Office move pays off big for Wisconsin county veterans

Key Takeaways

The County Veterans Service Office was, appropriately enough, the Army brat of Winnebago County, Wis.

Its office space had moved three times during Interim Director Lydia Wilz’s tenure, but the latest, in 2022, seems to be the right fit. The office is now located in the county’s Human Services Department building, where it is primed to strike gold, mining the county’s offerings for other benefits and programs.

“We would be able to do our job in a van down by the river if that’s what it came to, but this location has been the most beneficial for the veterans we serve,” she said of all the moves. 

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The office wasn’t exactly hidden previously — it had been in the county administration building. But the new location is much closer to the services to which Wilz, who has served as benefits supervisor, would be referring veterans to anyway.

“It simplified things for the veterans, that’s for sure,” she said.  “You don’t have to worry about something happening or getting in the way when they’re traveling between offices.”

In addition, the opportunities and awareness of county services available to veterans and their families are that much more visible, said County Executive Jon Doemel, who prioritized the move upon taking office.

“When I got here, it almost felt like a veteran service office was a separate line from everything else,” he said. “For a long time, everybody thought veteran services was just ‘What can I help you get from the VA (Veterans Administration)?’ ‘Can I help you challenge a claim?’ but it wasn’t so much on one of the other things that you’re going through and maybe other programs with the county that we can wrap around you.”

Wilz said the relocation has made it easier to ensure a “warm handoff” to human service agencies, many of which offer same-day service.

“We don’t have to leave the building to make sure someone can get help with their Medicare or Medicaid services,” she said. 

“We know for a fact that not only are they getting seen by somebody, but that they’re in the right location and they’re talking to a human. They’re not getting lost in a telephone menu.”

One easy opportunity to pair services comes from locating the veterans service office across the hall from the county’s Aging and Disability Resource Center, which offers programming that applies to many of the county’s aging veterans and their spouses. 

Doemel’s goal is for veteran service officers who are experts in VA benefits to grow their expertise to cover ancillary programs that could apply to different veterans. 

One example: When a veteran in his 70s who was facing early-onset dementia came to the CVSO, the staff was able to get $50,000 in back pay for him and $4,700 a month in perpetuity, with a survivor’s benefit for his wife.

Doemel’s response?

“Give me a call back when you’re finished,” he said. 

“Have you called our healthcare facility yet and locked down a bed for him? Someday, his dementia is going to get to the point where his wife can’t manage it and he should be in a local facility so she doesn’t have to drive too far to visit him.”