Traverse City News and Events

On The March To Help Area Veterans

By Al Parker | June 23, 2018

At 22, Michael Roof (pictured) needed a little help. Fresh out of the U.S. Marines, he had a wife and newborn child, but just lost his job. Rent was due and bills were piling up when a veterans’ assistance program stepped up.
 
“They paid for groceries and the rent,” recalls Roof, who now has a chance to support other needy veterans as the new Director of Grand Traverse County’s Office of Veterans Affairs.  
 
Roof estimates there are about 20,000 veterans in Grand Traverse, Benzie and Leelanau Counties – the area his office serves – but according to data from the Veterans Administration, less than 2,000 are getting disability compensation and other benefits they deserve.
 
“We’re working on fixing that,” says Roof, who served as a heavy equipment operator and marksmanship instructor during his two-and-a-half years on active duty with the Marines. “Our biggest problem is just getting the word out. People need to know we’re here to help them. We want them to come in and see what benefits might be available to them. “
 
The Veterans Affairs office is funded through a county millage that makes up the bulk of its $624,000 annual budget, according to Roof.
 
Veterans in a financial bind can get emergency assistance through Soldiers and Sailors Relief, which provides temporary help for honorably discharged vets and their dependents, and the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, which aids veterans who are state residents. Help is available for paying rent, utility bills, heating assistance and some home repairs.
 
“We had a guy who came to us and said he needed $3,800 for a new furnace,” says Roof. “We got him another estimate from a veteran who runs his own heating business. After checking it out, turns out the guy didn’t need a new furnace after all, just a $300 part. The veteran bought it and donated it to the guy. Vets like helping other vets.”
 
The county office can also help vets with vocational rehabilitation and employment issues. They may be eligible for health care services such as hospital visits, dental care, pharmacy and prosthetic services, nursing home or residential care, sexual trauma counseling, readjustment counseling and much more.
 
There are also services for dependents and survivors of service members who died on active duty or from service-related disabilities. The VA also provides a number of burial services, including headstones, markets, burial flags and a $300 burial allotment for those who qualify.
 
The more veterans Roof’s department can register, the more federal VA funding the department will receive. Roof has launched a two-prong approach at raising the profile of his department. He and his staff have been actively attending vet-related events and signing up veterans at every opportunity. At one recent event hosted by Northwest Michigan Works, dozens of area veterans were enrolled.
 
Roof will host an open house from 10 am to noon on June 28 at his newly-relocated department at the county building at 2650 LaFranier Road in Traverse City. To learn more, email veterans@grandtraverse.org.
 
In other Veteran-Related News...

Event Honors TC Veteran
Statistics show that 20 veterans take their own lives every day. The DK5K Tough Run obstacle course is a fundraising effort aiming to raise awareness about the challenges veterans face daily and the issue of suicide. The DK5K will be held Aug. 18 at the Twisted Trails Off Road Park in Copemish. For details, go to DK5K.info. The DK5K is named after for Traverse City resident Drew Kostic, who deployed on three tours in the Middle East during eight years in the Marines. After his discharge, he attended Northwestern Michigan College, making the Dean’s List. In December 2016 he took his own life.
 
Housing Effort
Veterans Housing USA, the Traverse City non-profit created to provide affordable housing for veterans, is “taking a step back and re-evaluating its efforts,” according to the group’s president Mike Griffith. The organization is preparing to celebrate its first anniversary in August and will be expanding its board of directors, according to Griffith. “We’re not shutting down, not going away at all,” he says . “We’re always looking for volunteers and donations.” To learn more, call Griffith at (281) 536-5633.

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