Macomb County Veterans Relief Fund: Emergent Need Grants

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). In Macomb County the Board transferred the soldiers' relief commission's work to the county department of veterans' affairs under MCL 35.622, and Veterans Services runs the Veteran Relief Fund under the Veterans' Affairs Commission. What it is for. An "emergent need", which the county defines as an unforeseen circumstance causing a temporary financial emergency that a grant will resolve: the department lists evictions, shut-offs and car repairs. The deciding question is whether the applicant can carry the obligation after the grant. If there is no reasonable expectation of that, the grant does not meet policy, so a request needs to show how the household gets back on its feet. Some applicants are also sent to the department's financial coach. Who qualifies, by the county's page. A Michigan and Macomb County resident for at least six months, discharged under honorable conditions, with one day of active duty during a period of war (from World War I to the Persian Gulf period, which runs from August 2, 1990 to the present), or 24 months of active duty in peacetime. Wider than the statute in two ways, narrower in one. MCL 35.21 funds relief for "honorably discharged" veterans who served in a period of war. Macomb accepts a general discharge under honorable conditions and covers peacetime veterans with two years of active duty, which it can do because the fund is paid from its voted veterans' millage. The six months' residence is the county's own rule; the statute sets no waiting period. How it is decided. The commission hears requests in closed session at its meetings on the first and third Tuesdays. Its 2026 minutes record a handful of cases a meeting: on September 1 two were presented, one approved and one withdrawn for lack of documentation. The commission was reviewing its relief policy in September 2026, so ask for the current written policy. A refusal can be taken to the circuit court within 15 days (MCL 35.23; see the Michigan entry). The State fund. The same counsellors file applications to the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, whose test the county states as a discharge under honorable conditions and 180 days of active wartime service or an expeditionary medal (see the Michigan entry). Call 586-469-5315.