A large increase over the last 20 years in veterans benefits was noted during the recent Washington County Board of Supervisors meeting.

County Veterans Service Officer Sue Rich gave a report for the second quarter of the current fiscal year for Veterans Affairs and General Assistance. For VA applicants, $437.21 was spent on rent and utilities, and $508.72 was spent on rent and utilities for General Assistance clients. Rich also shared that for the month of November the county received $489,024 in VA benefits for 370 people. For an overall trend, County VA Commissioner Terry Philips explained that in 2001 the county was said to have 1,700 veterans, which decreased to 1,400 in 2020. However, due to the state’s improvements in providing veterans assistance on a county level, Washington County’s benefits have increased from $852,000 in 2001 to $5.556 million in 2020. Phillips urges veterans and eligible family members who haven’t already to contact Rich about what assistance programs are available to them, “She’s very, very good at what she does and I’d like to see her work her tail off and get a whole bunch of veterans coming in asking for information on what to do. And this time of year is probably a good time to do that. We’re not spending a lot of local money, it’s all coming from the federal government which they have earned and we want to get that too.”

Veterans Affairs and general assistance also includes food and provisions, transportation, burial assistance and grave markers or headstones, as well as several other federal programs and services for veterans. Contact information for County Veterans Affairs and General Assistance can be found in this story at kciiradio.com.