Brothers and Sisters,

 

It is hard to believe November has arrived already! Has your auxiliary sent money to the VFWA Oregon Department for Veterans and Family Support? Donate today and assist in the efforts of Unmet Needs, SportsClips "Help A Hero” Scholarship, and Map grants. These programs are vital to helping our veterans and soldiers.

 

 

UNMET NEEDS

NEW GUIDELINES FOR THIS PROGRAM

Please share with your guard units any functions you have with them. This program offers some financial peace of mind to our soldiers who are on active duty or deployed. The grant dollar amount has gone up to $2500.oo and does not need to be repaid. Below is the update of the program. You can print off a 1-page sheet at VFW.org to hand out.

Unmet Needs Eligibility Criteria

The applicant must be the service member or eligible dependent listed under the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS). To be eligible, you must be a service member, who is currently on active duty (to include activated Guard/Reserve members) whose financial hardship is a direct result of a current deployment, military pay error at no fault of the service member, or currently pending a medical discharge due to service-connected injuries/illnesses received while on active duty.

The financial hardship cannot be caused by misconduct, civilian, legal, or domestic issues, any issues that are a result of spousal separation or divorce, and/or financial mismanagement by self or others, or due to bankruptcy.

All grants are paid directly to the creditor and not to the applicant. The applicant must provide the most current bills due. We will render payment for eligible current bills only.

Expenses Eligible for consideration of payment (daily necessities):

• Housing expenses - mortgage, rent, repairs, and homeowners’ insurance (establishing residence/insurance or paying off expenses for a residence that is no longer being occupied will not be considered).

• Vehicle expenses – payments, repairs, insurance (purchasing/paying off loan, major repairs for vehicles over 10 years old, registering, and establishing insurance will not be considered).

• Utilities (establishing/paying off utilities for a residence no longer being occupied will not be considered).

• Childcare.

• Medical bills (the patient’s portion for necessary or emergency medical care only).

Expenses Ineligible for consideration for payment:

• Military debt/repayment, tuition assistance debt/repayment.

• Cable, internet, secondary phones.

• Taxes owed of any kind.

• Rentals of any kind (vehicle, furniture, and/or electronics).

• Any other expenses not determined to be a "daily necessity.”

The eligible and ineligible expense lists are not all-inclusive. Each case will be carefully reviewed for its own merits. Upon approval, payments will be made for you directly to the creditor. All applications are individually reviewed, and the VFW reserves the right to make exceptions on a case-by-case basis.

For more information, contact Unmet Needs at 1.866.789.6333

 

ADOPTED UNITS

Has your Auxiliary and Post Adopted an Active-Duty Unit? Do you have current contact information for them? Has someone from your auxiliary reached out to see what the needs of the Unit are? We assist with MAP Grants, Events, Donations and Overseas Packages. Your assistance and donations in these programs help offer a little relief to our current active-duty members. Many of these Active-Duty Service Women and Men are members of the VFW.

• MAP Grants – See if your unit has an upcoming family event and offer to support them through the MAP grant Program. A Post/Auxiliary can apply for up to $1500.00 per event for food, with a total of $5000.00 a year. The process is simple and all online. Feel free to contact me and I will walk you through the process. If you were at the schools of instruction in Aug, the booklets I passed out have a step-by-step guide.
• Overseas Care Packages: The main requests we are receiving are Good Coffee and Good Dry Creamer, Facial Wipes, Pepperoni, Individual Crackers and Cookies, Foot Powder, and washcloths. If you need a location to send packages contact me and I will see where there is a need

 

SPORTSCLIPS HELP A HERO

Please share information with your local colleges and at your recruiting events to attract more veteran students to apply.

 

Scholarship Details: NOV 15^th Deadline

1.       Scholarships of up to $5,000 will be awarded to qualified applicants.

2.      Awarded scholarships are limited to one per family per semester.

3.      Applications for the fall semester will be accepted Jan. 1 through April 30.

4.      Applications for the spring semester will be accepted Aug. 1 through Nov. 15.

5.      Fall semester scholarships will be awarded in August, and spring semester scholarships will be awarded in January.

6.      Scholarships must be used by the end of the school semester for which the veteran is applying, or they will become null and void.

7.      Scholarships are restricted to tuition and fees only and will be paid directly to accredited schools.

 

 

SUICIDE AWARENESS

The holidays can be stressful for many of our veterans, soldiers, and their families. Let's be proactive and invite someone to share a meal and get to know them. We never know who is struggling until we reach out and ask. Take the time to sit in their space and get to know the struggle they are facing. You may not have the answer but if you know where to get a resource to help, you can save a life.

1.       Plan an activity to help your community be prepared when they encounter an emergency event happening.

2.      Become familiar with the hotline https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/

3.      There are many resources on the VFW website: Mental Wellness - VFW