Grants for Disabled Veterans
The US Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) was established to fulfill Lincoln’s promise “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”
The VA does this through serving and honoring men and women discharged from their duties from the US Armed Forces. According to reports by the VA, the VA Disability Rates witnessed a 1.3% rise in cost-of-living expenses, based on COLA calculations.
To put it in simple words, a veteran with 50% disability and their spouse and child received US$ 1,178.36 Per month. This means an increase of US$ 29.68 every month.
VA Loans and Grants for Disabled Veterans
Let’s check out the list of grants for disabled veterans received in the US:
1 – HISA Grant for Veterans With or Without A Service-Connected Disability
The Home Improvements and Structural Alterations (HISA) grant is provided to veterans to help them adapt their homes to their disabilities. This grant is usually offered to disabled veterans even if they did not suffer the disabling injury away from duty.
Using this grant, veterans can make “medically necessary” alterations and improvements to their homes, making them a more accessible environment for people with disabilities.
Some of the ways that a veteran can use the HISA grant include:
- Modifying entrances and exits to make them more accessible
- Installing “essential lavatory and sanitary facilities” like roll-in shower and walk-in tub
- Improving driveways and entrance paths
- Adding or improving accessibility to the kitchen, bathroom sinks, etc.
- Improving or upgrading mechanical and electrical systems at home to accommodate medical equipment easily
To be eligible for the HISA Grants for Veterans With or Without Service-Connected Disability, you should be a:
- Veteran or serviceman with service-related conditions
- Veterans with non-service related conditions that are rated with 50% or more disability
If you qualify for this grant, you can receive up to US$ 6,800 at a time.
2 – Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) Grant
The VA Specially Adapted Housing grant aims to help veterans live “independently in a barrier-free environment” and is granted to those with qualifying service-connected medical issues.
Recipients of this grant can use the funds to:
- Adapt an existing home
- Adopt a family member’s house for a veteran to live in
- Adapt a house intended for purchase by the veteran or their family member
- Buy their own home
Eligibility criteria of disability for this grant include:
- Lack of vision in both eyes with 20/20 acuity or less or
- Loss of both hands, or
- Loss of use of both hands, or
- Specific severe burn injuries or
- Certain severe respiratory injuries
If approved for the SAH grant, a maximum of $109,986 for FY 2023 can be awarded. To learn the exact eligibility criteria for the SAH grant, we request that you contact your nearest VA office or the VA hotline at 1-800-827-1000.
3 – Temporary Residence Adaptation (TRA) Grant
The VA offers the Temporary Residence Adaption (TRA) grant to disabled veterans and service members living with a family member.
This grant aims to help with the expenses of temporary modification to the home to meet the disability requirements of the disabled veteran.
These grants are additional to the total grant funds available for a single applicant. However, TRA grants are deducted from “one of the three usages available to the Veteran or service member”.
If approved for the TRA grant, one can utilize a portion of the grant’s maximum value, which is $14,000 for a section 2101(a) SAH grant or $2,000 for a section 2101(b).
To learn more about the eligibility and application process for the TRA grant, it is recommended to access the official US VA website, visit the nearest VA office, or call the VA hotline at 1-800-827-1000.
4 – VA Office of Small & Disadvantaged Business Utilization
The Department of Veteran Affairs also offers potential assistance to disabled veterans who are now business owners, especially if they qualify as economically disadvantaged.
This grant for disabled veterans is offered through the VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business (OSDBU) Program. This grant is aimed at helping these businesses secure as many government contracts as possible.
To know more about this grant for disabled veterans, you should register at the OSDBU office closest to you. Once they verify your business, it will be added to their directory of small businesses and used to secure government contracts.
5 – VA Small Business Grants
This grant for disabled veterans and non-disabled veterans is aimed at non-profit organizations. This VA grant helps disabled military veterans to get their enterprises up and running. This is not a loan but a grant; hence, the veteran is not expected to pay back the grant amount in any way or form. However, it does require strict compliance on your part.
To learn more about this, visit your closest VA office or call the VA hotline at 1-800-827-1000.
6 – Service-Disabled, Veteran-Owned Small Business Program
This is yet another veteran assistance program offered by VA to disabled veterans. It is quite similar to the VA’s OSDBU program and provides businesses owned by disabled and other veterans with opportunities to secure profitable contracts.
The federal government devotes around 7% of its contracting money to setting aside contracts for businesses owned by disabled veterans. Although these are not direct grants, they help grow the business effectively.
Like OSDBU, you can apply for verification with the program and get added to their directory, which is used while considering the allocation of contracts to small, veteran-owned enterprises.
Visiting your closest VA office or their official website is recommended to know the specifics of eligibility criteria and the application process.
7 – VA Medical Bills Assistance Programs
Veterans suffering from service-connected injuries, and even veterans with disabilities incurred off-duty, can apply for this grant, which helps them pay off medical bills.
You may have to co-pay for healthcare, depending on the specific condition and level of disability, but the VA department bears the remaining bulk of the medical bill.
To be eligible for this grant for disabled veterans, you should fulfill the military service requirements and undergo an income verification process. If you already have a private health insurance policy, you may be exempt from co-paying the bills entirely.
Visit the official US Department of Veteran Affairs website or the nearest VA office close to you for additional information on eligibility and the application process.
See Also
Free Dental Implants for Veterans
https://www.va.gov/health-care/
https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/
https://www.nav.com/blog/
https://militarybenefits.info/va-disability-rates
https://militarybenefits.info/grants-for-veterans
Follow us