Clark County Veterans Service Commission: Emergency Financial Assistance

The Clark County Veterans Service Commission is the county's commission under Revised Code chapter 5901; see the Ohio entry on county veterans service commissions. Its Veterans Service Center is at 117 South Fountain Avenue, Springfield 45502 (937-521-2030, fax 937-328-2457), Mondays to Thursdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The five commissioners are appointed by the court of common pleas from the veterans organizations' lists (Revised Code 5901.02): James R. Ryan (president), James L. Hudson Jr., William E. McGee, Thomas O'Neal and James G. "Grant" Wells. The board meets Thursdays at 8:30 a.m. and decides financial assistance in each meeting's executive session; the January to September 2026 minutes name the applicants, their occupations and every payment. The office is run by Executive Director Crystal Baker, an Air Force veteran, and Assistant Director David Mitchell, a Navy veteran, with outreach manager Annisa Younts; the county's own travel line shows a new service officer sent to school in 2026. Its Report to Posts says the commission receives no state or federal funding, and its invoices show rent paid to the Clark County Historical Society for the Heritage Center building it occupies. The policy. Assistance is for a short-term need, generally sixty days or less, with anything longer considered case by case. The need must not be the applicant's own willful wrongdoing, negligence or an illegal act, and the board has authority to approve or deny any application for any reason. The veteran is the statute's: active duty under honorable conditions, other than training (or a training disability recognized as service-connected), and the office adds that no application is taken from estranged spouses or dependents not living with the veteran. Applicants must have lived in Clark County at least 90 days, must show an unforeseen expense and proof of need from income against bills, and - if physically able to work - must be actively seeking work through ODJFS or an employment agency. Applications are by appointment only: a first-time applicant brings the discharge in for review before an appointment is even given, walk-ins are seen only in an extreme emergency not of the applicant's own negligence ("poor planning does not constitute an emergency"), and no one may apply more than once in 30 days. Dental care, property taxes, child support, insurance payments, cash advances and credit accounts are barred outright. What it pays, with the commission's own caps. Food: Kroger gift cards of $15 to $350, never more than $300 a month for one person, $400 for two, $500 for three or more, picked up within three working days, with receipts returned within 45 days on pain of permanent sanction, and permanent sanction for buying alcohol or tobacco. Gasoline: the page caps a fuel gift card at $50, and only with verified employment or a verifiable healthcare appointment, though the board's January 2026 minutes granted a $100 Kroger card for gasoline. Housing: first mortgages only, paid to the lienholder and only if less than 60 days past due; rent paid to the owner of record on the county auditor's roll (or a recorded land contract), never to family or friends; deposits once per applicant, a rule fixed in 2013. Heat: natural gas, propane and fuel oil in the veteran's, spouse's or widow's name for the current residence, with fuel oil and propane refused in consecutive years. Electric, water and sewer, and medical bills, in the veteran's, spouse's or widow's name. Auto repair: once, up to $500, at a licensed shop, with proof of ownership. Cable and internet: up to $75. The minutes also show car payments and furniture granted case by case - a $900.51 Ford Credit car payment and $5,496 to a furniture store in one January 2026 meeting - and a $14,976 Kroger-card purchase "for spouses". How to apply. Call 937-521-2030 for an appointment with the discharge, 30 days of income for the household and 30 days of activity on every bill, account and payment app. A denial is explained, and an appeal is heard at a commission meeting on new, verifiable evidence; under Revised Code 5901.14 the commission may also increase, decrease or discontinue any allowance it has made. The scale, from the monthly Report to Posts statistics (text now extracts; all sixteen reports January 2025 to August 2026 read on 2026-10-13). Applications run 7 to 25 a month with nearly all approved - 2025 totaled $263,376.76 of assistance, and the 2026 reports' running year-to-date total climbs from $23,072.18 in January to $158,005.51 by August. July 2026's monthly line was 13 applications, 12 approved - $1,600 of food, $200 of gasoline, $8,267.36 all other. The same reports log 159 to 268 client visits and 901 to 1,739 phone calls a month.