Medina County Veterans Service Commission: Temporary Immediate Financial Assistance

The Medina County Veterans Service Commission is the county's commission under Revised Code chapter 5901; see the Ohio entry on county veterans service commissions. Its office is at 210 Northland Drive, Medina 44256 (330-722-9368, toll-free 844-722-3800, fax 330-722-9378), weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays from 10 a.m., closed noon to 1. The director and service officer is Edward Zackery, an Army first sergeant retired; the service officers are Danielle Sampson and Brian Winzig, hired July 20, 2026 at a $65,000 salary after the board posted the deputy director position in January, which the staff page still shows vacant; the office manager is Sue Boggs, with an intake specialist and four drivers, and the outreach position was posted after Jason Kaiser's August 2026 resignation. The board of five commissioners sits as the veterans organizations' designees: president Phillip Grassa (American Legion), vice president Mark Roberts (AMVETS), secretary Curt Schwehm (Disabled American Veterans), John Lawrence (Vietnam Veterans of America) and Carl DeForest (Veterans of Foreign Wars). It meets the second Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m. at the office - the published guidelines say second Thursday, but the minutes show the second Wednesday - and every applicant has the right to address it. The policy. Assistance runs on the commission's Financial Assistance Guidelines 4.1, effective October 10, 2025, a full published policy. Help covers food, rent and mortgage (nursing homes, assisted living and domiciles excepted), utilities (gas, electric, water, sewer, phone and internet; the county benefits page adds cellular), dental through the Medina County Health Department, certain medical, and other emergency needs. Assistance is normally not provided for more than three months in a 12-month application year for each category, six months for a temporary medical condition, and only one three-month period is granted per household unless the commission finds a medical condition or extenuating circumstances. The county's own service test, where the entry departs from the statute. Section 5901.01(B) and 5901.08 ask for active duty other than training with an honorable discharge; Medina's policy adds that the veteran must have completed initial training (basic and advanced individual) and served not less than 90 days during a period of war or 180 days in peacetime, with consideration for a shorter veteran discharged with a service-connected disability, for hardship, medical conditions or completion of the obligated period. A veteran inside the statute but outside the county's time test should say so and appeal. Merchant mariners are included as the statute includes them. Income and limits. Eligibility is calculated on the household's net income for the preceding 30 days: the minimum guidelines are 130 per cent of the federal poverty level, raised to 150 per cent for a household on Social Security disability or 65 and over on SNAP, with the director able to waive income to 165 per cent and the commission above that; at no time does the benefit exceed 250 per cent of poverty unless the director or commission authorizes more, and the maximum monthly benefit is the difference between net family income after medical deductions and 250 per cent of poverty, which the director can raise to 350 per cent in extreme circumstances. Net worth must not be excessive. Daycare was added as a deduction in July 2026. The commission's own caps: rent up to $1,500 a month for a family of two or less and $2,200 for a family of three or more, above that only by commission approval; no rent for an applicant living with relatives; a lease in the applicant's name; primary mortgages only, never a second mortgage, reverse mortgage or line of credit; utilities three times a year in the veteran's or spouse's name; food vouchers three a year, computed from Ohio's SNAP amounts, on Meijer cards (ACME was added as a vendor in September 2026) rounded to the nearest $10. How to apply. Applications are taken on a walk-in basis, appointments recommended. Bring the DD-214 or equivalent, marriage and divorce papers, children's birth certificates, and a driver's license or state ID; the veteran must be present unless working, hospitalized, homebound or prevented by a disability. Applications are updated monthly, a new application is good for 12 months, the applicant signs information releases, and may be required to apply at JFS or another agency or attend financial-management, life-skills or employment counselling. An ineligible applicant can appeal from the case manager to the director and then to the commission on the form provided. The record. In 2025 the office wrote $400,496.43 of vouchers for 444 veterans and families (118 unique), an average of $902.20, and turned back more than $290,000, 79 per cent of its appropriation; its county revenues spent in 2024 were $3,910,106.05 on a five-tenths-mill levy. Mid-2026 the board was granting about $20,000 a month in cash grants beside the demand bills. Burial. Section 5901.25 has the commission bury or cremate a veteran, or a veteran's parent, spouse or surviving spouse, who died without means, with up to $1,000 from the county (see the Ohio entry). No page of the county or the commission describes its practice, so call 330-722-9368 before signing a funeral contract.