Need some help with US VA

[TakeyB0y2]

I've been trying to look up some information regarding US Veteran's Affairs and other social services. Being Canadian, I haven't exactly had much reason to be informed about them, and I've been having a hard time trying to find some answers. This is pretty much the only community forum I frequent and I'm aware there are a decent number of veterans here, so I kinda figured this might be a good place to ask.

My situation is, I'm in a long distance relationship with a former US Army soldier who's currently living in Colorado and left the military approximately 3 years ago after 5 years of service. He went to school for a year and a half learning automotive repair, and currently works in that industry.

He's making $12.00 USD per hour, which is barely enough to get him by. He's technically homeless, being unable to afford rent, and is living either out of his car, or sleeping on friend's couches whenever he gets the chance to. He hasn't been eating much or well at all, not just from being unable to afford it I don't think, but because from what he's been telling me I think he's developed body dysmorphic disorder and possibly anorexia because of it. When he does eat, I believe it's mostly fast food. His family has been abusive and leeched off him in the past, so he cannot look to them for assistance, and outside getting a couch to sleep on every now and then his friends can't help much either. I'd love for him to come stay with me, but... Well, immigrating to Canada is a whole other issue that we can't really deal with right now.

I've tried convincing him to go to VA in the past to see if there's anything that can be done, but he's told me he doubts it'll help. He's stated that despite his situation he's making too much money to be eligible for assistance. I don't even know what kind of things they could offer from my end. I can't exactly force him to go, but I'm hoping there's some sort of information I could get in order to try and get him to go. I know he's had some issues with VA in the past. While he was in school, he depended on the tuition coverage given for service, however at one point they just abruptly stopped paying him for reasons I'm not sure of. I think at some point though they did start giving him money again, but not before he ended up having to take out loans which I believe he's still paying off. If there's any other social services out there, I would like to know about those too. He hasn't expressed any suicidal ideation to me, but I'm still extremely concerned for his health and wellbeing. If anyone could possibly provide me with any information, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I work for the USO and I have some tangential experience. Assuming your boyfriend wasn't dishonorably discharged, he qualifies for benefits. However from my experience the VA generally deals with health care and whatnot, and...aren't that...good. My grandpa died in a VA hospital in St. Louis at 60 from a curable illness that he wasn't approved to be treated for for free, but there are good things the VA does.

The Army itself might have some programs he can look into, provided he's still in good standing with them.

If he's been injured, meaning disabled in the line of duty, he does qualify for housing loans/grants.

My advice, contact the VA. Ask a few questions. It won't hurt. They won't punish him if you try to find some information. Let them know the situation: boyfriend, love him, homeless, etc...
At worst they'll direct you to an organization that can help. Always remember military personal are well cared for in the USA by 3rd party organizations if not the VA itself.

Here: http://www.coloradocoalition.org/what_we_do/veterans.aspx

Independent group dedicated to giving people housing, with a special program for Vets. Shoot them an email.

 

[sneakypenguin]

They probably don't have anything for him. That said where does he live that he's homeless on 12 an hour? I make 12.50 and live pretty good 1100 square ft apt new car etc.

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

They probably don't have anything for him. That said where does he live that he's homeless on 12 an hour? I make 12.50 and live pretty good 1100 square ft apt new car etc.

Yeah, but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have a bundle of medical expenses... Also that seems ridiculously small rent for such a big place. But I live in Sydney so anything bigger than a 150 sq. ft. for about $360+ a week is considered a steal, so maybe I'm biased.

--------------

As for the OP...

I met a few US soldiers stationed in the top end of Australia when I was in the service. Some of them managed to stay after their service because they had accredited training, or when facing US drawdown, the ADF used to take them in assuming they passed service qualifications. Maybe Canada has a similar system if that's a possibility, so it might be something to look into on your end.

It might also provide him the motivation to get back to eating better and increasing his physical training. Which should help improve mood and reduce anhedonia. Plus it sounds like being as far removed as possible from his family would do him some good on its own.

I understand that migration is a losing battlefield when it's hard to show that someone won't provide undue pressures on the public health system here (not sure about Canada), but if he has accredited training and can marry into a Canadian family ... wouldn't that be enough to be allowed permanent resident status? As long as he can hide disability, and stand on his service record and training ... that might be enough?

 

[DudeistBelieve]

They probably don't have anything for him. That said where does he live that he's homeless on 12 an hour? I make 12.50 and live pretty good 1100 square ft apt new car etc.

Where are you living that you can live on your own at 12 an hour?

In my neck of the woods, that can barely affort a roof and one weeks worth of groceries a month. And I make around that

 

[Kyrian007]

They probably don't have anything for him. That said where does he live that he's homeless on 12 an hour? I make 12.50 and live pretty good 1100 square ft apt new car etc.

Where are you living that you can live on your own at 12 an hour?

In my neck of the woods, that can barely affort a roof and one weeks worth of groceries a month. And I make around that

The U.S. is kind of like that. I live 500 miles from Denver Co. and easily could make it on wages like that, did for quite a long time actually. Yet in Denver you couldn't rent a closet for what 12 an hour earns you. And it's even worse up in the Mountains, course I don't think there's such thing as a job that only pays 12 or 12.50 an hour somewhere like Vail.

 

[EternallyBored]

They probably don't have anything for him. That said where does he live that he's homeless on 12 an hour? I make 12.50 and live pretty good 1100 square ft apt new car etc.

Where are you living that you can live on your own at 12 an hour?

In my neck of the woods, that can barely affort a roof and one weeks worth of groceries a month. And I make around that

Living in a rural area that's not a popular tourist spot for rich people really helps. The rurals in my state have tax assistance programs to attract people to move in to housing developments in areas outside of Reno and Carson City. With good credit $800 a month is about what you can expect for a mortgage for a 2 bedroom house, $1000-1200 for a nice house in a newer development, many 1-2 bedroom apartments will run you 6-800 on the low end. $1000 a month if you want a nice two bedroom apartment in Reno itself. Get yourself a roommate and many of my younger friends are living quite well off of $10-15 an hour jobs, enough for rent, food, internet, gas, and whatever current console games they want to buy, with enough left over for season ski tickets in Tahoe.

A lot of states have assistance for people that want to live 10-20 miles outside of the cities in more rural areas, if you've got a car and are willing to drive, you can live pretty well on $12 an hour in many places, not fantastically of course, not gonna be saving for any overseas vacations, but you can comfortably pay the bills and save a little money on the side. Check whatever agency is running Section 8 in your state, they'll usually have house search tools set up for people in lower income brackets, and some states have programs designed to assist with mortgages or rent in rural areas.

 

[happyninja42]

I work for my State Department Veterans Affairs. NOT the Federal VA, but a State employee, and our entire job is to help veterans find out what benefits they have available to them.

I can't say anything for certain, as every veteran's issue is unique to some degree, but if he served for 5 years, and it was recent, and he is having issues, he could potentially qualify for some benefits.

If his service included combat service (at the very least deployed to a combat zone, having seen direct combat with the enemy isn't required), then he might be suffering from some psychological issues related to his time in the service, and could potentially file for Compensation (aka: Disability). This would provide him with another source of income, as well as free medical coverage for that specific condition at any VA medical facility. It would also grant him medical coverage in general at any VA medical facility, though if he goes in for treatment for something that isn't service related, he would have to pay a copay charge (usually way cheaper than regular forms of health insurance in the states). He could potentially qualify for medical coverage simply based on his financial situation alone.

He could possibly qualify for further education assistance as well, depending on how much he used under his current education benefit. The most common one veterans use these days is called the Post 9/11 GI Bill. He likely used that one, but it could be a different one as well, hard to say without directly asking him.

If he is having substance issues, or homeless issues, there is likely a resource in his area that could help him. In my state, it is handled through the VA medical side of things, so he would need to speak to his local VA clinic/hospital, and ask them for help due to his homeless nature, or substance issues. Hell he can just simply walk in and say he's suffering from whatever problems, and needs to see a psychiatrist, and they should help him. If his eating disorder is due to something that happened in the service, he could start getting help for it in the form of counseling and medication, and possibly file for it as a service related disability. And I know I said above that if it was combat related, he could possibly get disability, it doesn't have to be combat related. Any number of things could happen to someone on active duty that could cause psychological issues, even if they never saw contact. The most common, but certainly not the only example, would be Military Sexual Trauma. This can happen during non-deployment, and be grounds for disability. Again, that's not the only cause, but it's a common one that I see.

Since you didn't list the city he lives in, only the state, here is the link from va.gov for local medical facilities in that region. Just look for the locations that are closest to his home, and contact them for further assistance. This first link is specifically a list of medical facilities in his area. Local clinics and hospitals.

http://www.va.gov/directory/guide/state.asp?STATE=CO&dnum=1

This link is for what are called "Vet Centers", and are essentially a facility for veterans and their families to go and talk to someone about any emotional or psychological problems they might have.

http://www.va.gov/directory/guide/state.asp?STATE=CO&dnum=ALL
They are not usually trained medical professionals, but simply grief/emotional trauma counselors, "a shoulder to cry on" if you will. They are very useful in my area, and many veterans speak highly of their services, but depending on his issues, they will likely direct him to a local VA medical facility for specific treatment, if needed.

And finally, you should contact the local state VA in Colorado for further help, as it's basically their job to do exactly this kind of thing. The VA has tons of information, so much that veterans can become buried in it. So the various states have a state level agency to help veterans sift through all of it. This is the link I found for his state.

https://www.colorado.gov/dmva/

They should have some contact information that you could follow to ask for help. If they operate similar to our state agency, they are there to help veteran's file claims, fill out forms, and basically be a person they can come talk to directly, to help them navigate VA stuff. That specific link might not be correct, as when I glanced at their "Our Vision" link, where they state what they do, it seemed more job related than benefit related? But that could just be shitty webdesign. I would call one of their offices directly and ask what services they provide to the local veterans in their area.


Bottom line, there is a lot of stuff out there for him that he might qualify for. But none of it is automatic. The veteran has to actively go out and seek the help, and follow all the bureaucratic hoops to get the stuff. But it's there.

In my experience, the biggest deterrent to a veteran getting benefits isn't the system, it's the veteran. They think they don't qualify for anything when they actually do, or they don't deserve the benefits because of some false sense of guilt/obligation. Or that by asking for the help, they are being "weak" or some such shit. I've lost count of how many veterans have walked into my office and said "Well I never asked for benefits, because I didn't want to be a burden." From what you've said, it sounds like mentally he's already in a state of "I don't get anything." Without even actually ever checking.

you need to break him out of this opinion.

Now, that being said, it's possible that he doesn't qualify for anything at all. That can happen, depending on a lot of factors, but it's not the normal scenario. In most cases, most veterans are eligible for at least something. But he won't know until he actually talks to someone about it.

**EDIT**

I forgot to mention, if he did serve in a combat zone, and he was discharged just 3 years ago, he's got roughly 2 years of free medical care through the VA if nothing else. They basically give any combat theater veteran 5 years coverage after they get out. He just needs to go in with his DD 214 and say he needs to see a doctor about...whatever he needs to see a doctor about. While doing all that, he can also see about trying to get some financial benefits in place.