Posted on Dec 18, 2019
Anyone notice Veterans Organizations fall short?
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Ever notice that veterans Organizations that claim to help Veterans mostly just offer Counseling and Claims assistance and not much else in the way of really needed help such as Wounded Warrior Project, American Legion, DAV and VFW. They rake in Millions of dollars and yet only offer these minor services. Really makes you wonder where the rest of that money goes.
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 5
You can pull their financials and see. https://vfworg-cdn.azureedge.net/-/media/VFWSite/Files/Foundation/Financial-Statements-2015-2016-Audit.pdf?la=en&v=1&d=20170322T164334Z
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SGT Warren Crutcher
Maybe i'm reading this wrong but it looks like they have a rather large surplus at the end of the year. And it doesn't really specify what they use the largest portion of their money for. It just says Grants and services basically.
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LTC Jason Mackay
SGT Warren Crutcher didn’t build it, but that is the report to the IRS and their board. It’s either the Legion or VFW has to spend so much revenue (like 80%) on programs. My accounting is rusty. Are you looking at cash flow, income statement or the balance sheet?
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SGT Warren Crutcher
I was actually looking to see what kind of programs they actually spent their money on because it has been my experience that they mostly do VA Claims help and Counseling. And that really doesn't cost that much to do. It's just really disappointing to see all these different organizations out there and 90% of them really do very little for veterans other than Claims and Counseling.
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What exactly is it that you expect them to do? They run on limited funding from donations. The best they can do is get people to money/resources they need and lobby congress for better resources/funding. The VA and federal government have a wealth of funding and assistance programs available for people in need (including veterans) and the biggest disconnect is getting that money to people in need. Non profit organizations are required to show all their expenses. You can request their tax returns if you really want to dig into specifically where the money goes. If you just want to find a charity that you like, Charity Navigator gives a breakdown of all the expenses of all non profits and even grades them on their financial responsibility and effect.
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SGT Warren Crutcher
VA has a wealth of funding you say? I beg to differ. As a 100% disabled Veteran in a wheelchair, I have to apply for grants to make my house ADA compliant. Did you know the VA only approves 10 of those Grants a year. If you do not get approved as one of the 10 for that year they can put your application in for the following year unless there are already 10 grants for that year as well.
So basically A lot a veterans are left in the cold so to speak. Example, I get VA Benefits and Social Security Disability. My Wheelchair will not fit into my bathroom. Therefor I have to have help getting into my bathroom which is very difficult. But according to the VA I have to apply for grants and hope I get selected one of these years to fix this issue. They gave me a HISA grant which allows me $6,800, A one time use only grant. That won't even cover the cost of fixing my bathroom situation. The cheapest estimate I have gotten for remodeling my bathroom is over $11, 000 which means I have to pay the rest out of pocket.
Wounded Warrior project told me, Start a Go Fund Me account. I did that and got Zero response. But that was their answer to the issue. So it's a very frustrating situation for not just me but many Veterans out there that are having the same problems.
So basically A lot a veterans are left in the cold so to speak. Example, I get VA Benefits and Social Security Disability. My Wheelchair will not fit into my bathroom. Therefor I have to have help getting into my bathroom which is very difficult. But according to the VA I have to apply for grants and hope I get selected one of these years to fix this issue. They gave me a HISA grant which allows me $6,800, A one time use only grant. That won't even cover the cost of fixing my bathroom situation. The cheapest estimate I have gotten for remodeling my bathroom is over $11, 000 which means I have to pay the rest out of pocket.
Wounded Warrior project told me, Start a Go Fund Me account. I did that and got Zero response. But that was their answer to the issue. So it's a very frustrating situation for not just me but many Veterans out there that are having the same problems.
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SFC (Join to see)
SGT Warren Crutcher you've basically proven my point. The VA has money ".... providing Veterans more quality, timely, and efficient services by requesting a total increase of $19.3 billion, 9.6 percent above the FY 2019 Budget. This includes $97 billion for discretionary funding (+7.5 percent) and $123.2 billion for mandatory fundng (+11.1 percent)." That's a lot of damn money. The issue isn't funding, the issue is getting that money to qualified veterans. Your metric of success or failure is that they didn't get you what you wanted. You have identified a problem, which seems to affect more than yourself, why don't you fix it? All these Veteran organizations are just people who saw a gap in what was being covered and took action to fix it. You identify an issue, concoct a solution, implement said solution, observe friction, and adjust to adapt. It's the OODA loop.
I would say that since you are intimately familiar with the problem it is incumbent upon you, it is your responsibility, to champion a solution. You're a Veteran, not a social work case. You bring more capability to the table than most fully capable civilians. There's an entire network of people here with experience in fixing problems, and if you come here asking for help with solutions, you'll get a lot of good starting points. Start there and change the issues you see.
I would say that since you are intimately familiar with the problem it is incumbent upon you, it is your responsibility, to champion a solution. You're a Veteran, not a social work case. You bring more capability to the table than most fully capable civilians. There's an entire network of people here with experience in fixing problems, and if you come here asking for help with solutions, you'll get a lot of good starting points. Start there and change the issues you see.
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The MOPH had some real issues with this years ago. But if I recall correctly, the incoming new National Commander of the MOPH got all kinds of push-back from certain sectors within the organization when he tried to do something about it.
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