Veterans going hungry each month in michgan.

Average cost of care at MI vets home in Grand Rapids Dom unit: 2100 a month. Limited to about 50 people, but has room for over 100, with double occupancy, in what used to be 4 man rooms.
Average disability check, (va, ss, whatever) 1200 a month.
Average cost of living in Michigan - 2000 a month.

Yet despite this, many vets who leave the home end up doing better. Yet they still face other hardships. 

It has come to the attention of many disabled veterans who are on a limited budget, that there just isn't enough help of the right KIND, for veterans in Michigan.

While there is help available to some veterans who have served in declared wars or zones, such as Nam, Grenada, Desert shield and Storm, others who served in other areas prior to or after, do not get the same benefits. Many Cold war veterans for example, served under hostile fire conditions but do not get credit for doing so, as we were not in any "declared" wars at the time.

Since 1973 we have had an ALL volunteer military. Yet our vets are still treated differently depending on where they served, and whether or not that service gets special recognition.

Veterans who become disabled later in life who are not service connected, or those who are, but whose VA pensions are less than or about 1200 a month find themselves in a very precarious financial situation.

Even with Section 8 HUD housing (public housing assistance), most of these veterans struggle each month with day to day living expenses. The 1200 a month is just enough to pay the basic bills, Home, Electricity, gas, trash, Phone, and maybe car insurance and gas, and cable TV or Cable internet. Then there is the food budget, and clothing and laundry that comes out of the rest of it.

Many of these veterans are finding they can get Food Stamps, but on average only get about 15 a month. Hardly worth the effort to get it, but every bit helps.

Extra expenses, like new clothing to replace the worn out stuff, car repairs, and such all come out of the food budget which for most is 100 a week or less.  In many cases, even without these additional expenditures, the veteran has to go to the local food banks for supplementary food to get them through the month.

Now some of the veterans can go and get help from outside agencies.. but most of them require the vet to be in one of those declared war zones, and have that info on their DD214.

Many who served time in the Persian Gulf, were pre-war and don't get any credit for it. For example those who spent months in the Gulf during the Iran-Iraq war, do not get credit for being less than 5 miles from the war zone, while the military kept an eye on the 2 countries. Vets who were in the gulf when Sadam Husein of Iraq used the biological weapons on the Kurds in the north, do not get any credit for being in the region ready to fight if called to do so.

Another example is those who served picket duty off the coast of Lebanon after the Marines barracks got bombed.  No credit for that, even though some of them got shot at.

For all practical purposes, No one is here to help these veterans who need financial help to get over a financial hump, what ever it may be. Car repair, Moving expenses (down payment, truck rental to move their furniture, etc). And when help is available, its due to a program that gets funding for a specific time, then that pool of resources drys up and again, no help is available. There may be one or two civilian ran groups in the area that offer help but its usually limited in the amount they can help, which usually is not enough.

Living on 1200 a month means you SURVIVE. No extra money for anything else. Some say the phone and Cable TV/Internet are luxuries. I say the phone is a must have, and internet access is also a must have in todays world.

US Congressman holds "listen to the Vet's" meeting at GR VA Clinic

The VA Clinic in Grand Rapids is located right next to the Michigan Veterans home, called the Grand Rapids home for veterans.  Friday, the VAC held a little Session with one of the US Congressional  Representatives to hear the veterans concerns. 
 
At the VA Clinic, Congressman Huizenga held a "listen to the vets" session on Friday.
And the vets voiced their disapproval of the managing of the VA, and long wait times and their frustration.

Huizenga said it was a problem of communication and that the VA's budget had increased by billions of dollars over the last 4 years.. Veterans said it was and still is, poor management.


UPDATE: 21 May. Corrected title of Mr. Huizenga from State Rep to US Congress.
Thanks for the correction Mr. anonymous commenter.

Area Apartment Complexes discriminating against Hud Vash, section 8 housing.

News for Veterans.

It is becoming quite apparent that a group of Apartment complexes located on the NW part of the city are now discriminating against Section 8 housing.

What started as a new ownership at one location, resulted in the new owners refusing to accept new section 8 or HUD VASH housing applicants. Those already at the location were allowed to renew their lease, but not move into other apartments, even if those apartments were less costly.

THEN at a veterans meeting at the Outreach office, it was discovered that several veterans had tried to relocate to other complexes and they too have adopted a no section 8 policy.

A group of veterans will be visiting their Federal congressmen next week, and are thinking of filing a joint complaint.

Those veterans in the Dorm unit at the veterans home who need the section 8 or HUD VASH vouchers to be able to leave the home, will find it more difficult to find proper housing due to this discrimination..

At my current location there are over 20 veterans using the HUD VASH program, which is funded by the VA but administered thru the HUD office. Most of us are disabled in one way or another. This is not good news for veterans.

Does Michigan really care? Michigan LAST in spending per capita for veterans.

Listen to the Michigan radio broadcast (recorded)

Michigan is last when it comes to per-capita spending for veterans.

 There is no shortage of attention showered upon our veterans. A true bipartisan show of support happened during the State of the Union speech, when President Obama singled out wounded Army Ranger Cory Remsburg for a standing ovation.

We stand up to offer ovations, we wave flags, we cheer our vets, but what are we really offering them in terms of support?
When it comes to per-capita spending for veterans, Michigan is last in the nation.
What should we be doing for the 700,000 military veterans who call Michigan home?
Kristin Hass joined us today. She’s the American Culture Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Michigan. And she’s the author of "Sacrificing Soldiers: New War Memorials on the National Mall."
*Listen to our interview above.