Taunton's new veterans agent has a passion for her job in part fueled by pain

TAUNTON — As Taunton's new veterans services director, Ally Rodriguez has an unfiltered passion for her work — one partially fueled by pain.

She had to help her ex-husband, a wounded veteran, traverse the complicated system with the Department of Veterans Affairs, trying to get every benefit he is entitled to.

“I had to navigate the VA myself, with very little to no help,” said Rodriguez, who has been on the job in Taunton since April.

Rodriguez recalls driving her ex-husband to and from a Wounded Warrior Battalion medical center and seeing other patients across the campus left to their own devices and “walking around almost like zombies,” an experience that deeply affected her to the point of sobbing.

She remembers befriending one handicapped veteran there who told her it took her a half hour to go up and down the stairs of her building, each trip, because the elevator wouldn’t be turned on for her. 

All this gave her direction.

“I was so disgusted,” said Rodriguez, adding she told herself, “I will do everything I can to make sure veterans don’t get treated like this on a daily basis.”

First woman to serve in a military family

Serving veterans is more than just a job for Rodriguez.  A veteran herself, she served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 2001–2003, as well as active duty from 2003–2007. She served in bases across the country, in South Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma and Virginia, as a signal systems support specialist, installing, maintaining and troubleshooting all active radio and data distribution systems.

A native of Fall River, Rodriguez comes from a military family.  Her father, brother, grandfather, and great grandfather all served. Despite the tradition, she said “there was pressure not to enlist, actually.” Being a first generation American, there was resistance from her immigrant parents, specifically her mother.

“It was a huge argument. But you aren’t going to tell me no,” Rodriguez said.

She became the first woman from her family to serve in the military.

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Forging a career in veterans services

After leaving the army, she worked a few years for various security agencies.

Using financial assistance through the G.I. Bill,  she focused on a dual bachelor’s program, with majors in security management and criminal justice at Southwestern College. She would go on to get her master’s in organizational leadership from Manhattan College.

After serving as a veterans employment representative for Plymouth County for two years, Rodriguez became the veterans services director for Foxboro in 2019.

During her four years in Foxboro, she accomplished numerous things, like making the town a Purple Heart Community, adding veterans-only parking at Town Hall and the Senior Center, helping dedicate a WW II memorial for the town, organizing field trips for the town’s veterans to museums and landmarks, setting up a regular coffee social for veterans and helping provide food and supplies to many of the town’s veterans during the pandemic.

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'Go-getter mentality' lands her Taunton job

Former Veteran Services Director Jeff Riccitelli retired this past January after serving the city of Taunton in various roles for 25 years, 9 in the Veterans Services Department.

Rodriguez, who has lived in Taunton since early 2014, applied for the position, thinking, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if I could help the veterans in the community I live in?”

She applied, not thinking she would get the position because she knew “there were so many great candidates and veterans who applied.”

On what separated Rodriguez from the rest of the competition, Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said, “Ally's enthusiastic passion and love for serving veterans was evident throughout the interview process. She came in armed with ideas, creative thinking and a go-getter mentality that we embrace."

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Standing up for veterans

This “go-getter mentality” was evident in the third week on the job here in Taunton when Rodriguez responded to an incident entailing a landlord, taking advantage of elderly and disabled veterans in her building by charging for services not provided.

“In this job you run into a lot of sadness,” said Rodriguez, who added the veterans weren’t being provided with adequate food, and the apartments were so filthy the city's Health Department had to be called.

Rodriguez recalls being enraged, getting very loud when she came face-to-face with the landlord, and causing a very public scene. She thought she had crossed a line and believed would get in trouble for.

“I’m fiercely protective of my veterans,” she said.

But when she was summoned to the mayor’s office after the incident, she received nothing but support, Rodriguez said.

“She was sitting there, showing compassion and asking questions,” said Rodriguez, adding that O’Connell has been giving her the freedom to “Let me do my job. Let me take care of my veterans.”

Most of the veterans were able to be transferred to different facilities. Rodriguez said she has seen incidents of mistreatment like this become a huge problem.

“The housing market is so high right now. These disabled vets are on fixed income. Landlords know this. Where is a vet gonna go?” Rodriguez said.

Leading a bustling Taunton veterans office

Including Rodriguez, the Taunton Veterans Services Department is a team of five. Compared to her former Foxboro, it’s “more lively, much busier and a bigger staff.”

She’s accomplished quite a bit her first few months working in Taunton. She was recently recognized for assisting City Council President Kelly Dooner with her mission to get Taunton designated a Purple Heart Community, “a historic milestone that appropriately reflects Taunton's standing as a proud Veterans community,” said O’Connell, thanking Rodriguez for her work on this.

Rodriguez has coordinated free transportation for veterans to community events. One of which is the monthly veterans luncheon at the Taunton Elks Lodge. The Veterans Services Department coordinates with GATRA’s Dial A Ride where her office pays for the transportation for eligible veterans.

Rodriguez said she’s currently working on establishing veterans-only parking spaces at City Hall and other city-owned properties.

Smashing the stigma

Rodriguez said most of her work hours during the week are spent helping veterans file VA claims.

Many of these claims as of late have been in relation to The Pact Act and exposure to toxic chemicals.

Education is a big part of her job. She explained many veterans, as well as the widows of veterans, don’t file VA claims because they don’t realize what they are entitled to.

Despite how busy she is, she said she wants her department to communicate with every Taunton veteran about the benefits and compensation they can get.

She explained in many cases “ego is a big barrier for veterans,” noting for many in that military environment, “you are taught to suck it up” and “not be the weakest link,” a mindset which “carries over into their civilian life.”  She said there also still exists the stigma of being labeled disabled.

“I just want them to know there’s no shame in filing for compensation. You deserve it,” Rodriguez said.

Never off duty

Rodriguez said the greatest satisfaction so far in her career happened recently:

A veteran from Rhode Island tracked Rodriguez down through social media to speak with her when she still worked in Foxboro. She explained she couldn’t get help from veterans agents closer to her. Her case with the VA was classified as MST: military sexual trauma. She had been sexually assaulted while in service, but she couldn’t disclose it to authorities because it ran the risk of her orientation as a lesbian being discovered and “this was during the time of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’”

She told Rodriguez the VA had repeatedly denied her claims for compensation, classifying it as ‘not service connected,’ meaning her trauma had nothing to do with her time in military service.

“She felt so defeated.  She came to me saying I was her last chance,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez helped this woman outside work hours refile her claim, telling her what to read, what to disclose and argue, and who to talk to. This help would continue even when Rodriguez became veterans services director in Taunton.

Rodriguez remembers sitting in a restaurant when she got a message and a picture sent to her phone.  It was the veteran showing a picture of a check for $115,000, the first check, for back pay on her initial claim. Her VA claim had been approved.

“They finally admitted her claim was valid,” said Rodriguez, recalling having “tears of joy” while sitting in that restaurant. “This wasn’t about the money for her; it was about the validation.”

Rodriguez said she didn’t do anything the woman couldn’t have done by herself.

“I just educated. She just didn’t know she could do it,” Rodriguez said.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Meet Taunton's new Veterans Services Director Ally Rodriguez