Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rhode Island Office of Veterans Services (RIVETS) has continued to provide case management, information and referral, and one-to-one assistance at the Veterans Resource Center located at 560 Jefferson Boulevard in Warwick.

RIVETS works with the RIServes network of 50-plus partners and providers, connecting more than 500 veterans and their families to resources in our community on an annual basis. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, RIServes has become even more critical to assisting current and former service members and their families, ensuring access to housing resources, benefits navigation, case management and more.

In order to enhance the services provided to Rhode Islanders, RIVETS has added Jennifer Marquis-Caruso to the staff of individuals dedicated to serving Rhode Island’s veterans, active duty service members and military families. Marquis-Caruso is a U.S. Army veteran with extensive administration and personnel management experience. Marquis-Caruso will be the first female Chief of Veterans Affairs, bringing visibility to the two million women veterans living in the United States and promoting inclusivity and equitable access to resources, benefits and health care for women veterans. Marquis-Caruso will serve as the Women Veteran Coordinator for Rhode Island, working directly with the Providence VA Medical Center Women Veterans program manager and The Center for Women Veterans.

“I’m so pleased to welcome Jennifer Marquis-Caruso to the RIVETS team. Women Veterans are leaders in our community, in industry, and in government. For far too long, the contributions and challenges facing the growing population of female Veterans have gone unnoticed,” said Kasim Yarn, RIVETS director. “I am proud of the work RIVETS has accomplished and welcome the opportunity to tackle issues faced by women Veterans and military families.”

Women have served in the U.S. military since the Revolutionary War. Today, women comprise roughly 17 percent of serving military personnel, 10 percent of the veteran population and 30 percent of service academy students. Women are the fastest-growing subpopulation of both service members and veterans. RIVETS aims to increase their visibility, improve equality between male and female veterans, and ensure that women veterans have access to the resources, benefits and health care they have earned and deserve.

For help in accessing information, programs, and services for current and former service members and their families, visit the RIServes network at www.riserves.org or call 401-921-2119.