Difference Makers: Cat Nichols’ efforts to keep Spokane County at the forefront of assisting veterans is ‘a labor of love’

Outside of Cat Nichols’ office is a framed graphite drawing of an old European town square.

It’s a piece of office art most visitors to the Spokane County Regional Veterans Service center probably don’t notice, but those who stop for a closer inspection might spot the words “Labor of love” etched into one of the cornerstones of the medieval buildings.

Nichols, a U.S. Army veteran and the county’s community affairs director who oversees the veterans service, used that same phrase in describing her efforts to transform the Spokane Valley office into what’s considered one of the most efficient veterans resource centers in the state.

Nichols has led the department since 2017, when Spokane County launched an innovative partnership with the state largely just to have her at the helm.

At the time, Nichols was the Eastern Washington operations officer for Washington’s Department of Veteran Affairs, the main liaison for the state’s services east of the Cascades. She already had built a reputation as a strong advocate for veterans in the region over a nearly decadelong career in varying veterans’ assistance roles at different state agencies.

Some of her accomplishments that caught the attention of Veterans Affairs officials, eventually leading to the officer role, include “groundbreaking work” for Stevens County Veterans Services and securing a $10,000 grant for the Tri-Cities Veterans Resource Expo & Stand Down, Nichols said.

“I was very committed to bringing the level of resources that I saw in western Washington, back to Eastern Washington,” Nichols said.

She had also built strong relationships with those in her field, like her predecessor at the county, Chuck Elmore. As Elmore began eyeing his retirement, he told county leadership, “You need to get Cat Nichols in here,” she said.

Nichols’ interest was piqued, but walking away from the state role was a tough ask due to what would be a drop in pay and stepping away from the state benefits she accrued. John Dickson, then Spokane County’s chief operations officer, told Nichols that if she was the top candidate after a competitive hiring process “then we’ll work it out,” she recalled.

“He said ‘We’ll contract with the state to get you over here, or however we need to do it,’ ” she said.

Using the contract model after all, the center is now considered to be at the forefront of municipal services for veterans nationwide, with the National Association of County Officials pointing to it as a model for other local governments to follow.

Nichols is the acting vice chair of the association’s Veterans & Military Services Committee, one of many regional, statewide and national roles she juggles on top of her day-to-day work. She also has a seat on the board of directors of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, an issue particularly important to her, as well as Gov. Jay Inslee’s Veterans Affairs Advisory Committee.

That’s all in addition to being a mother of five, grandparent of three, a wife of nearly 33 years and the matriarch of her working 10-acre farm outside Deer Park, where she and husband Samuel Nichols Jr. raise chickens, quail, pigs, rabbits “and peacocks, believe it or not.”

“She’s recognized not only as a leader in this area, but regionally, state and federally, and she carries that with a lot of humility,” said Spokane County CEO Scott Simmons.

“And she does that not to promote herself, she does it to promote how others throughout the state and the nation can help to connect veterans with their benefits.”

County Commission Chair Mary Kuney, who previously served as president of the Washington chapter of the county association, said officials from across the country would often rave about Nichols after one of her presentations, committee meetings or just a passing conversation.

Her passion and constant commitment to bettering the lives of veterans shines through in any interaction she has, Kuney said.

“We are known to have one of the best veterans departments nationally, and that’s all due to Cat,” Kuney said.

Nichols said her passion stems from a deep appreciation of “the level of sacrifice that’s been made on behalf of freedom in our country.” She comes from a military family, served herself and credits the military with providing her an avenue out of the poverty she experienced growing up in rural Appalachia.

It’s through the military she met her husband, a Shadle Park High School graduate, while they were both stationed in Germany, and earned a degree from Eastern Washington University in 2018 while home-schooling her five children.

She’s also seen the toll it’s taken on her husband over 12 years of active duty, and a salient sacrifice made by one of his comrades that allowed him to come home after the Gulf War.

“Almost nobody comes out of military service and escapes, whether it’s visible or invisible wounds,” Nichols said. “It is, by its nature, a sacrificial job.”

During a helicopter evacuation during his service, Samuel Nichols Jr. was assigned to one of the last rides out. Just before the chopper in front of his rolled out, his lieutenant flagged him down and insisted Nichols Jr. take his seat.

The helicopter her husband was supposed to be on was shot down, and the lieutenant died in the wreckage, Nichols said.

“If he hadn’t been selfless and given my husband his seat on the previous aircraft, it would have been my husband who went down,” Nichols said.

“And there’s so many stories like that, there’s so many men and women who pay that ultimate price.”

Nichols said her work over the years is in recognition of that sacrifice, and in honor of those killed in action.

Longtime county employees and officials have said that the veterans services division was pretty meager prior to Nichols’ arrival. It was housed down a hallway on the fourth floor of the Spokane Regional Health District and seldom offered more than gas, food or housing vouchers.

“When we started our relationship with Cat, the level of service that our vets received was not nearly as comprehensive as it is now,” said County Commissioner Al French, a Marine Corps veteran.

French said that’s changed under Nichols’ guidance to a much more holistic approach.

Instead of hampering immediate needs, the center’s veteran services officers now help their clients manage state and federal benefit applications, find employment opportunities and access mental and physical health care, in addition to connecting veterans with a slate of other local resources.

There were no state accredited veteran services officers available to assist veterans with the claim process prior to Nichols’ arrival.

The roughly 1,700 veterans served by the office in 2017 doubled within a year of Nichols taking over, according to Spokane County data. That figure has now grown to over 8,000 veterans served annually.

Nichols has also grown the center’s staff, many of whom are veterans themselves, and ensured they were accredited, helping grow the number of claims filed from 0 in 2017 to nearly 1,000 just last year.

The six accredited officers now at the center are responsible for over 30% of claims submitted statewide, and have a cumulative average success rate over 90%.

That’s amounted to more than $20 million in federal compensation for disabled or injured veterans since 2017.

In addition to providing what can be life-changing income for recipients, those dollars bolster the local economy, Simmons noted.

“With that energy and laser-like focus, she’s really enabled her team to demonstrate that same sort of care for veterans who come in who are seeking to navigate the complexity of the state and federal benefits that are available to them, helping to demystify and uncouple the challenges, and be an advocate for them,” Simmons said. “And the track record speaks for itself.”

While the county has made strides in assisting veterans, there’s still work to be done, Nichols said. She said the center has just begun to tap into the large network of veterans in the Inland Northwest, and that she is constantly endeavoring to educate the thousands of counties across the country about the successes seen in the Inland Northwest.

But at just over 8,000 veterans served this year, Nichols estimates they’re only reaching about 13% of the estimated 65,000 former service members who live within the center’s service area, which includes most of Eastern Washington, as well as North Idaho and parts of Montana.

“We have lots of room to grow, which is why we want to get the word out, so folks know that we’re here,” Nichols said.

She’d also like to see more local, state and federal resources invested in combating the high suicide rate among veterans, noting a new program that aims to address the connections between traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and associated mental health conditions, including suicidal ideation.

“If we get more mental health resources, and get more people working upstream to get more people out there transitioning out of military and dealing with these types of invisible wounds early on, it sets them up for success,” Nichols said. “That includes preventing suicide, preventing homelessness.”

There’ll always be more to endeavor toward, Nichols said.

At a media event held around Veterans Day, a pair of former service members who’ve made use of the center sang its praises to a few reporters.

They shared how Nichols’ staff helped them navigate life after the military, the complex benefits process and challenges in their personal lives.

Nichols began to tear up listening to the two rave about the support they’ve received.

“It’s been a labor of love of my life to do this work,” Nichols told them. “To hear you guys talk about the experience you had, the positives, that’s exactly what I was aiming for. It’s just very rewarding to hear.”