Derek Coy: My best friend was killed by gun violence-

Gabe Ramos: Wow.

Derek Coy: ... when I was 19. This happened, ironically enough, September 11th, 2004.

Gabe Ramos: This is Sit Rep, the New York City Department of Veteran Services podcast, where we aim to inform and inspire by bringing you the stories of New York City veterans, military service members, their families, and civilian supporters. I'm your host, Gabe Ramos, U.S. Marine Corps veteran and deputy press secretary here at DVS.

Gabe Ramos: On today's episode, we hear from Marine Corps veteran Derek Coy. Derek is an absolute rockstar in the veteran and advocacy space. He's used his passion for service at organizations like the ACLU, the Doe Fund, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. We'll chat about some of the formative experiences that led him to military service in the first place, and ultimately the decision to pursue college afterwards. You'll hear him talk about making the transition from his hometown in Texas to New York City, and how he considers the Big Apple the best place in the world to be a veteran. Enjoy the show.

Gabe Ramos: All right, so we are here with Derek Coy. Derek Coy is the veterans' health officer at New York State Foundation. He's a Marine Corps veteran. He's had positions at the Doe Fund, the ACLU, IAVA, and most of all, he's just a really good-looking dude and a great dude.

Derek Coy: I appreciate that.

Gabe Ramos: I'm really happy to be sitting across from him, and really happy to have you here. Derek, welcome.

Derek Coy: Thanks for having me, man. I appreciate this.

Gabe Ramos: Let's just kick this off. Just tell us a little bit about yourself and then we'll take it from there.

Derek Coy: Yeah, man. Originally I grew up in Texas, right outside of Houston. I followed in my pop's footsteps. He was a Marine. His dad was a Marine. It was something I'd always wanted to do. I ended up enlisting when I was 19. Did four years in the Marine Corps. Did a year- long pump in Iraq, another year-long pump on the USS Essex, traveling all over southeast Asia. That was amazing. Got out and I used my ... which was still ... I think it was the old Montgomery GI Bill, whatever it was. I'm dating myself here but whatever.

Gabe Ramos: What year was that?

Derek Coy: '08, '09, before like the new one kicked in.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. That was right before the new one.

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Derek Coy: Yeah, yeah. For sure.

Gabe Ramos: Okay.

Derek Coy: I wrapped up my undergrad at the University of Houston, and then I had the new post- 9/11 GI Bill after that, or enough left over, so I moved to New York to go to grad school at City College and study history there. I got really involved in the veteran committee, nonprofit committee in general, more specifically in the veterans' space. I've been here for eight years now.

Gabe Ramos: Awesome. There's a lot there. You fast-forwarded through pretty much from birth to [inaudible 00:02:28], so let's take you back. Your old man was a Marine?

Derek Coy: Yeah.

Gabe Ramos: Who else in your family served?

Derek Coy: Quite a few people. My dad and his brother, they're a year apart, but actually joined together. They went to boot camp together and all that stuff, so I always heard all these really cool stories about them serving. Both my grandfathers were World War Two vets. One was a Coastie. The other was Marine Corps as well, so always had that tradition. Actually, my dad's uncle [inaudible 00:03:00] but I guess my great-uncle, Roy P. Benavidez, he received a Medal of Honor in Vietnam, Green Beret, really bad-ass dude. Give that guy [inaudible 00:03:07]. He's pretty amazing. There's always been ... I think what we're learning now statistically, that warrior caste, it's kind of like that system that you're raised in. So yeah, quite a few members. I've got a cousin. A cousin of mine joined right after I did. My dad's [inaudible 00:03:24].

Gabe Ramos: So it's very much a part of your upbringing, your DNA, would you say? It's pretty prevalent?

Derek Coy: For sure. Not in a pushy way, though. You know what I mean? It's not like, "You're going to graduate high school, then you're going to the military" in general let alone the Marine Corps. It was actually kind of the opposite. My pop was always like, "Hey man, obviously all of us did this, but you should go to school. None of us went to school. I wish that's something I'd went." Of course, you never learn to your parents. You do the exact opposite.

Gabe Ramos: Had he pushed you toward the Marine Corps or the military-

Derek Coy: I'd have ran so far away, yeah.

Gabe Ramos: You would have gone to med school.

Derek Coy: For sure, man. Whatever the exact opposite of the Marine Corps is, which might be college, I guess.

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Gabe Ramos: Yeah, I think probably. Jarhead's [inaudible 00:04:06].

Derek Coy: For sure. Yeah, man, so probably so, but it was definitely the appeal of, "Why don't you want me to do this? I kind of want to prove ..." So it definitely had that influence on me growing up.

Gabe Ramos: So, you enlisted. Was it right out of high school?

Derek Coy: No. I tried. I made an honest effort to try to listen to my dad's advice. I went to community college for three semesters, in the literal sense that I was doing whatever I needed to be enrolled. I was a server at a Mexican restaurant and making good money, so I was like, "Oh, college." I don't know. I just wasn't very ambitious ever, especially at that age. I didn't know what to do, so I thought, "As long as I keep one foot in college, something will pop up, and it'll make sense." I enlisted when I was 19. I turned 20 in boot camp, so had a little gap there.

Gabe Ramos: Even there, you were one of the older kids in boot camp.

Derek Coy: It felt like it. You wouldn't think that that would make that big of a difference, but definitely I felt like I was older, almost being 20 when there were people that were 17 and 18.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. I remember going in. I enlisted the summer of my junior year from my senior high school. All senior year, I knew that as soon as I got my diploma, I was heading out. I graduated in May. In July, I was in Parris Island. I remember being 17 or 18 years old, and the 20, 21-year-olds that were there, we looked at them like they were old guys, like they were old men.

Derek Coy: Yeah, for sure.

Gabe Ramos: There was somebody who was 23 years old. We were like, "Who's this [inaudible 00:05:34]?"

Derek Coy: Yeah. No, absolutely, man. Yeah, just those few years definitely made me feel that way. I want say it gave me an edge or anything, but it gave me a little perspective.

Gabe Ramos: You had a little bit more maturity.

Derek Coy: Yeah. I'd say I was less immature-

Gabe Ramos: As much as you could have.

Derek Coy: ... is probably a better way. I wouldn't consider myself mature at that time, or even now. That's a different story, but yeah, definitely a little different, a little different perspective.

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Derek Coy: That history, my culture that I grew up in, was always there, but I always questioned whether I had what it took to be a Marine. In particular, I thought about maybe one of the other branches. How could I serve? I didn't feel like I had it in me. I always felt like ... My dad's my hero. I look up to him, and I'm like, "Man, I'm not like you, I don't think. I'm going to boot camp, and they're going to kill me. I'm going to die in boot camp. I'm not even going to make it to the fleet."

Gabe Ramos: Because there's so much, the prestige and all the aura that's associated with the few, the proud, being a Marine.

Derek Coy: Yeah, for sure.

Gabe Ramos: It's very much this constant questioning. Do I have what it takes? Do I have what it takes? Even once you're in boot camp and once you get to EGA, it's still like, "I've earned this, but did I really earn it?"

Derek Coy: Yeah, I know. For sure.

Gabe Ramos: It's very much ... Yeah, I totally identify with that. I feel like even when I was in the Marines, after boot camp, after combat training, checking into my first unit, it was very much ... I feel like my entire enlistment, my whole mentality was, do I really deserve to wear this uniform? Do I really deserve to be one of the few, the proud, right?

Derek Coy: Yeah. For sure, man. I definitely felt that. I think for me, and a lot of people that I have spoken to, it's kind of like a proving ground. Do I have what it takes? Can I see if I can make it? For me, man, I wish ... It's tough, especially being in New York City, because it's really personal to me, but after 9/11 happened, so many people ran to the recruiting office, ran to ground zero. They had that visceral response to us being attacked. I was definitely ... I felt that way, but still I questioned, what can I do? Am I a warfighter?

Gabe Ramos: What is one person?

Derek Coy: Yeah. I'm in Texas. I'm a junior in high school. I wish I had that, "Hey, this happened, and I wanted to sign up to serve my country," but in reality, man, I joined to run away. Like I said, I was [inaudible 00:07:49] going to community college. You couldn't make this up, man. It's so random. No one saw this coming. My best friend was killed by gun violence when I was 19. This happened, ironically enough, September 11th, 2004.

Gabe Ramos: Oh, geez.

Derek Coy: The first thing I did was I ran to the recruiting office. I was like, "I've got to get out of here, man. My world just got turned upside-down. I don't know what to do." I'd always wanted to serve. I was like, "Man, I could have been with him. I should have been with him. That could have been me. What am I doing my life?" I was like, "Now, it's time to do something. I've got a second chance. You always wanted to serve? Now do it."

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Gabe Ramos: You had been kicking around that idea. Was this, would you say, "All right, this is it." You've got to get out.

Derek Coy: It was a catalyst. Without a doubt, man, for sure. Like I said, I wish ... It would have been a better story if I was like, "I felt like this. I wanted to do it and serve my country." I just wanted to run away, and the Marine Corps was super happy to have me.

Gabe Ramos: Of course.

Derek Coy: In the midst of two wars, I had a little bit of college under my belt, and I was like, "Hey, man, whatever gets me out of here quicker, I don't care what job. I don't care where you station me." Of course, I didn't have any say in that anyways, but looking back on it, yeah, man. That happened September 11th. December, I was in boot camp. In August, I was in Iraq.

Gabe Ramos: Wow. [inaudible 00:09:02].

Derek Coy: So less than a year after that. Really, I hit the ground running there, man, but I wanted to run away. You probably couldn't have picked a better-

Gabe Ramos: You ran away.

Derek Coy: Yeah.

Gabe Ramos: You got away.

Derek Coy: Halfway around the Earth.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. Iraq's pretty far from Texas.

Derek Coy: A little bit.

Gabe Ramos: Baytown, is that it?

Derek Coy: Yeah, Baytown, Texas, man. Yeah, it was a wild ride, but again, looking back on things, I really was able to make the most out of a super tragic situation. If I could go back, there's not much I could have changed, and really excited to have been able to do what I did. But yeah, man, it was just so random. Like I said, I wish it was under different circumstances, but scary times, man.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. In one of the other shows, I was talking with some folks. We were talking about the different reasons why folks join the military, whether it's out of sheer patriotism, whether it's to get money for college, whether it's to get out of your hometown.

Derek Coy: All of the above.

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Gabe Ramos: All of the above, right. For every person in the military, everyone probably has their own specific reasons

Derek Coy: For sure.

Gabe Ramos: ... or a ton of reasons why they joined. I feel like you go into a recruiter's office. You enlist. You're off in boot camp, and then you have this narrative that you're telling yourself. "This is why I joined," but there's all these other reasons. You have no real way of getting to the bottom of what served as a catalyst, but obviously there was a lot there that motivated you to join.

Derek Coy: Yeah. Definitely.

Gabe Ramos: This time in your life, this is a pretty formative experience. Obviously, you had your best friend pass away by gunfire. You're about to ship off to war. What's your state of mind? What are you thinking? What's going through your head at this point?

Derek Coy: I think because it happened so quickly, it was really just cover down, get to that next movement. Yeah, man, it was really just become a Marine. Get through boot camp, and you will figure it out from there. Like you were saying, there was always that pressure, because you think, "All I've got to do is be a Marine, and then I will be respected by all the Marines." Yeah, good luck with that.

Derek Coy: Of course, I'm going to MOS school in Meridian, Mississippi. I'm like, "All right, just get through MOS school." Then I'm like, "All right, get to combat training. Get to that next thing." Then I get to the fleet, and I was like, "All right, well, get a deployment under your belt." I was always chasing that next thing. In my four years, I spent two of them deployed.

Gabe Ramos: I feel like that's a microcosm for life.

Derek Coy: Yeah.

Gabe Ramos: We feel like we set these goals for ourselves, this next milestone. Once I achieve this, once I achieve that, I'll be set. Once I get the job, once I get the promotion, once I get the girl, once I get the house, all these other things, but once you get to it, it's like, "All right, now what's next?"

Derek Coy: Yeah.

Gabe Ramos: I feel like that just speaks to just being a human being and trying to find the next thing.

Derek Coy: It does. What's crazy is that it seems so obvious, but man, that was not the case. I really thought, "I've just got to get that one thing," and that's true past the Marine Corps. That's true of up until a year and a half ago, man, where it was like, "I just need this job. I just need this thing," and really getting to external positions, or money, or your

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location is really going to make me happy. Yeah, a long, long road down that path until I realized that was not the case.

Gabe Ramos: Chasing all these external things-

Derek Coy: Oh, absolutely.

Gabe Ramos: ... to address the inside. What was your job in the Marine Corps?

Derek Coy: I was an aviation supply specialist, which I virtually never did, man.

Gabe Ramos: Of course not, yeah. You have your job, and then you have what you actually end up doing and all of that.

Derek Coy: Yeah, for sure. Being a young Marine, especially deployed, was always doing everything else. Right when I got to Iraq, I guess it would have been their first elections were being held. There were a whole bunch of ... kind of a primary, and then the major, general election for a whole bunch of different government positions, so standing a whole bunch of guard post duty for all the elections. We got to travel quite a bit throughout Iraq, which was pretty cool, drive, fly. That was pretty sweet, but yeah, I did that for a year, man. My fleet experience was Ford, which was nuts.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. You would assume so.

Derek Coy: Yes. Steep learning curve, but definitely did quite a bit there. I basically came back and did all the catch-up training that I needed to have done, and then I jumped on a boat for another year, and same thing. Find a place for this guy.

Gabe Ramos: What [inaudible 00:13:05] right?

Derek Coy: Yeah, 31st USS Essex out of Okinawa, which was pretty amazing.

Gabe Ramos: Got it. Yeah, for sure. At one point did you say, "Hey, I like this. I like being a Marine, but I don't think I want to make a career out of it"? Or was that always your mindset?

Derek Coy: It fluctuates so much, man. The first I'd say year or two in the service, all I was thinking was, "Get back home to Baytown, man. Do what you've got to do. Make it home to your family." I think really because that year traveling all over southeast Asia, and I went to virtually every country, man. You name it. We got really lucky. I think that exposure to what else is out there fed my curiosity, so then it was, "All right, well, don't go back to Baytown. Where do you want to go?" Then I was like, "The Marine Corps has done an amazing job." I wasn't sure about if I wanted to stay in. I really wanted to be a drill instructor, but I think that's what every Marine says until they realize what you have to do.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. Then your one buddy who goes off comes back with vocal cords shot to hell.

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Derek Coy: Yeah, for sure.

Gabe Ramos: You're like, "Maybe this isn't for me."

Derek Coy: Yeah. I was like, "Uh," but in theory, I was like, "Maybe reenlist. Be a drill instructor. Do something different," but I think, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but most decisions, there was a girl.

Gabe Ramos: Of course.

Derek Coy: She really wanted to head back to Texas. I was like, "You know, I kind of had a change of heart," but was madly in love. You know what I mean? I was like, "Wherever you go, I'll go."

Gabe Ramos: As much as you can be at 22 years old or whatever.

Derek Coy: For sure, man. I was a 22-year-old kid, very much like a kid in love. I was like, "If you want to go back to Houston, I can't really get stationed there, so I guess I'll get out and go back to school." It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time, but very much on the fence. I could have went either way up until four months before I actually EOSed.

Gabe Ramos: That's perfect segue into your transition, then, because essentially, four months before you decided to separate, you didn't really have a lot of prep time to say, "Okay, this is what I'm going to do when I get out," have a job set up, have school prospects, and all that. What was that process like? You made that decision. "All right, I'm going to leave the military." What comes next? Just talk a little bit about that.

Derek Coy: Yeah. Once it became very clear I'm not going to reenlist so I need to do a little bit more planning, I really got lucky, man, because I joined and then subsequently got out in December. Basically, in those four months, I was like, "All right, I need to make something happened." I just applied to a few schools in the Houston area, so the University of Houston hit me back. I got accepted there. I was able to start school in January, so my transition was basically December off, moving back to Texas, getting my bearings.

Derek Coy: I had done, like I said, a little bit of school before and a little bit in, so I only needed to do about a year and a half to wrap up. I was like, "Well, I'll just wrap up my undergrad, and then from there, I'll figure ..." Kind of like in the military, it was just get to that next thing. Just get a degree, and then you'll figure it out.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. Just get to this next milestone.

Derek Coy: Yeah. I didn't really have any bigger-picture plans, but I kind of knew, and I was very fortunate that I had a good support of family, friends. I could go back to school and have, then, the Montgomery GI Bill at the time. I had enough cushion to wear I could be a little flexible and just figure it out. Had it been, if I got out in February or March, I

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would have had to wait for that fall semester. It could have been a lot worse, but it worked out for me, man. I just winged it, which is not a good plan.

Gabe Ramos: Not at all, but I feel like that's ... I certainly winged it for about a year when I first got out, and I feel like most folks, because even if they have it set in their mind, "I'm going to do four and out," five and out, whatever it is, you don't really have too much in front of you. You don't really have too much an idea of how to set yourself up for success. At that age, you're very early 20s, generally. You have all this newfound freedom. You can grow out your hair, grow out a beard. You don't have to wake up at 5:00 to work out anymore. You can do whatever you want. You're very much ... That freedom can be counterproductive.

Derek Coy: Yeah, absolutely, man.

Gabe Ramos: So, you come back. You're in school in Houston. You ended up getting your bachelor's there. At what point did you say, "I want to move to New York City"?

Derek Coy: I think it was when it came to the point where, "All right, I am wrapping up. Now what do I do next?" I look back on it, man, and I think it's very clear. I have this thing where I just to run away when things get a little dicey. Really, I think what happened was, when I was getting closer to wrapping up my undergrad, the girl at the time that I was dating, amazing girl, fortunately we're very good friends to this day, we had all these big plans. We were going to get married. We were going to move to New York.

Derek Coy: At that point, it was like, "What are we going to do next?" I was like, "Well, I have that new GI Bill. I'll get a stipend." I'd been outside of my comfort zone, lived in Japan, did a lot of traveling, so I was like, "I've survived elsewhere outside of Baytown," which I wasn't sure that I could do. I was like, "Well, where do I want to go?" I really kicked it around, and New York was always something that I loved from afar. I had never been. I just thought, "Man, that's where I want to be. I want to give that a shot."

Derek Coy: Definitely on the tail end of wrapping up my undergrad, mental health was just in rapid decline, man. What happened was I felt really overwhelmed by not knowing what that next step was, not understanding what was happening to me mentally, so I'd think, "Well, time to run away again." My relationship fell apart. I ended up moving to New York City by myself. Without a doubt, the first six months in the city, the hardest six months of my life, man. Really, really tough.

Gabe Ramos: In terms of because you didn't have a support structure here in New York City, you didn't have those social bonds, or what specifically about that?

Derek Coy: All of the above, man. I didn't know anyone here, but originally I'd planned on coming with my girlfriend, the girl I was going to marry at the time. I knew that I had that, but once that wasn't the case, I came here very much by myself. Didn't know anyone else, and then also, which I think comes full circle, man, really pressing, and something I really focus on addressing, I didn't get paid. My GI Bill payment didn't come through for my first semester. SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 9 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com

Gabe Ramos: Oh, wow.

Derek Coy: When I moved here-

Gabe Ramos: You were one of the original GI Bill delays.

Derek Coy: Yeah, man, so blew through my savings just trying to survive in New York. I was originally ... I signed a lease on the apartment that I was going to share with my partner. I ended up paying this exorbitant amount of rent, just bleeding money on a daily basis, and then also trying to get accustomed to a new city, but then also grad school is really different. Really, all these brand new things, I was trying to figure out. I was trying to do it on my own, and man, I was just struggling, man.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah, I can imagine.

Derek Coy: It was tough. It was pretty rough.

Gabe Ramos: Again, just looking for that geographical solution to the internal struggle, that issue that you have inside. You're always looking for those external answers, whether it's through a job, through a promotion, through these physical things, or if it's just a geographical switch.

Derek Coy: Yeah, that's true.

Gabe Ramos: As long as I change where I'm at, that should solve the issue. Then you get settled for a few weeks, and then you realize, "Oh, no. All of this stuff that I was feeling, I'm still feeling. It's not changed because I'm in a different zip code." Plus, like you said, the rhythm of grad school is totally different than traditional undergrad, and you have all this other stuff going on. You're fresh out of the military. You're looking for your identity. You're not getting paid, so you're having to worry about real practical things, plus you have these existential questions probably rolling around in your head.

Derek Coy: Certainly, man.

Gabe Ramos: How did you get your grounding? How did you get your footing under you?

Derek Coy: It sounds so cliché, man, but I think what really helped me get back on my feet was all the things that made me successful as a Marine. It was the community. It was the environment that I was in, and it was the people that I surrounded myself. My mom, bless her heart, man, she's the sweetest lady ever. She was married to a Marine. She knows how this is. When I came home, she knew something was not quite right, but she didn't know how to approach it.

Derek Coy: That's something we just struggle with, just anywhere outside of the military, just talking about mental health in general. She would always drop these hints. "Hey, maybe check out this organization. Check out that organization." I'm like, "Mom, that's for crazy homeless people. That's not for me. I'm healthy." I always had this really negative SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 10 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com

stereotype of a veteran. I never even thought of my dad as a veteran, because he had his stuff together. I always thought that negative perception, like so many people. If an actual veteran thinks that, of course I don't blame civilians for thinking that.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. Growing up, you hit it on the head. My idea of what a veteran was, I always saw Vietnam veterans [inaudible 00:21:30]. In my head, I thought, "A veteran in general is somebody who is homeless, or somebody who is on the street, or somebody with issues." I never understood what a veteran was in its actual sense.

Derek Coy: Yeah. My mom definitely mentioned, definitely, like I said, hinted at a few things, my girlfriend at the time, and I took it personally, man. I was like, "How dare you? You're not a mental health professional. You're not a veteran. You're just assuming something wrong's with me." Something was completely wrong with me, but you know what I mean? You're always thinking, "How dare you?" I took offense to it, so I shied away from ... Shortly after, I got diagnosed with posttraumatic stress, depression.

Derek Coy: A lot of things that I was dealing with, and it seemed obvious, but one of the things my mom mentioned, "Hey, there's an organization, IAVA, IVH. Check them out. They're doing a parade for Veterans Day." I'm thinking, "The last thing I want to do is be around other veterans." They're going to laugh at me and be like, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Suck it up, Marine. You're supposed to be better than this." That's how I thought people would respond to me, but for whatever reason, man, I think definitely just because it was a low point in my life, I thought, "I guess I'll go to the vets parade, and hang out with these IAVA people, and see what they're about."

Derek Coy: Literally, within not even five minutes, I'm there smoking a cigarette. Another veteran asks for a light. We start talking, and you'd have thought I'd have known this guy my entire life. He's like, "I just moved to New York. I had a tough time transitioning. All these things going on." I was like, "Wait a second, you too?" I was like, "Wow. I found the only veteran that's struggling. That's crazy." Then I started chatting with-

Gabe Ramos: Oh, it's just me and you here [inaudible 00:23:02] successful folks.

Derek Coy: Yeah. This is crazy. I talked to a few other vets, and you started getting these similar vibes. You'd hear what they're doing, and how they're responding and reacting to things that they're dealing with, or friends that they're dealing with. Then I thought, "Wow, I'm not alone, man." Then I thought, "Okay, now I'm not alone, now what do I do about it?" It was really that toe in the water. I started going to more IAVA events.

Derek Coy: Then you're at IAVA, and you hear about The Mission Continues. I started hanging out with a lot of other people that had similar experiences, and then I realized, "Wow, that helped me so much. That's what I want to do. I want to help other veterans, and really tear down all that stigma, and break down the barriers that prevent so many people, veterans in particular"-

Gabe Ramos: Yeah, people, absolutely.

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Derek Coy: ... "from accessing the care that they need." Yeah, it was crazy, man, but it was the veteran community that no doubt got me out of my funk, and then really put me on the path that I'm on now.

Gabe Ramos: What year was that? Do you remember?

Derek Coy: That was 2010.

Gabe Ramos: You're blowing my mind, because I want to say it was 2011. I was in a rut myself, just totally in a funk, getting it from my girlfriend, getting it from my mom. "Hey, maybe you should reach out to this person, or maybe you should check this out online." I remember seeing a picture of I think it was the previous year's IAVA parade just online. It was around October. I think it was 2011. I remember seeing the sweatshirt. On the back it says, "We've got your back." Just that message stuck out in my head. I was like, "We've got your back." It just hit me right in the chest. I was like, "Man, God, I feel like I want to be a part of that. How can I be a part of that?"

Gabe Ramos: That year, I ended up just, "How do I become a part of IAVA?" I went online. I volunteered. I was like, "Hey, I want to go to this parade." They said, "Yeah, come on down." I went to that parade, didn't know anybody. I was scared out of my mind. Like you said, we were down by the Flatiron Grill. It was a big group of folks. We were all talking, and I just started talking with folks, and sharing stories, like, "Yeah, I'm struggling." Just having that conversation, and everywhere I looked, the sweatshirts. "We've got your back. We've got your back." Just that theme stuck into my head.

Gabe Ramos: I didn't get help for a couple years after that, but that was the catalyst. It planted the seed of me just immersing myself in this larger community that I had, for the most part, avoided since I got out of the military.

Derek Coy: Yeah. Verbatim. The exact same, man. I think that's what helped bring that message home that I wasn't alone, because it was other people telling me their story. It resonated, not me telling them and they're responding to it.

Derek Coy: I remember the first four months I was here, man, I was so lonely. Man, bro, I was so lonely. I will never forget this. I'm sitting on the one train going up to City College, and this woman was just sitting next to me. Our arms touched, and I remember thinking, "Oh, shit, man. Human contact. That's nice, man." Then I'm like, "Oh, man, bro. That is so sad." That's how lonely I was. I didn't know anyone here, and it was really just a little sliver of humanity. It just made me realize, "Oh, man. That's really sad, bro. I need to talk to people."

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. I think something needs to happen here.

Derek Coy: Yeah, absolutely, man. A turning point, for sure. Yeah, man. It was definitely what really-

Gabe Ramos: So that was the catalyst that moved you into, "All right, I really want to get involved in the veterans space and do some more work." SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 12 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com

Derek Coy: Yeah. Absolutely, man. I'm sure this is something we share, as well. It's contagious, man. Once that person impacts you, you realize, "Damn it, I've got to pay it forward now." You don't get enough of it, so you always want to find out, "How can I help more? What can I do?"

Derek Coy: That's really what I've been doing these last eight years, man, advocacy work, helping fundraise, really just trying to find how best I can serve the community that's given me so much, up into my current role now at the New York City Health Foundation. Really just trying to keep an ear to the ground, talk to the people who are making stuff happen, stay on top of larger trends that are happening nationally, and say, "Hey, how can we do what we did in the military, bring together a diverse group of people, all walks of life, to focus on one mission?" No greater cause, man. Really, really love what I do, and it's been an amazing journey.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah. That really perfectly, I think, encapsulates the degree to which your experiences shape what you do moving forward. Like you said, that set the stage for you. It was contagious. One connection leads to another connection, and just leads to, "Okay, I've got to do more. I've got to do more." It really informs the way that you go out and start connecting with folks.

Derek Coy: Definitely.

Gabe Ramos: If you could talk a little bit about what you're doing at New York State Health Foundation, and just a few of your goals, and what you're hoping to accomplish there with leveraging public-private partnerships, and just expanding access to community- based care. Just talk a little bit about that.

Derek Coy: Yeah, for sure, man. To sum it up as concisely as possible, we try to be the glue that brings together a lot of these other people that are already doing the work. We don't want to reinvent the wheel. We don't want to be duplicative of anything. We want to find out what's working in the community and how do we replicate it, and then what needs are not being met, and then how do we invest in organizations that will address those needs.

Derek Coy: We're very much a big fan of VA and any other provider that's providing resources to veterans, but we're pretty analytical. We like to really dive into the data and find out how best we can serve the population. We know that the overwhelming majority of veterans are healthy. They're just kicking ass in their communities and really don't need anything other than what they already have. They like to seek care in their community, with their families. Of course, there are certain veterans that are struggling, so what we try to do is find that blend. How do we support good quality access to VA, but then also how do we make sure that the community resources are not only there but also the quality is the same? We do that a few different ways.

Derek Coy: Another organization we share is our family out at Headstrong Project. A good way, I think a good project for us, was really looking at what they were able to do in New York City. That is the place I've been going for therapy for five years. They had a really great SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 13 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com

model here in New York City. We said, "Wow, this is really great, but more than two- thirds of New York state's veterans don't live in New York City. How do we take what's working here and then replicate that?"

Derek Coy: We awarded them a pretty modest grant, all things considered, to take what they were doing in New York and replicate it in other cities. Then from there, we've followed that up to make sure they can cover down to smaller counties. It's really taking a pilot program, if you will, that started here in New York City, and saying, "Hey, this is kicking ass. It's bursting at the seams. We can't keep up. How do we replicate this?"

Derek Coy: That's what we try to do. That's an example of expanding community options, but then also we invest in research. The previous point I made is it's good to have access to community care, but how do we make sure it's quality care? How do we make sure that they're screening for burn pit exposure, military sexual trauma, all these things that we're hip to now through a larger health lens, but then how do we make it applicable to veterans? We found out that less than 3% of providers in New York state had the competency to provide care to veterans.

Gabe Ramos: Wow.

Derek Coy: That's unfortunate, but we kind of knew that. Why would you know all these very specific things for 1% of the population? What we're trying to do now is find out, "Okay, now we know there's a deficiency. How do we make sure that the providers out there increase their competency so they have a better understanding of how to serve veterans, and then understanding that there are unmet needs?"

Derek Coy: I harp on this a lot, man. We look at services to people who wear uniforms. I dare you to tell me that a caregiver doesn't serve, or a spouse, or a family member doesn't serve, but also if you're a clinician that's serving veterans, you're serving. You know what I mean? I think the idea is, we could frame that as if you're providing services to humans, there's a solid chance some of them wore the uniform, and they might have some special needs that need to be addressed. We're trying to increase that competency now. It's something we're focusing on.

Gabe Ramos: That's awesome, man. Well, we're running out of time, but I'm so glad that we were able to chat. One thing that we do at the end of each show is ask the same two questions. If there's one thing you'd like every New York City veteran or service member to know, what would that be?

Derek Coy: I really think learn from others' mistakes. Here in New York, man, it was a wild shot to come here. Clearly, this is the greatest city in the world. I love it so much, man, but this is a damn good place to be a veteran. I know a lot of people wouldn't assume that, but whether you're here for work, whether you're here for school, whether you need resources, whether you don't, New York City is a great place to be a veteran, man.

Derek Coy: I wish I would have known that earlier, because I think I stayed away from a lot of amazing resources, DVS in particular, now amazing municipal investment in the veteran SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 14 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com

community here, but then that all hands on deck mentality of New York. It can be very individualistic, it can be very competitive, but also there are so many communities here. It will welcome you as long as you're willing to be part of a community again.

Gabe Ramos: Absolutely. What about for the folks who aren't directly connected to the military?

Derek Coy: I think to harp on that previous point again, man, I think service is something that we all can do and we all should do. Really try to make a conscious effort to bridge that divide. You don't have to have served in uniform, but I guarantee you, probably one of your grandparents did, or your uncle, or aunt, or someone else did. I think really understanding that you have a role to play and you can have an impact on veterans' lives, and I think once you realize that, then more people will seek out the opportunity to make it happen.

Gabe Ramos: Amen, brother. We'll wrap up now. How can folks get in touch with you? Are you on social media at all?

Derek Coy: Yeah, man. I'm on the Twitter.

Gabe Ramos: On the Twitter.

Derek Coy: You can find me on the Twitter, @classicdecoy.

Gabe Ramos: @classicdecoy, at classic decoy on Twitter.

Derek Coy: Yeah, definitely.

Gabe Ramos: He's got some good tweets out there. You post a lot of good stuff.

Derek Coy: Yeah, for sure.

Gabe Ramos: Definitely check him out.

Derek Coy: Yes. Stay in touch, and then yeah, man, thanks for having me. This was a good opportunity.

Gabe Ramos: Yeah, this was awesome. So glad to have you. We'll definitely have you back at some point. New York State Health Foundation?

Derek Coy: Yeah, definitely. NYShealth.org, check us out. We do some amazing work, veterans in particular but across the board. Definitely reach out if there's something we can work on. Always looking to hear about new ideas and see how we can help, and glad to be [inaudible 00:33:37] with you, man.

Gabe Ramos: Cheers.

Derek Coy: [inaudible 00:33:38]. SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 15 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com

SITREP_EP04_FINAL_20181220_105629 (Completed 12/21/18) Page 16 of 16 Transcript by Rev.com