Milwaukee VA Voluntary Service revamps Red Coat Ambassador Program
The Red Coat Ambassador Program was pioneered in VA hospitals more than six years ago to improve Veterans’ experiences and help them navigate facilities during visits. Wearing a red coat or vest, the volunteers were easily identifiable and offered Veterans a friendly smile.
“It was the greeters, the face of the VA,” said Jessica Serdynski, chief of Voluntary Service at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center. “They would welcome the Veterans. They would help way find to appointments. They would help push Veterans in wheelchairs. That’s essentially what it started as.”
The initiative was well received, and the VA Center for Development and Civic Engagement made it a national program.
Then in 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic essentially shut down volunteer services at the Milwaukee VA. The only volunteers who were able to continue to serve Veterans were those providing transportation support as Disabled American Veterans drivers.
“We went from almost 600 active volunteers, down to 87,” said Bradlee Gietzel, a Voluntary Service specialist.
Over time, employees were hired to greet, screen and guide Veterans to their appointments if needed. COVID transitioned to an endemic, and many restrictions were lifted as it became safe to do so. In May 2023, Voluntary Service was able to resume, allowing volunteers and programs to return to the Milwaukee VA.
The employees who had been hired remained at the Milwaukee VA, requiring Voluntary Service to rethink how to re-implement the Red Coat Ambassador Program.
“Originally we were brainstorming, and we thought we could have volunteers stationed by the elevators or the intersection going down to the cafeteria, which is where a lot of people need assistance finding places,” Serdynski said.
Meanwhile, Voluntary Service began a leisure cart, where volunteers would go door-to-door in the inpatient areas and offer comfort and leisure items to areas that don’t have recreational therapists assigned to them. This new initiative sparked an idea.
“How can we do something like that for the outpatients who have long waits? They’re just sitting there in between appointments. Or even the caregivers. They’re waiting for their Veteran in the waiting room. What could we do?” Serdynski said.
Thus, the Red Coat Ambassador Program at the Milwaukee VA evolved into a hospitality cart providing leisure and comfort items for outpatient Veterans and their caregivers with an emphasis on waiting rooms with typically longer wait times.
Fisher House Wisconsin helped provide items to stock the cart, including snacks, drinks, puzzle books, notebooks and pens to take notes while the Veteran is seen by a provider.
The revamped Red Coat Ambassador Program was introduced in October, which is when Jackie Hagedorn, a volunteer Red Coat Ambassador, began serving Veterans at the Milwaukee VA.
“I always have a soft spot in my heart for Veterans, so yeah, it means a lot,” Hagedorn said about her time volunteering at the Milwaukee VA.
Hagedorn reminisced on the long history of family being taken care of at the Milwaukee VA, including her father, her brother and her late husband. She vaguely remembered some of the volunteer services in place while she provided support to her loved ones.
“All that I remember is they had coffee at the entrance because my husband loved coffee. I don’t drink it, but he’d be very happy that they’d have a cup of coffee and he’d drink it.”
She said she enjoys volunteering at the VA and has wanted to do it for years. It takes her about an hour to make the rounds through waiting rooms with the hospitality cart.
“It’s been very nice. Everybody is very nice, and a lot — I’m surprised — a lot don’t want anything,” Hagedorn said. “I think this is a great program.”
That sentiment was reflected in the feedback VA Voluntary Service has received since introducing the cart.
“Anytime that we think about the Veterans or really put them first, it makes their day,” Gietzel said. “We get so many guys down here, especially the Vietnam Vets, who are really excited that somebody thought of them in whatever way. They’re really thankful and appreciative of that because somebody thought of them today.”
There are currently only a handful of volunteers serving as Red Coat Ambassadors, but VA Voluntary Service is hoping to expand the program.
“That is making us think of how we need to change maybe moving forward,” Serdynski said. “We’re talking about extending hours to offer later orientations to allow people who work to be able to come in and not have to take off to attend orientation. Or trying to figure out how to have volunteers off-shift and on the weekends. We’re trying to figure out how we could potentially expand.”
The Red Coat Ambassador Program is only one of many programs and events supported by VA Voluntary Service. Milwaukee VA Voluntary Service recently distributed holiday gift bags to inpatient Veterans and supported a variety of holiday events, hosted a Diva Day for female Veterans and supported multiple Veterans Day events.
In fiscal year 2023, Milwaukee VA Voluntary Service reported that volunteers logged more than 30,364 hours, with over 200 new regularly scheduled volunteers oriented since May. In-kind and monetary donations to the Milwaukee VA exceeded $1 million.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Milwaukee VA, contact Voluntary Service at 414-384-2000, ext. 41803, or email vhamiwvolunteerservice@va.gov.