It sounds like we are in the midst of summer. We have had 45 phone calls into the office this last month and I had a total of 12 veterans come in to file a claim. We transported 14 veterans to clinics and the VA hospital and we had request from 26 veterans.
I will be at the American Legion Post 72 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, so call me if you would like to visit. I also will be at the VFW Post 1431 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. June 20, so let me know if you would like to speak then.
Keep these dates in mind: Flag Day is June 14; Father’s Day is June 16; and Juneteenth National Independence Day is June 19.
More than 33,000 women veterans reside in Indiana. They served in every war period, including World War II, and 1,087 of them are military retires. Today there are 2,335 women on active duty, not including those serving in the Indiana National Guard or who are members of a reserve unit.
Please contact the Indiana Department of Veteran Affairs in Indianapolis at 317-232-3910. Any woman who experienced military sexual trauma shoudl contact Dr. Christie Pronzato at 317-459-0521 at Roudebush VA Medical Center.
We recently attened a series of meeting in Indianapolis that discussed suicide. We had 150 individuals in Indiana who commited suicide.
There is a program called Taps for those left behind. Call 1-800-959-8277 for more information.
Veterans Comprehensive Prevention Access to Care and Treatment is a program for people who are in harm’s way of committing suicide. You can take the person to any emergency room to contact the VA Suicide Prevention Team. Call 317-988-2770 for further details.
We also received information from the Indianapolis Regional Office.
Service rated claims are coming back in about 150 days, non-rated claims in about 84 days and pensions in about 135 days. The Pact Act had about 1,655,000 claims and we have still about 400,000 claims to do. We also had something called fiduciary which helps people with finances that are getting claims paid to them.
Finally, we are looking for people who would be willing to do VA Medical Foster Care for Veterans. This program is for veterans who don’t want to go to a nursing home. This gives veterans an option to remain in a family setting. The VA care comes to the home. However, you must own or rent the home and have at least three bedrooms. The veteran needs to receive 70% of the claim and the veteran can be getting aid and attendance payment. If you are interested in learning more, contact me.
Joe Ellis is the Montgomery County Veterans Officer. He can be reached at the Montgomery County Government Center, 1580 Constitution Row, Crawfordsville, IN 47933; by email at joe.ellis@montgomeryco.net; by landline telephone at 765-361-4133; or by cellphone at 765-401-0432.
