Veteran services keep expanding in Montgomery Co. as numbers increase

Montgomery County is one of the four Iowa counties showing an increase in services for veterans above state and national averages.

At a recent Board of Supervisors meeting, members were given a brief overview of how Jerry Hansen, Director of Montgomery County Veterans Affairs Commission, and his commission have expanded services and brought in more federal dollars for county veterans.

Veterans Affairs expenditures within the county in 2008 were $1.68 million.

In 2004, the amount was $1.25 million, but Hansen noted that the funds are now used for 120 fewer veterans.

Federal dollars for benefits to veterans increased more than 50 percent in the last four years.

Federal dollars within the county increased 16 percent per veteran from 2007 to 2008.

Hansen said he or his commissioners have interviewed 235 veterans since the first of 2009, compared to 144 in 2008 and 131 in 2007, during the same period.

Veterans who have come in to Hansen’s office are offered a cap with the VA logo on it if they sit down to visit a bit with him.

He purchased 30 dozen caps and has passed out about half of them, so he says there are still some left.

Logos on caps, shirts, pens, brochures, ads and increased attendance at meetings to represent veterans’ concerns are part of the increased visibility Hansen and his commissioners are employing. They had a booth at the Montgomery County Fair and were able to help six veterans as a result, as well as getting more information to the community.

Hansen knows they are reaching more veterans than before, but there may still be some unaware of how they can benefit from a visit to the Montgomery County Office of Veterans Affairs, located on the third floor of the courthouse in Red Oak.

“There are benefits they may be eligible for and if they come in and talk to me, we can find out,” Hansen said.

“Every veteran is different and has situations unique to him. You can’t tell whether you qualify just by conversations at a coffee shop,” Hansen said.

Among solutions a veteran or veteran’s families may find while stopping by Hansen’s office could be assistance with utilities, rent, provision for funeral markers, and access to state and federal benefits including service-connected disability payments, pension and medical care.

Hansen said a veteran came to him after he’d been denied a claim for his back problems. In the interview Hansen conducted, he realized the pain kept the veteran from being able to work, but the back problems were not a direct result of a military injury.

However, in the conversation, the veteran told Hansen his hip constantly gave him pain, too, and that injury was the result of a military vehicle accident. Hansen was able to increase benefits for the injured hip and listed the back as secondary.

Hansen said now that veteran has been rated for “unemployability.” With the increased benefits, he can pay his bills. He’s also getting pain therapy at the VA Medical Center.

County veterans are filling out nearly three times as many forms this year as in previous years, and Hansen wants veterans to know help is often available from both federal and state programs.

To better care for veterans, the State of Iowa required each county to have an operating Veterans Affairs office by July 1, 2009.

Hansen was appointed in 2006 by the county’s Veterans Commission and the grant money allowed the office hours to expand from 20 to 28 per week.

The Board of Supervisors commended Hansen for his diligence in serving veterans by increasing awareness of services.

The commission requested, received, and has spent $10,000 from the state funds, which was part of the 2009 budget of $39,137.

The budget includes $18,813 for staff salaries. Hansen is the certified director and Ted Schoonover, deputy auditor at the courthouse, is available to assist veterans in the director’s absence.

The third temporary commissioner is Jeff Van Scoy who is filling in for Darren Rooker while Rooker serves with the 1168 Transportation Company in Kuwait.

Hansen said he recently got word that Rooker’s unit is scheduled to return in October.

To discuss veteran benefits and concerns with Hansen, his office hours are 8-noon and 1-4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. His phone number is 623-3180.