Seminar to provide services to local veterans
The Veterans Assistance Commission of Kane County, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Hines Hospital and Elburn American Legion Post 630, will host a Veteran Benefits Seminar with the goal of providing services to veterans living in the Elburn, Maple Park, and Kaneville areas.
The Hines VA Mobile Medical Unit will be on site to provide enrollment, immunizations, and other health care resources for area veterans. Veterans service officers from the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kane County also will be on hand to provide application assistance in applying for veterans benefits such as service-connected disability compensation, nonservice connected pension, as well as helping veterans obtain their DD-214 if they don't have a copy.
The event will take place Thursday, Nov. 10, at the American Legion post, 112 N. Main St. (Route 47) in downtown Elburn.
Enrollment and health care services from the Hines VA Mobile Medical Unit will begin at 2 p.m. A veteran benefits overview presentation will begin at 6 p.m. followed by Veteran Service Officer availability for application assistance.
The seminar will end at 8 p.m.
With 24,084 veterans, Kane County is the seventh largest county in Illinois by veteran population. Of those veterans residing in Kane County, 2,413 or 10 percent have a service-connected disability which is 11 points lower than the national average and five points lower than the state average. Another 4,570 or 19 percent use the VA for health care which is nine points lower than the national average and seven points lower than the state average.
Despite the lower than average utilization of benefits, the VA spends more than $97 million annually on Kane County veterans with $38.9 million going directly to veterans for disability payments; $45.6 million being spent on their health care; and another $10.4 million going toward veteran education and vocational benefits. During the current fiscal year, the Veterans Assistance Commission has helped Kane County veterans secure an additional $2.9 million in disability payments from the VA.