Kalamazoo County Soldiers and Sailors Relief

Michigan requires every county to keep a fund for the relief of indigent wartime veterans and their families (MCL 35.21; see the Michigan entry on the county veterans relief fund). Kalamazoo County pays for its relief from the voted veterans service millage rather than only the optional tenth-mill levy, and the Veterans Service Office administers it under Soldiers and Sailors Relief policies the Veterans Affairs Committee amends. How it works, from the committee's 2026 minutes. The policy is numbered (its section 2.01 is "Establishing Veteran Status"; sections 2.05 through 5.03 set annual maximums, transportation assistance, housing assistance and utilities, amended in December 2025). In April 2026 the committee raised the food voucher benefit to $200 for the veteran and $100 for each dependent. From May 18, 2026 veterans can take VSO vouchers to the Kalamazoo Farmers Market and exchange them for wooden tokens good at approved produce vendors, and from June 2026 the market accepts the Park Street Market and Midtown Fresh food cards the VSO already issues. A holiday food programme has run since 2025. In September 2026 the committee moved charcoal, lighter fluid, batteries and lightbulbs from the disallowed to the allowed categories, and the chairman reported "several requests to go over SSR limit amounts" and suggested raising the maximum allotments. One gap to know. Policy 2.01 "does not currently include serving members of all branches, Reserves, and National Guard"; the committee tabled the section in September 2026 for research, so an active member or reservist should ask the office how it treats their service. The policy document itself is not published; apply through the Veterans Service Office, 269-373-5361, and ask for the current SSR policy and maximums. The State fund. The same office takes Michigan Veterans Trust Fund applications (see the Michigan entry). A relief refusal can be taken to the circuit court within 15 days (MCL 35.23).