Christopher Bird ⋅ Kenilworth, IL Wells Fargo ⋅ 36 years experience

There is a program in Chicago, The Road Home, that might be able to assist. It is run by Rush University Medical Center. The individual who is responsible for community outreach is a Marine Vet, Chris Miller. He can be reached at (312)942-8946. Website is
www.roadhomeprogram.org

Good luck and thank you for your service!

Robert Jurasek ⋅ Hollywood, FL Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ⋅ 45 years experience

Dear Rodney,

There are a number of Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) that will represent Veterans with their initial claim for disability benefits, as well as the appeal process when claims are denied. You can find a complete list of VSOs at www.va.gov/vso/. Disabled American Veterans (DAV) was the VSO that represented me in my successful appeal.

Given that you are in Orlando area, the VA St Petersburg Regional Benefit Office at Bay Pines is probably handling your claim. DAV (www.dav.org) also has an office at Bay Pines, as well as one in Orlando. When you call or visit a DAV office, a National Service Officer (NSO) will be assigned to your claim. There is no charge or fees for their service – you only need to sign two forms – one to allow DAV or any other VSO to represent you in your claim or appeal; the other form will be a request for all of your military records.

At the same time, it is important for you to search for claims and appeals for your specific disability. Visit the Board of Veterans Appeals at www.bva.va.gov/ and click on “Search Decisions”, listed in the right column, under Resources. Enter a search word or phrase that is appropriate to your disability then review the decisions to see why the appeals were successful or unsuccessful.

Appeals can take a year or more to be decided; however, if the decision is in your favor, any award for compensation will be paid retroactively to the date you filed the claim.

Thank you for your service and good luck with your appeal!

Sincerely,
Bob Jurasek

Chris Moore ⋅ Sacramento, CA Precipio LLC ⋅ 18 years experience

Take your DD214 and medical records to your congressman's local office, they get responses from VA within 24 hours.

Emanuel Carpenter ⋅ Alpharetta, GA SDR Master Class ⋅ 20 years experience

Rodney:

Sorry to hear your claim was denied. Usually when claims are denied, you're given the opportunity to go through the appeals process. Find your paperwork that informed you of the denial and read up on how you can appeal. Go through that process before your time to appeal expires.

If you're worried about going through it alone, try to find an attorney that will help you pro bono.

Also, use your public library. Ask the librarian to help you find sources on how to go about appealing your denial for benefits. Librarians have a wealth of information, and are always willing to help. They will point you to books and electronic resources.

Best of luck.