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 be hosting a Veteran Benefits Seminar on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, 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 onsite to provide enrollment, immunizations, and other health care resources for area veterans. Veterans service officers from the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kane County will also be on hand to provide application assistance in applying for veterans benefits such as service- connected disability compensation, non-service connected pension, as well as helping veterans obtain their DD- 214 if they don’t have a copy.

The event will take place at Elburn American Legion Post 630 located at 112 North Main St. (IL Route 47) in downtown Elburn. Enrollment and health care services from the Hines VA Mobile Medical Unit will begin at 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10. 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 (10 percent) have a service-connected disability, which is 11 percentage points lower than the national average and 5 points lower than the state average. Another 4,570 Kane County veterans (19 percent) use the VA for health care, which is 9 percentage points lower than the national average and 7 points lower than the state average.

“We are putting a greater emphasis on outreach over the next year to make sure veterans across the county know what benefits their eligible for,” says Jake Zimmerman, superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Kane County.

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 to veteran education and vocational benefits. During the present fiscal year, the Veterans Assistance Commission has helped Kane County veterans secure an additional $2.9 million in disability payments from the VA.

SOURCE: Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission news release