ANOKA, Minn. – (Nov. 5, 2015) – “My favorite thing I get to do is when I get to help veterans get access to the benefits they’ve earned,” said Anoka County Veteran Services Office Director John Kriesel. Kriesel, a veteran himself, truly loves his job. Their goal is to make sure that every veteran in Anoka County is having their needs met. “We don’t work for the VA, we work for the veterans that live in Anoka County” said Kreisel.
There are several different benefit programs available to veterans. The Veteran Services Office is there, in part, to help veterans cut through all the forms and documentation needed to secure available benefits. “There’s a number of benefits that we help veterans get access to. There’s some state benefits where if they are in financial duress situations where maybe they are out of work due to an injury we can help them get through that tough time” said Kriesel. Many military members conclude their service and think that they do not really need any help at that point.
Kriesel would like the chance to sit down with them and see if there are any benefits that they should be receiving, even if it seems like a small issue. “There’s a lot of people that served that say when they come back ‘oh I’m fine’ because they didn’t have any serious injuries. But, if they have ringing in their ears even and they were around a lot of noises in the military a lot of times you can’t wear hearing protection because you need to take commands and you need to hear what’s going on besides just covering your ears to be safe from whatever noise. Over time that causes damage and so we’re able to, if they currently have that ringing in their ears or they believe they have hearing loss that’s related to military service, we can help them file that claim. Possibly get monthly compensation for it but the biggest thing is they would have access to hearing aids covered by the VA and that’s a life changing benefit,” said Kreisel.
Anoka County has the fourth busiest veteran services office in the state and they still have thousands of more veterans that they hope to reach. “We currently, according to the VA, we have 23,368 veterans that live within Anoka County. On average we see between 5,500 veterans to 7,000 veterans a year in this office” said Kriesel. Average citizens can help by talking with the veterans in their neighborhood. Start with listening to their stories and then see if you can help.
“I think just talking with veterans. If you know someone up the road that served, maybe ask them what they did in the service, learn about them. The biggest thing and one of my main focuses in this office here is trying to spread the word. Get the word out about what we do so veterans are aware of the aware of the benefits they may be eligible for. So as citizens learning about those benefits or asking these veterans are you in receipt of benefits, have you ever applied for them. Most veterans comeback and say ‘I’m fine there is no need for me to use any of these benefits’ but down the road they may need them,” said Kreisel.
Besides connecting veterans with the benefits that they deserve. The Veteran Services Office also has a resource room and a food shelf for emergency needs as they try to serve all the needs of those who have served all of us in heroic ways. “We do everything we can to say thanks to those veterans” said Kreisel.
For more information of the Veteran Services Office click here.
