Miguel Rodriguez

Veteran Service Officer Supervisor

Houston native Miguel Rodriguez served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 2008 to 2012 as a Legal/Administration Specialist. After his honorable discharge, he was accepted at the University of Houston where he stayed active with veteran organizations. Miguel joined the Wounded Warrior Project, Lone Star Veterans Association, UH Downtown Student Veteran Organization,  and graduated Cum Laude with a Criminal Justice Major and a Communications Minor in 2015. 

 Miguel initially joined the Harris County team with the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department, but soon joined the Harris County Community Services Department as a Veteran Program Eligibility Specialist (Case Manager) in 2015. Miguel was transferred to the Veteran Services Office, and was promoted to a Veteran Service Officer by the Commissioners Court in 2018. 

With hundreds of veterans served over the years, Miguel is one of our most experienced veteran service officers. While he specializes in Disability Compensation, Pension, and appeal cases, he has experience in almost every field of veteran services and the Harris County network. in 2019, Miguel was awarded the  Legion of Honor Award by the Chapel of Four Chaplains, and also recognized by the Veterans County Service Officer Association of Texas for his hard work and dedication to the Veteran Community. 

Ardenna Hardy

Veteran Service Officer

Ardenna was a senior non-commissioned officer with 28 years of service, domestic and overseas on Active Duty, in the Louisiana National Guard and Army Reserves.  She considers that the Army took her on one of the best "and free" educational tours one could receive.

Ardenna led soldiers in the Medical Service Corps and Adjutant Corps worldwide in South Korea, Germany, and Japan. 

After her honorable discharge, Ardenna completed a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and a Project Management concentration from the University of Phoenix.

Ardenna joined the Texas Veterans Commission in 2015 as a Claims Benefits Advisor until April 10, 2020, where she developed her expertise in VA claims and the claims appellate process.  She also frequently volunteered for additional assignments and programs such as the Homeless Veterans, Veteran Entrepreneur, and the Women Veterans Program. 

In 2020, Ardenna joined the Harris County Veterans Service Department, where she continues serving Veterans for the greater Harris County.

Ardenna is a world traveler who has enjoyed planning and organizing events both in the military and personal life.  Some of her favorite travel destinations included San Francisco, Honolulu, Seoul, Tokyo, Paris, and Belgium.

Dominique Brewer

Veteran Service Officer

Dominique is a native Texan who served as a U.S. Air Force Security Forces/Military Police specialist. After 8 years of service, and deployment to Afghanistan under Operation Enduring Freedom, she was honorably discharged in 2012

During her time in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR), she continued to serve as a civilian under the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait in support of the U.S. troops on numerous operating bases throughout the Middle East.

In 2015, Dominique settled in Harris County, Texas and attended college at Lone Star College where she became a Veteran Mentor. She was also accepted to University of Houston – Downtown Alumni received a Bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies

Dominique served the veteran community as a Certifying Official for Veterans Education benefits at Lone Star College. She also assisted Veterans and their families entitled to federal or state education benefits through the Department of the VA official all while attending school.

Her passion to serve veterans further show in her memberships as:

·       Wounded Warrior Alumni

·       UHD alumni

·       Student Veterans Association (Lone star College and UHD)

·       Combined Arms Institute

·       Women’s Veterans Organizations

Jacob Hicks

Case Manager Supervisor

Jake brings more than 30 years of leadership and problem solving experience from the U.S. Special Operations community from leading diverse teams and coalitions all over the world. He is experienced in Strategic Planning, Operational Planning, Intelligence Analysis, Silo-Busting fragmented Social Service Systems, and Veteran resources.

After the military, Jake started training veterans to join the licensed private security field; enabling them to tap into the civilian job markets and communities. Through the years, he has enjoyed conversation, interaction and a retained camaraderie with men and women who also served like he did… and this strengthened his passion for serving other veterans across the country.

Jake has an unstoppable drive to serve veterans, and it transpires across homeless, justice-involved and reintegrating veterans into civilian life.

As the VSD Case Manager Supervisor, Jake is the master key of the VSD’s “on-ground” efforts with veteran care. He embeds his team to the Harris County community, seeks out veterans in need and applies direct or indirect solutions. 

Jake leads his team to fortify community support, works with community services, care-giving organizations and veteran groups to connect veterans to the care they need.

Lakethia Wilson

Veterans Case Manager

Lakethia has more than 10 years of case management experience serving Veterans in Lead Case Management roles and Supervisory Positions. She served as a Petroleum Specialist in the U.S. Army  from 2008-2011. After her honorable discharge, Lakethia pushed herself to attain a BS in Psychology at the University of Washington, and began her journey to work with her fellow veterans.

For more the past decade, Lakethia has gained a vast knowledge of intensive case management, housing programs for homeless Veterans, motivational interviewing, group therapy, and veteran healthcare programs. She went on with continued training to attain her SOARS certification (to help homeless Veterans with Social Security Benefits), forty additional educational hours of case management at Seattle College, and she was also certified HQS (Housing Quality Specialist) to conduct HUD housing inspections for all Chronic Homeless individuals on any HUD funding programs.

As the founder and CEO of the Tacoma based non-profit, Renewed Hope Services, Lakethia focused on helping veterans with basic need items such as food, toiletries, clothing, and referrals for healthcare services in the community. She has participated in Point in Time Count outreach in Tacoma, WA finding homeless veterans that needed help with various issues and connected them to housing first programs and healthcare. Under Lakethia’s leadership, Renewed Hope Services even collaborated with Pierce County where she served on Pierce County’s Youth Shelter Board to help fund Pierce County’s first youth shelter in 2017.

Since Lakethia relocated to the Houston area, her passion for helping Veterans continued under Women’s Veterans Services Permeant Supportive Housing as a Veteran Case Manager.

Lakethia brings the Harris County veteran far more than a decade of experience as an Veterans Coordinator. With her expertise in of homelessness, housing, employment, disability benefits, and mental health, Lakethia is still expanding her knowledge in mental health by pursuing her master’s degree in Social Work at Walden University with a simple goal: to help as many Veterans succeed and thrive in life.

John Aparicio

Veterans Case Manager

John served in the USAF Security Forces with extensive experience in law enforcement and security operations. He spent most of his time in Germany and deployed to Afghanistan as a VIP security detail member. John protected the highest-ranking NATO military leaders in Europe. He later resumed security forces duties at JBMDL in New Jersey. 

During his last year in service and leading into the initial separation period, he set aside much of his professional aspirations to care for his aging family members in California. John continued his service while here to the veteran community with the San Luis Obispo County Veterans Services Office.

John’s nature of always striving for the best in himself and the best for his community pushed him to initially volunteer his time to serve the local veteran community in between his college classes. He later ended up as a staff member and coordinated all outreach activities.

In his community outreach role, John coordinated all annual veteran stand downs, and service fairs, giving a vital rally point for veterans in the SLO County location. John’s hard work successfully connected and integrated his entire community’s veterans with the scattered array of veteran services.

After he completed his degree in Correctional Program Support, John joined the Harris County Veterans Services Department as a Veteran Coordinator.

John’s specialty around social work (focused on the justice system) places John as a vital part of the VSD outreach team to serve veterans who need assistance the most. His outgoing, always vigilant, and frequently problem-solving personality as the former VIP protection detail member exponentially increases our outreach team’s capacity to serve veterans in need.