King County Veterans Program making a difference!
N. Grimm, 26 y/o, Post 9/11 student veteran attending Shoreline CC. Needed assistance paying his families gas bill to heat their home. This is a utility expense that is paid annually and had unexpectedly increased by about $200. We were able to access King County funds to help with paying off this bill so the family could have heat during a very cold winter. By doing this, the Veteran was able to focus on school with less stress and was able to successfully complete the quarter. Through other resources, we were also able to put together a family holiday gift basket and warm clothing for the children.
B. Hatfield, 26 y/o, Post 9/11 student Veteran attending Cascadia College. Needed assistance paying a cell phone bill which was his only means of communication. We were able to pay $300 towards this bill through accessing King County funds. Paying this bill reduced stress for the Veteran who was able to successfully complete another quarter of school. Through this connection, the Veteran was also assisted with starting a VA disability compensation claim. This then encouraged this student Veteran to help other students on his campus to begin VA claims as well.
R. Johnson, 31 y/o, Post 9/11 student Veteran attending the Divers Institute of Technology. Referred by the Redmond VFW post where the family of 5 was staying in their RV. They had just moved to Washington from North Carolina to attend this specialized technical school with the intentions to live in their RV; however, when they arrived in the area the RV park they had made reservations with would not accept their RV because it was a 2003 model (2005 is the cut off). As the RC I was able to assist them in finding an affordable place to park the RV and hook up to utilities. I then connected him with the Navigator at the school who assisted in getting connected to staff. We also worked on getting connected to community resources such as medical and food assistance for children; as well as, starting VA compensation claim. This assistance really reduced a lot of stress.
Learn more about the WDVA’s HVRP program by visiting
www.dva.wa.gov/benefits/king-county-veterans-services
King County Statistics between July 2016 and June 2017:
Homeless Served: 393 / Call Center: 732 Calls Received