Mills County Veterans Affairs Staff Settling In At New Office

The staff at Mills County Veterans Affairs is getting settled in at their new office in the Mills County Annex building at 403 Railroad Ave.

Since mid-January, Veterans Affairs has been housed in the new location alongside Mills County Public Health after operating by itself for several years from a stand-alone building at 602 S. Locust Street. The relocation of the Veterans Affairs Office and the downsizing of space for Public Health was a cost-cutting move made by the Mills County Board Of Supervisors.

Veterans Affairs no longer has the visibility it had on Locust Street, Glenwood’s main north-side thoroughfare, but Administrator Elizabeth Richardson said she’s hopeful the move won’t result in a decline in client traffic. It’s too early to tell what the impact of the move will be on those numbers, she said.

“Of course, when you move, you always have to tell people you moved, so we’re just getting the word out,” said Richardson.

Richardson is one of two full-time County Veterans Service Officers (CVSO) in the Mills County office. Christina Hankins is also a CVSO and Lori Swisher is a part-time administrative clerk. Together, they’re assisting hundreds of Mills County veterans and their family members on a regular basis.

Richardson noted that data in the federal government Geographic Distribution Of VA Expenditures (GDX) Report doesn’t tell the whole story of the people being served by the Mills County Veterans Affairs Office.

“It (GDX) is not considered accurate, but that’s what they give us. They tell Glenwood that we’re between maybe 1,200 to 1,300 veterans, but when people ask me how many people we serve, I tell people we serve the veterans, we serve the widow, we serve their children,” she said.

“I’m very comfortable telling people we serve 3,000 or more. That’s our reach, that’s our community.

“As of January this year, our office is helping veterans in Mills County receive $1,357,402 monthly. That’s over $16 million a year tax-free coming to our veterans. We are currently doing well against the rest of the state.”

The Mills County Veterans Affairs Office serves as a both an educational tool and liaison to the federal Veterans Administration (VA).

“We are a county office. We work with the federal VA, but we are not federal,” Richardson stressed. “What we primarily do is we work with benefits. The Iowa Code charges us to help assist all veterans and family members with all local, state and federal benefits.”
Richardson said a lot of work at the county level involves compensation claims – getting disability ratings and helping veterans get into the VA medical care system. She and her staff also assist veterans and their families with burial, death, widow and educational benefits as well as pensions.

“The bulk of our work is walking through the claim process with somebody,” she said. “For example, if you were a veteran that came in and said, ‘You know, I worked on the flight line for two years in the Navy and I can’t hear,’ we’re going to assist you with all the paperwork necessary, getting the evidence, writing the statements, getting the medical information, if there’s research needed, putting that together and then we file everything. We’re their point of contact through the system.”
Mills County Veterans Affairs staff is there to provide guidance and assistance throughout the process – initial claims, secondary issues and appeals, if necessary.

“We can work with a client for several years before a claim is finished,” said Richardson.

Richardson noted there are eligible veterans and family members who aren’t receiving benefits or assistance because they are unaware of what they qualify for.

“It’s a generational issue,” she said. “Some of our older veterans, if they are not physically disabled or they have not been in combat, they just assume it’s for someone else or that somebody else deserves it more.

“Our younger veterans are more educated on the idea that you can do this. You should do this – there are a lot of benefits out there.”

The Mills County Veterans Affairs Office is open Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Appointments are requested and highly recommended – call 712-527-5621 to schedule.

“We want to make sure everybody has enough time to ask questions,” said Richardson. “Once they start learning what we do, they have more questions. That’s great. There’s never a dumb question. If you have a question, please ask, you’ll probably learn something.

“From discharge to past death, we are there to help them with whatever we can.”

Mills County residents are invited to get a first-hand look at the new Mills County Veterans Affairs Office and learn more about the services staff can provide during a public open house Thursday, March 12, from 4 – 6 p.m.