Orleans County Veterans Service Agency (Nikolas Mroz, Director): Claims, Burial Officer, the Veterans Van and the Dwyer Peer to Peer Programme

The agency. The county's page: "The Director and VSO are Accredited by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Through the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars and as a Department of Veterans Affair Affiliate such, is authorized to present claims for further development, institute appeals from Department of Veterans Affairs' decisions and follow through to final disposition with representation at the Court of Veterans Appeals". The benefits it applies for and represents veterans, dependents, widows and orphans on: compensation, pension, burial benefits, DIC, survivor death pension, federal grave markers, VA insurance claims, annual income questionnaires, the VA home loan guaranty, the property tax exemption, VHA enrollment, replacement of lost documents (separation papers, marriage, birth, death, divorce), education and training counseling, federal and NYS medals, employment rights, the New York State Blind Annuity, "Reduced NYS Hunting & Fishing Licenses if more than 40% Service connected Disabled", and "Lifetime Liberty NYS Parks pass applications if 40% Service connected disabled". Burial officer. "The Director is also designated as Burial Officer and is responsible for the interment of any honorably discharged member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died in Orleans County leaving no funds or insurance sufficient to pay funeral and burial expenses of such Veteran and such Veteran has no next of kin or person of record previously designated to control his or her final disposition pursuant to section four thousand two hundred one of the public health law." The staff. The Legislature created a part-time Veterans Service Officer post at Grade 13 of the CSEA schedule from January 1, 2026, abolishing the part-time clerk post (Resolution No. 588-1225, adopted 7-0). The van and the peer programme. The agency's monthly committee reports carry the volunteer veterans van (for example, 74 trips carrying 94 veterans with 406 volunteer hours in May 2025; 47 trips, 68 veterans and 249 volunteer hours in a 2026 month) and the Dwyer Peer to Peer programme, State money passed through the Mental Health budget: the 2025 golf outing at Shelridge Country Club (96 attendees), the fall BBQ with American Legion Sheret Post #35, the Red Star Foundation's Veterans Day event in Albion, the holiday banquet at White Birch in Lyndonville, monthly coffee breakfasts in Medina and, from April 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026, a WNYHeroes Inc. contract of up to $43,209 "providing services and resources to Veterans and their families in Orleans County". The reports also note the farmers' market coupons the office hands out (2,500 available in June 2026). Where. Nikolas Mroz, Director, 13996 Route 31 West, Albion, NY 14411; phone (585) 589-3219, fax (585) 589-2833; [email protected].