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Disabled American Veterans office provides direction in time of need

Local office helps families work through maze of benefits paperwork

By Don Coble don@opcfla.com
Posted 10/20/21

ORANGE PARK – Rich Hutchins and John Cornish know people are in desperate need of direction and answers every time the door opens at the Disabled American Veterans’ office. Together, Hutchins and …

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Disabled American Veterans office provides direction in time of need

Local office helps families work through maze of benefits paperwork


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Rich Hutchins and John Cornish know people are in desperate need of direction and answers every time the door opens at the Disabled American Veterans’ office. Together, Hutchins and Cornish help veterans and their spouses navigate through the maze of paperwork and policies that, too often, are overwhelming – especially during a time of need.

Their office at 470 Madeira Dr. has been open since 1977. Since then, many of the county’s 28,000 veterans, as well as their spouses and children, have found the kind of guidance they deserve following their service.

“We help veterans with disabilities and their spouses and their families when they have problems,” Cornish said. “It can be injuries, illnesses during times of war, things of that nature, or issues that happened to them while they were in the service. We help all veterans who incurred a problem in the military, physical or mental problem. We also support the family in times of death. We help them get their benefits. We help point them in the right direction, with things like a funeral home.”

The people who serve at the DAV are specially trained. They are keenly aware of Veteran’s Administration policies, and they have to be re-certified every year.

Disabled Veterans, however, don’t offer rehabilitation or medical treatment. They’re there to cross at the Ts and dot the Is.

For those who need answers, it’s an important part of their benefits package.

“Before COVID, when we took walk-ins, we’d do about 1,200 veteran’s claims a year,” Hutchins said. “But since COVID, we’ve been limited to four or five people a day and we do four days a week. Sometimes, because of the mandates from our national and state headquarters, we’ve had to shut down.”

The office east of Kingsley Avenue is open Monday-through-Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Because of the pandemic, appointments are necessary, Hutchins said. And benefit counseling is available on Fridays for special occasions.

A big part of DAV’s work is keeping veterans informed. Some have had benefits denied in the past, but with the help of specialized agents, many of the rejections are reversed. “[We deal with] mainly the claims, claims to the [Veteran’s Administration]. We start here, a process,” Cornish said. “We send it to the VA and the VA will make a decision on what takes place. We get all kinds of questions. A lot of people come in and they didn’t know they were entitled to certain things. Sometimes if they were denied a couple of years ago, they didn’t know they could reopen the claim. There are things that come from the VA that are new from years ago.

“I’ll give you an example: the Agent Orange situation in Vietnam, many veterans were denied their claims. Now they can open the claims back up because there are different diseases.”

The DAV also makes house calls.

“I have been to a spouse’s house,” Hutchins said. “Maybe the husband has passed, so we help them secure their benefits.”

But most important they provide direction during a critical time.

For questions, or to make an appointment, call (904) 269-2945.