Nonprofits Raise Concerns about Rising Demand for Help from Low-Income and Disabled Veterans

By: Linda F. Hershey

WASHINGTON — Higher costs for groceries, utilities and housing, cutbacks on food stamps and the federal government shutdown are all contributing to headwinds that disabled and low-income veterans are facing, according to major nonprofit agencies that support former service members and their families.

That message was delivered Tuesday by four organizations that assist veterans with emergency dollars to cover bills, housing for the homeless and support for family caregivers that enable sick and injured veterans to keep living at home.

The groups offered firsthand accounts of what they described as a recent spike in requests for help from veterans and their families.

“A lot of veterans and their families are living at or below the poverty line. In the last three weeks, we’ve seen a 500% increase in financial need in the context of the federal government shutdown and complexities of an individual’s own situation. My team is working in hyper-drive,” said Steve Schwab, chief executive officer of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation in Washington, D.C.

“When Our Heroes Need Help” was the title of the forum in the nation’s capital that featured representatives from the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Veterans Community Project, Wounded Veterans Relief Fund and the University of Arizona’s Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic.

Schwab offered the recent case of a veteran with children who contacted the foundation because he did not have enough money to buy food and pay his bills. “We sent them money to purchase food. His car broke down, and we repaired it for him so he could go to work,” Schwab said.

With Veterans Day on Tuesday, the groups said they wanted to step out from their usual roles working behind the scenes providing advocacy and financial help to share concerns about a rising need for assistance.

Contributing to the demand are furloughed federal workers sent home Oct. 1 when the federal government shut down after Congress failed to pass a funding extension bill. Up to a third of federal government workers are veterans.

“There are 18 million veterans in the United States who served their country when called. This Veterans Day, far too many of these American heroes and their loved ones need our help — with health care, with housing, sometimes with simply accessing the benefits they’re entitled to or should have,” the organizations said in a joint statement.

Vincent Morales, co-founder of Veterans Community Project based in Kansas City, Mo., said his organization is seeing a surge in demand for groceries at its commissary and for financial help with basic bills.

“For us, this is business as usual, but this is more business,” Morales said.

There is an “overflow” of requests to Veterans Community Project — which provides short-term housing and other assistance — as other funding dries up at nonprofits that rely on government dollars. Veterans Community Project is largely funded by private donations.

Low-income and disabled veterans also face new restrictions for government-funded food assistance and health care.

More than 1.2 million low-income veterans who rely on food assistance were told to expect possible cuts to their monthly benefits in November. The federal government shutdown has resulted in the suspension of funds for SNAP — the nation’s largest anti-hunger program serving 42 million Americans.

President Donald Trump on social media Tuesday threatened to keep withholding SNAP funds after his administration earlier agreed to tap a contingency fund to pay half the amount people normally receive each month. The program primarily serves the elderly, children and disabled.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said later the administration will fully comply with the orders, but it will take some time to “dig into the contingency fund” and get the money out to recipients.

Veterans groups also warned that new Medicaid work rules adopted in the “Big Beautiful Bill” Trump recently signed into law could create hardships for individuals who are homeless or without a steady income. About 1.6 million veterans are enrolled in the government health insurance program.

“We are trying to serve as many veterans as we possibly can. Every month we have to shut down applications, because demand is so high,” said Nick Cannon, director of operations for Wounded Veterans Relief Fund, in Florida, which provides emergency dollars to veterans behind on their bills or who need money for groceries.

“When a veteran finally raises a hand for help it’s almost too late,” he said. Their lights are turned off, or their car is about to be repossessed, Cannon said.

Kristine Huskey, director of Veterans Advocacy Law Clinic, in Arizona, said the government shutdown means that veterans have less access to care and assistance from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The clinic provides free legal help to veterans in the criminal justice system. Many cases involve veterans facing charges of shoplifting or loitering, she said. The veterans are homeless and sleeping in public places or stealing food because they are broke.

“As lawyers we’re on the downstream end of serving low-income veterans charged with misdemeanors. It’s heartbreaking to see. We call it crimes of poverty,” she said.

Originally published in Stars and Stripes