute Inc., the nonprofit founded by Ret. Army Maj. Jaspen “Jas” Boothe after cancer and Hurricane Katrina left her struggling to find a place to live with her young son.

“These women are raising money and advocating for their sisters in arms,” Boothe told Military.com.

Boothe said participants have collectively raised nearly $1 million over the competition’s history. Much of that work happens in their own communities, where contestants seek donations and explain why women veterans and their children need help.

The finalists face questions about military history, demonstrate their talents and discuss their advocacy.

There is also a GI JoAnne award for the most push-ups performed live onstage. The winner becomes a spokeswoman for Final Salute and commits to at least 250 hours of community service during her reign, according to the competition’s rules.

For Boothe, who created Ms. Veteran America in 2012, the event also addresses a frustration she encountered long before the first competition: women having to explain that they served.

Recognizing the Women Who Served

Boothe remembers attending an event for disabled veterans with her friend, Marissa Strock, a military police veteran who lost both legs in combat.

Strock was the only woman in a line of wounded veterans, Boothe recalled. People moved down the line, thanking the men for their service and sacrifice. When they reached Strock, they asked what had happened to her.

The question stayed with Boothe. Why was her friend’s military service harder for people to recognize than men’s? Strock told her she was used to it.

When Boothe began planning a fundraiser for Final Salute, she wanted women’s service and their identities outside the military to be part of the event.

“I wanted to show the woman who was equally woman and warrior,” she said.

She also wanted contestants to find friends who understood their experiences. Some women, she said, leave the military feeling unrecognized and without the community they once relied on.

“It’s OK to let your hair down. It’s OK to cry, it’s OK to hug,” Boothe said.

Katrina and Then a Cancer Diagnosis

In 2005, Boothe was an Army Reserve lieutenant preparing to deploy to Iraq.

A single mother living in New Orleans, she was eager for the responsibility of leading soldiers overseas.

She had been feeling ill during training, but said attempts to seek medical attention brought belittling comments about her ability to lead as a woman. She kept training.

Then, Hurricane Katrina struck. Her son was safe with her aunt in Missouri, but Boothe lost her belongings. A pause in training gave her time to see a doctor.

She was diagnosed with head, neck and throat cancer.

Boothe underwent two surgeries and radiation treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center, she said. Her cancer went into remission, but she still needed employment and somewhere to live with her son.

She recalled going to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for help and being told the available supportive services were not for women. Instead, she said, she was directed toward welfare and food stamps.

Her aunt offered them a place to stay. Boothe remembers lying on the couch, feeling defeated, while her son repeated the encouragement she had tried to teach him.

“Mom, today’s gonna be a better day,” she recalled him saying before school.

She eventually found work with the Missouri National Guard and later the National Guard Bureau in Washington. As she rebuilt her life, she learned about other female veterans struggling to find housing that could accommodate their children.

Boothe founded Final Salute in November 2010. The organization says it has since assisted more than 8,000 female veterans and children across its programs.

Helping Before a Family Loses Its Home

Federal researchers have documented the importance of housing assistance that includes children.

A 2022 Government Accountability Office review found that about 40% of women veterans served by VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families program from Fiscal Years 2017 through 2021 had children in their households. That program helps veterans and their families secure housing or avoid losing it.

Boothe acknowledged improvements since her own experience of seeking help.

“I think the VA definitely has come a long way,” she said.

Final Salute’s work includes three programs:

• HOME provides transitional housing and support services.
• SAFE offers financial assistance to prevent homelessness.
• Next Uniform supplies professional clothing, shoes, accessories, headshots and makeovers to help women prepare for civilian employment.

The clothing program grew from another gap she encountered during her own transition. Resume preparation received attention, she said, but veterans also needed help preparing to walk into an interview.

“What they left out was the presentation portion. How do you show up?” she said.

For someone trying to feed her children while looking for work, buying interview clothes can be difficult. So can paying rent while leaving one job for another.

Those are the situations Boothe wants Final Salute, and the women raising money through Ms. Veteran America, to reach sooner. Helping with a temporary shortfall can spare a family the much harder task of rebuilding after losing its home.

“Why do we wait for people to hit rock bottom before we help them?” she said.