Santa Fe Vet Center director outlines community-based counseling, outreach for Los Alamos-area veterans

Albert Gomez, director of the Santa Fe and Farmington Vet Centers and a licensed clinical social worker and licensed addictions counselor, told the Los Alamos Inclusivity Task Force that the VA Vet Center program provides community-based readjustment counseling, rapid entry compared with some hospital processes and a mix of clinical and outreach services for veterans and their families.

Gomez said the Vet Center network grew from a 1979 congressional mandate and now operates four Vet Centers in New Mexico. "We're a community based counseling program. We've...been in existence since 1979," he said. He described two full‑time providers, an outreach worker and office staff in Santa Fe and a geographically broader Farmington team that serves parts of the Navajo Nation and other Four Corners communities.

The Vet Center director said eligibility originally focused on combat trauma but has expanded. "It started out as just combat specific. Our program has morphed into working with a lot other a lot of other veterans, including New Mexico National Guard as long as they're enrolled in school, they can access supportive services at the vet center," Gomez said. He added the program can serve family members and provide culturally adapted services, including traditional healing practices when appropriate.

Gomez described a mobile Vet Center that conducts scheduled outreach on the Navajo Reservation and into parts of Utah and southern Colorado. He said the mobile unit assigned to the reservation contains two soundproof counseling offices and is currently tasked there, limiting its availability for other outreach. He also said some local counseling occurs in offsite community access points and through memoranda of understanding with partners.

On funding, Gomez said Vet Center staff are Department of Veterans Affairs employees and that the program’s origins in a congressional directive provide a degree of protection but do not make the program immune to broader budget pressures. "Because we're on this congressional mandate, we are a little bit more protected ... but that doesn't mean that we're immune to any of the budget cuts," he said.

Task force members asked about access for veterans who are not Lab employees, services on tribal lands, age ranges and barriers to care. Gomez said veterans commonly avoid care, particularly in rural settings, and said outreach, word-of-mouth reputation and storefront presence reduce barriers. He described practical steps the Vet Centers offer, including an outreach worker who can help veterans connect before arrival and options for virtual check‑ins for veterans uncomfortable entering a clinic setting.

Gomez gave examples of local partnerships and programs the Vet Center links veterans to, including adaptive sports, Healing Waters (fly‑fishing programs), equine‑assisted activities, Wounded Warrior Project initiatives and local housing referrals. He said Vet Centers use data on productivity and community need when deciding where to locate services and that outstations can grow into full Vet Centers when demand and activity justify them.

Gomez said the Vet Center already partners with Los Alamos National Laboratory as a community access point and visits the Lab about once a month; he said the Vet Center could increase its presence if additional local interest and office space became available. He left business cards and offered to coordinate further outreach with local groups.

Task force members thanked Gomez and discussed potential local next steps, including inviting Vet Center staff to community events and integrating Vet Center contact information into local outreach and welcome materials.