Lapeer County Veteran Services

What it does. "Established in 1969, the Lapeer County Veterans Services department was created to assist local Veterans and their families in obtaining Veterans benefits from local, state and federal agencies. The department was also established to assist impoverished Veterans and those Veterans who need assistance with the needs of everyday living." The page names VA health care, service-connected compensation, pensions for veterans and surviving spouses, dependants' benefits, burial benefits, education and vocational rehabilitation, and it administers the county relief fund and burial allowance (their own entries) and the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund locally. It counts "approximately 5300 Veterans" in the county. Who and where. Director Pete "Top" Kirley, accredited; service officers Cheryl Burrough, Lori Darga and Joe Fuller, accredited; administrative assistant and transportation coordinator Marisa Jewell. 287 W. Nepessing Street, Suite 2, Lapeer; 810-667-0256, fax 810-245-6227; Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed 11:30 to 12:30. Free rides. "Lapeer County Veteran Services provides FREE dependable transportation to Lapeer County Veterans and their spouses to and from all non-emergency medical appointments. We have 20 volunteer drivers and 5 vehicles, one of which is a wheelchair accessible van." VA appointments and exams come first. Call at least two weeks ahead with the appointment's date, time and place; appointments should be no later than noon; the veteran must get in and out of the vehicle alone or bring help, "The drivers are unable to assist." The money. Lapeer pays for the department with a voted millage: the "Ex voted Veterans Affairs" line on the county's tax rate request, approved August 6, 2024 at 0.1850 mill and Headlee-reduced to 0.1824, runs through December 2029, and the 2027-28 budget resolution counts it at $819,038. In December 2025 the Personnel Committee let the director hire a new service officer, at a step it promised to revisit after a year, from within the department's budget.