LVMAC Tidbit: Veterans Trust Fund Awards for 2019 Announced

On 28 February 2019, Governor Tom Wolf announced that $800,000 of grant money from the Veterans Trust Fund (VTF) will be awarded to 29 Pennsylvania organizations that support veterans’ programs throughout the commonwealth, contingent upon completion of a grant agreement.  The trust’s funds are meant to be exclusively used for military veterans, and the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs administers it.  Since 2013, a total of $3,632,860 has been awarded.

The County Directors of Veterans Affairs or the Pennsylvania Association of County Directors of Veterans Affairs received $150,000 of the total as follows:

• Bradford County Office of Veterans Affairs: $10,000 to expand veterans’ outreach
• Centre County Office of Veterans Affairs: $9,750 to expand veterans’ outreach services
• Chester County Office of Veterans Affairs: $20,000 to implement a veterans’ court mentor program
• Cumberland County Office of Veterans Affairs: $20,000 to support a veteran nine-line project
• Franklin County Office of Veterans Affairs: $20,000 to support service dogs for veterans
• Indiana County Office of Veterans Affairs: $20,000 to expand veterans’ outreach services
• Montgomery County Office of Veterans Affairs: $8,101 for its transportation program
• PA Association of Veterans Affairs: $2,149 to distribute PTSD educational materials
• Snyder County and Union County Office of Veterans Affairs (joint application): $40,000 to support homeless veterans and provide emergency assistance.

The balance went to veterans service organizations and to 501(c)(3) nonprofits:

• 3P Ride, Inc., York (York County): $50,000 for transportation services to veterans
• Ayres-Stone Auxiliary Post 5642, Montrose (Susquehanna County): $10,000 for outreach and emergency financial assistance to veterans in need
• Community Action Agency of Delaware County, Boothwyn (Delaware County): $36,700 to provide mortgage assistance to veterans in need
• Community Food Warehouse of Mercer County, Sharon (Mercer County): $22,102 to support the MilitaryShare program
• For the Love of a Veteran, Inc., Hanover (York County): $35,000 for care packages for deployed troops and homeless veterans
• Maranatha Ministries DBA CandleHeart, Inc., Chambersburg (Franklin County): $49,995 to provide outreach and emergency services to veterans
• Military Assistance Project, Philadelphia (Philadelphia County): $49,600 to provide free legal services to veterans
• Operation Homefront, Doylestown (Bucks County): $10,000 to provide financial assistance to veterans in need
• Operation Troop Appreciation, McKeesport (Allegheny County): $45,000 to provide welcome home kits to at-risk veterans
• Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors, Camp Hill (Cumberland County): $45,000 for emergency financial assistance to veterans in need
• Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia (Philadelphia County): $11,836 to support podcasts addressing business topics of interest to women veterans and military spouses
• Second Harvest Food Bank, Nazareth (Northampton County): $18,307 for its MilitaryShare program
• Shamrock Reins, Pipersville (Bucks County): $16,460 to provide equine therapy to female veterans
• The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, Harrisburg (Dauphin County): $50,000 for its MilitaryShare program
• Travelers Aid Society, Pittsburgh (Allegheny County): $50,000 to provide transportation assistance to veterans
• University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh (Allegheny County): $25,000 to fund its ELeVATE program which assists wounded, injured or ill veterans with the transition from military to college
• Veteran Community Initiatives: Johnstown (Cambria County): $50,000 for its rural veterans’ outreach project
• Veterans Multi-Service Center, Philadelphia (Philadelphia County): $25,000 for its women veterans’ program
• Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg (Dauphin County): $50,000 to support homeless veterans’ reintegration back into society

To learn more about the fund, click here.

# # #

As of 28 February 2019