MACV Employee Spotlight – Ryan Evans
This week, we are featuring Ryan Evans.
Ryan holds degrees in Chemical Dependency and Psychology from Century College and Augsburg University, respectively. He previously worked in inpatient mental health, working with individuals with severe psychosis, later moving to case management roles working with the elderly (primarily those with dementia) and developmentally disabled individuals. Most recently, before joining the MACV team, Ryan worked for the Minnesota Board of Aging via the Senior Linkage Line, where he served as a Medicare SHIP counselor, as well as assisting elderly individuals in finding assisted living and home care services.
At MACV, Ryan is a Healthcare Navigation Specialist, which he describes as “an innocent name for a complicated role”. At any time, he can be found sitting with a Veteran in hospice, advocating for someone in a VA medical care conference, finding community healthcare options for someone not eligible for VA care, setting up food for someone homebound, or writing a supporting brief for a Veteran’s mental health examination. He is always available to assist Veterans and other support staff with questions or concerns regarding healthcare or basic needs. He goes out to meet Veterans where they are or supports other staff when they need to visit someone and feel they require extra assistance.
“Mental health struggles, addiction, physical injuries, and the challenges of adjusting to civilian life can be overwhelming for Veterans. Too often, people judge instead of empathize, asking, “What did you do wrong?” as if these hardships are a personal failure. They’re not. They’re not a choice. And there’s never a reason to deny someone compassion. That’s where we come in—reminding people that every Veteran deserves support, no matter their story.“ -Ryan Evans
Ryan served five years of active duty in the Navy, working on electronic warfare and weapons systems on the Prowlers and Tomcats (both now retired) and was attached to the USS Enterprise (also now retired). He was forward deployed, and we had just finished combat operations in Iraq and had left the Persian Gulf for a slow trip home on September 10, 2001. They were preparing for the shellback initiation (crossing the equator) on September 11, 2001. They were turned around and sent back to the Arabian Sea, where they were the first combat unit on station after the 9/11 attack. When they returned to Norfolk after being relieved by the next battle group and Ryan remembers being met with the media, government officials, and vast crowds of people waiting to cheer them on as we they were escorted back into harbor and shared “the tugs and such were spraying their water cannons in around us in celebration of our return as the first returning combat unit from the war.“ Ryan said he has “lots of good memories” and is “very proud to have been able to be out and serve as we did during that time.“
As a Veteran himself, Ryan was drawn to MACV because it supported Veterans in the community, which struck a chord with him, as he feels like he is serving his own in this role. He finds the ability to positively impact people’s lives who often haven’t known any kindness for a very long time to be the most rewarding part of working at MACV.
Outside of work, Ryan spends most of his time with Oskar, his 11-year-old son on the autism spectrum, and with his girlfriend. He loves taking his family on adventures, from road trips to Duluth to watch the boats, to going to the zoo, and pretty much anything in between. On his own, he enjoys spending time kayaking on the St. Croix River and watching silly, bad B-rated horror movies.
Ryan, we thank you for your service to our county and our community!