Waukesha honors local veterans as county moves to expand benefit services

Veterans issues were front and center in Waukesha this week, as community members gathered to honor those who have served and advocates pointed to a concern of a different kind: many of the resources available to help veterans are not as well known as they could be.

Dozens of people came to Veterans Park in downtown Waukesha on Tuesday to honor local vets at a ceremony held in their honor. Among the speakers was a woman with the Sussex Area Service Club, who tried to get the word out about the projects her volunteers carry out to help veterans in the area.

Those projects focus on practical, day to day needs. The club's volunteers help veterans with transportation to their appointments, pitch in with yard work and even paint rooms.

The ceremony at Veterans Park served as both a tribute and a reminder that support for veterans often depends on neighbors and volunteers stepping up to fill the gaps.

Meanwhile, the county agency charged with serving those veterans is getting bigger. Waukesha County's Veteran Service Office is expanding, with plans to add a new benefits specialist position in January.

Veterans Service Officer Jeremy Johns said that position is badly needed. He noted there is currently a delay of a week or more to get back to vets who call with questions about their benefits, leaving some of them waiting days for a response.

Johns said Waukesha County alone has 20,000 veterans, and their dependents, who rely on service benefits. Sometimes, he said, veterans do not even know they qualify for the help available to them.

"For example, Vietnam, served in Vietnam, had prostate cancer, Parkinson's, diabetes, never filed for benefits," Johns said. "Didn't know they were eligible or had the attitude that others deserve it more."

Johns said veterans who do not participate and apply for those benefits are actually harming other veterans. "Congress does not allocate money unless it's being used," he said.

When asked what the biggest issue facing veterans in the county is, Johns did not hesitate. He said, hands down, it is housing, and in particular the lack of Section 8 housing.