Making a World of Difference

By Carol Walsh
June 2009

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Reggie Worlds, senior director of programs and services at the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, considers his work to be more than just a job. It’s a calling.

“This is where my heart is,” he said. “This is what I believe is my personal ministry. I can’t see doing anything else.”

One way that he fulfills that commitment is by helping to lead programs such as Minnesota Service C.O.R.E., a first-of-its-kind state initiative that is being closely watched at the federal level to see how well it succeeds.

The effort, which was introduced last November by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, provides social service assistance to veterans, military members and their families.

The comprehensiveness of the program is what makes it unique. Minnesota Service C.O.R.E (which stands for Case Management, Outreach, Referral and Education) is the first vets program in the country to offer multiple services under one umbrella, including individual and family counseling, financial guidance and debt management, addiction assessments and referral, and disability assistance.

Worlds said the free program was something that blossomed after several different local entities began discussing how to best help veterans in Minnesota.

“We began to understand that veterans who called in had multiple issues,” he said. “This model was based not only on helping vets, but also helping their families. It’s available for vets and active military members.”

C.O.R.E. case workers are located in the Twin Cities, Alexandria, Brainerd, Detroit Lakes, Duluth, Fergus Falls, Mankato, Moorhead, St. Cloud and Willmar.

The program is so freshly minted that the Department of Veterans Affairs is still collecting numbers, but to date there have been about 50 unique Minnesota Service C.O.R.E. customers, according to Worlds.

Worlds’ leadership and visibility in the program was a factor in his being named to the Minnesota Emerging Leaders Institute, now in its third year of preparing the next generation of state leaders. Worlds was nominated for the spot by Clark Dyrud, state VA commissioner, and Michael Pugliese, the agency’s deputy commissioner of programs and services.

“I was honored to be nominated for the Emerging Leaders Institute,” Worlds said. “I’m always looking at ways to improve and to reach out to individuals and state agencies.”

The self-effacing and mild-mannered Worlds was hired in 2004 to run the agency’s first-ever Veterans Outreach pilot project. Since then, he has built strong relationships at the Sabathani Community Center and Q Health Clinics in Minneapolis – facilities that attract a larger number of veterans. He has worked with 300 veterans from communities of color and adjudicated 115 claims for benefits (worth $1.8 million annually).

Worlds today oversees an Outreach Division at Veterans Affairs that is responsible for educating and assisting underserved veterans with benefits and for referring veterans to other agencies for additional services. In many cases, outreach services are targeted to communities of color, female veterans and homeless veterans.

American Indians are an example of a veterans group that is underserved. By some estimates, one-fourth of American Indian men have served in the military. Yet, statistically 50 percent of eligible American Indians veterans in Minnesota do not apply for or gain the benefits that they are entitled to receive. In 2007, the agency opened a Tribal Veterans Service Office, staffed by 10 people, that helps American Indian vets with benefits claims and provides outreach programs.

Nationally, there are nearly 2 million women veterans, including 23,000 in Minnesota. The state has a women’s veterans coordinator to ensure women veterans have equitable access to federal and state benefits and services. The coordinator participates in transition events, women’s expos, public presentations and media interviews to improve awareness of available benefits, services and eligibility criteria.

Worlds, originally from Florida, spent seven years in the U.S. Army, including a tour in Germany, and has worked for the U.S. Postal Service. His move to Minnesota altered the course of his life and career. He earned an associate degree in law enforcement from Riverland Community College in Austin, Minn., and was a police officer and deputy sheriff in Faribault County.

“I worked there for about a year, and I started to realize that my heart was with serving veterans,” he said. “That is where I believed that I was meant to be.”

He took his career in that direction and never looked back, starting in Fairmont, where he worked for five years as a county veterans service officer for Martin County.

A response to a Hennepin County recruitment ad ultimately brought him to the Twin Cities as an assistant county veterans service officer, where he helped countless walk-in veterans and their families and worked with documents, gathered evidence and determined eligibility for benefits.

“I had a very good experience working with a smaller population in Martin County,” he said. “Hennepin County’s population is so diverse. I spent two years working with veterans from every walk of life. The education I received really opened my eyes. The [people] I worked with were a solid group of advocates that really cared about the clients they served. We learned a lot from each other.”

DEED is a strong partner with the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, and Worlds has known Jim Finley, DEED’s director of veterans employment services, for many years.

“Constant communication with DEED is the key to maintaining our good relationship,” he said. “A lot can be done from the ground up. We welcome ongoing opportunities for cross-training, information-sharing and partnering in events.”

“We’re both doing what we’re supposed to be doing to advance our mission.”