Program helps veterans access financial aid for in-home services

By John Gleason

As the number of our nation’s veterans increases, many of the men and women who have served our country are finding themselves in need of basic human services.

Veterans make up 8 percent of our population; that’s 23.5 million people of which nine million are over the age of 65.  Many are in need of nursing care. Often these veterans are elderly or so severely injured they find it impossible to perform simple household chores.   Fortunately, there are places where those who have served our country can go for help.

The Veterans Express Program is a free national service which assists families who need help in caring for veteran loved ones.  The program helps people navigate the sometimes complex application process for Veterans Administration benefits.  Often the process is so convoluted many families just give up and never receive financial aid, according to Peter Ross, founder of the Baltimore-based Senior Helpers, which administers the program.

“If a family is qualified, this program will help them through every step of the process until they receive the money they deserve,” Ross said.

For Fran and Bill Detweiler, the Veterans Express Program means not only help in household chores, but transportation to the store on a weekly basis.  Bill, 87, and Fran, 79, are both Air Force veterans.  The newlyweds, who met and married at the Veterans Hospital two years ago, lived on their Social Security in an apartment in Aurora until Bill suffered a severe heart attack a month ago.

“Right now he’s at the Veterans Hospital in Denver,” explained Fran.  “He’s doing better now—good days and bad—but we’re hopeful that soon he can move back home.”

In order to be closer to her husband, Fran moved to an apartment in southeast Denver.  She doesn’t drive and sometimes would get rides from the nurses, but keeping house was proving to be a challenge.  Recently, she read a flyer that told about the Veterans Express Program.  She gave them a call, interviewers came out for a brief evaluation and within days Fran was getting the help she needed.

“They got me a housekeeper,” she said, a joyous tone in her voice, “someone who comes in once a week to help with chores around the house.  They do laundry, sweep the floor, clean the bathrooms, take me to the grocery store; and they’ve been helping me figure out the bus schedule so I can go visit Bill on my own.”

Details and information on Senior Helpers can be found online at seniorhelpers.com.

But there are other local organizations which stand ready to help those in need. The Dominican Sisters Home Health Agency has provided free in-home care, related services and equipment to the Denver community since 1923, according to Executive Director Donna Heath.

“The services we provide for other people are also available for veterans,” Heath said.  “We help provide services to veterans who’ve exhausted their VA benefits and have inadequate income to pay for more of them.”

Some of the services offered by the Dominican Sisters are intermittent in-home health care, housekeeping programs, durable medical equipment loan programs and wellness clinics that provide free screening, health information and education at no charge.

“We offer nine wellness clinics around the greater metro area so that we can provide quick feedback for people who are managing chronic disease,” Heath said. “For many veterans, there’s an access issue.  They don’t drive and are unable to make the cross-town journey to the Veterans Hospital for weekly blood pressure monitoring.”

The expanded wellness clinics provided over 10,000 patient contacts last year. More than 6,000 housekeeping visits were made last year, which provided light housekeeping, meal preparation, laundry and shopping.  Heath said the need continues to grow.

“In many cases we’re talking about very independent people who just need a little help,” she said.  “They don’t want us to do everything for them.  Just a helping hand now and again.”

Information on the Dominican Sisters Home Health Agency can be found online at dominicansisters.org, or by calling 303-322-1413.