CASSOPOLIS – Cass County commissioners heard a report Thursday night from Veterans Counselor Tom Green about the $11.338  million which flowed into the county in FY 2010.

Green, who has been directing the Veterans Affairs Department for two years, said, “We are continuing to meet their needs to the best of our abilities with two funds, the county Veterans Relief Fund and the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund. For myself and Cindy Warren, who is the agent with the trust fund, we have divided the two areas so we use the $2,000 you appropriated for smaller items, like emergency food vouchers and utility bills to avoid shutoffs.

“Then we use the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund for larger dollar amounts which take longer to approve, but we can generally get them done in three to four days,” Green said.  “The board allows me to issue vouchers in smaller dollar amounts on the spot with their oversight and approval at our regular monthly meetings.”

So far this fiscal year, Green has given out 13 food vouchers, four gasoline vouchers and paid two utility bills.

“Gasoline vouchers are a new thing the advisory board started this year,” he added. “In some cases – and I know it’s a small amount – but it helps a veteran who couldn’t even drive to look for a job, so we like providing them immediate relief.”

Michigan Veterans Trust Fund was relied on to pay two propane bills, one property tax bill, two electric bills, rent and a fuel bill totaling $4,244 in this fiscal year so far, according to Green.

“We have paid the $300 burial benefit to 43 deceased veterans or their spouses,” Green reported. “And we paid for placement of 12 grave markers.”

Still, most of Green’s time is devoted to fielding phone inquiries and face-to-face counseling sessions with 10 to 12 veterans weekly “trying to determine if they are eligible for any benefits and, if so, how to go about applying for those benefits. You can see the benefits” provided to 4,611 Cass County veterans.

Of the more than $11 million, Green said, “$5,653,000 of that is direct financial compensation, direct cash put into someone’s bank account to pay taxes, rent or spent in our local community; $464,000 was spent for further education – that’s about a doubling in this fiscal year because of the new GI Bill and young veterans coming  back from Iraq and Afghanistan taking advantage of this. Finally, $5,027,000 spent for 1,143 veterans who are actually going to clinics and other facilities” for medical care.

“That’s $4,400 per veteran,” Green noted. “If it wasn’t for VA (Veterans Administration), where would that money come from? It’s a relief for some of our county organizations.”

“I have so many stories,” he said, “but because of time and privacy issues, I can’t share them here. But I invite any of you to come to my office if you want to hear some good stories about life-changing events and what a small amount of money can mean to some individual. Going forward, I will continue to go to the Council on Aging. I go there every second Thursday for two hours and make myself available. Outreach is important because a lot of veterans don’t know this office is here.”

Expenditures for surrounding counties include $36.932 million for 12,028 Berrien County veterans; $18.323 million for 6,219 in Van Buren County and $11.987 million for 4,508 in St. Joseph County.