The promise does not end when the uniform comes off.
The men and women who serve in our military make a promise to this country.
This country makes a promise back.
That promise does not end when the uniform comes off. It follows veterans home — into their families, their communities, their work, their healthcare, and the rest of their lives.
Right now, too many veterans are coming home to find that promise has not been fully kept.
Too many struggle to access healthcare. Too many wait too long for mental health support, PTSD treatment, or substance abuse care. Too many have a hard time finding work that matches their skills and experience. Too many are left navigating a system that should be easier to use than it is.
Erik believes caring for veterans is not charity.
It is an obligation.
We can do better by fully funding the VA, protecting veteran care from privatization, expanding mental health and substance abuse treatment, strengthening housing support, and making sure every veteran has a real path forward when they come home.
Erik’s Priorities
Erik will fight to:
- Fully fund and strengthen the VA
- Oppose efforts to privatize core VA services
- Expand mental health care, PTSD treatment, and substance abuse support
- Improve rural access to veteran healthcare, including telehealth and community-based care
- Reduce wait times and make the VA easier to navigate
- Protect and strengthen the GI Bill and veteran education benefits
- Expand job training, licensing support, and employment pathways for veterans
- Support veteran housing programs and work to end veteran homelessness
- Make sure veterans and military families receive the care, respect, and support they have earned
…by keeping the promise: fully funding the VA, protecting it from privatization, expanding mental health and substance abuse care, improving rural access, and making sure every veteran in Western Minnesota has a real path forward after service.
Fully Fund the VA
The Department of Veterans Affairs exists to fulfill the nation’s commitment to those who served.
Erik believes the VA should be fully funded, fully staffed, and able to provide timely, high-quality care to the veterans who rely on it.
That means reducing wait times, improving facilities, hiring and retaining healthcare workers, expanding access in rural communities, and making the system easier for veterans and their families to navigate.
The VA should work for veterans — not make veterans fight through paperwork, delays, and confusion to get the care they need.
Protect Veteran Care from Privatization
Veteran care should not become another opportunity for corporations to profit.
Erik opposes efforts to privatize core VA services or shift veteran care into systems that are less accountable to the people they are supposed to serve.
Private-sector care can play a role when it helps veterans access timely, local, high-quality care — especially in rural areas where the nearest VA facility may be far away. But that should strengthen the VA’s mission, not replace it.
The answer is not to hand the system over to corporate interests.
The answer is to make the VA work better.
Expand Mental Health and PTSD Care
Many veterans carry wounds that are not visible.
PTSD, depression, anxiety, traumatic brain injury, substance abuse, and moral injury affect too many people who served — and too many still struggle to get help when they need it.
Erik supports expanding VA mental health resources, including counseling, PTSD treatment, peer support, substance abuse care, crisis response, and family support.
Mental health care should be timely, accessible, and treated as part of whole-person care.
No veteran should have to fight alone after coming home.
Improve Rural Access to Care
Rural veterans face real barriers to care.
In Western Minnesota, getting to an appointment can mean driving hours, arranging time off work, finding transportation, or waiting too long for a provider who understands veteran needs.
Erik supports expanding telehealth, mobile clinics, community-based care, transportation support, and partnerships that help veterans get care closer to home.
Rural veterans should not be left behind because they live far from a VA facility.
Access matters.
Support Veterans Returning to Civilian Life
Military service builds real skills: leadership, discipline, technical training, problem-solving, teamwork, and the ability to perform under pressure.
But translating those skills into civilian employment is not always simple.
Erik supports stronger transition programs, job placement support, licensing reciprocity for military-trained skills, small business support for veteran entrepreneurs, and partnerships with local employers.
Western Minnesota has industries where veteran skills matter — agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, construction, transportation, public safety, and the skilled trades.
We should make it easier for veterans to build good lives and good careers here at home.
Protect Education and Training Benefits
The GI Bill has helped generations of veterans build lives after service.
Erik believes veteran education benefits should be protected and strengthened.
That means supporting access to college, community college, technical education, apprenticeships, credential programs, and retraining opportunities that match the needs of today’s workforce.
Not every veteran needs the same path.
Every veteran should have access to a path that works.
Address Veteran Homelessness
No one who served this country should be sleeping outside.
Veteran homelessness is a moral failure, and it requires more than temporary fixes.
Erik supports targeted federal investment in veteran housing assistance, including HUD-VASH vouchers, transitional housing, supportive services, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, and programs that help veterans move from crisis to stability.
Housing, healthcare, employment, and support services all have to work together.
That is how we help veterans rebuild and stay housed.
Support Military Families
Service affects more than the person in uniform.
It affects spouses, children, parents, caregivers, and families who carry the stress, sacrifice, uncertainty, and transition that come with military life.
Erik believes military families should be included in the conversation about veteran care, mental health, employment, housing, and transition support.
When we support veterans, we also need to support the people who stand beside them.
Erik Wants to Hear From You
Veterans, service members, military families, caregivers, and advocates know where the system is working and where it is falling short.
Erik wants to hear your perspective — especially from veterans across Western Minnesota who have had to navigate healthcare, benefits, employment, housing, or transition after service.