Richland County Veterans Service Commission: Temporary Financial Assistance

The Richland County Veterans Service Commission is the county's commission under Revised Code chapter 5901; see the Ohio entry on county veterans service commissions. The county's page traces it to a Soldiers Relief Commission "part of the Ohio Revised Code since the Civil War", and its own site to May 19, 1886, when the Legislature adopted the veterans laws behind the Soldiers Relief Act. Its office is at 597 Park Avenue East, Mansfield 44905 (419-774-5822, fax 419-774-5831, [email protected]), weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m. Applications are taken in person only, first come, first served - no appointments - and must be completed by noon every Thursday. Staff. Executive Director J. Ken Estep, an Army veteran of 1968 and 1969 with a Vietnam tour, leads the office. The county's page counts four service officers certified by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services; the commission's own site names Penni M. Wert (a retired Navy hospital corpsman, a service officer since May 2014), Duke Kornsuwan (since August 2019) and Anita Corwin (a Navy veteran who took the county post in 2019). Sue Dell has been the administrative assistant since February 1975; Donald "Mac" McCorkle, a Navy veteran, has driven the van since 2015. The board sits under Revised Code 5901.02: Douglas D. Theaker, president (AMVETS), Larry D. Corn, vice president (VFW), Debra S. Robinson, secretary (Air Force, retired command chief master sergeant of the 179th Airlift Wing), Gary Utt Sr. (American Legion) and Josh Hurrell (Korean War Veterans). How it works. Assistance is temporary - "to assist veterans and their dependents on a short term basis until a permanent solution to their difficulties can be arranged" - and is given only for a legitimate emergency or hardship as the commission determines, under the Revised Code's tests. Any approved payment goes straight to the landlord, bank or mortgage company; the landlord returns the commission's statement form with an IRS W-9. The commission publishes no dollar caps anywhere on its site, so the amounts are the board's own and are asked for at the office. The county's money is visible in the auditor's fund reports: the 2026 General Fund carries a Relief Allowance line of $200,000 for the commission ($115,979 spent through September 30, 2026), and 2025 actuals show $79,460 of contractual services and $7,500 of other spending under the Soldiers Relief heading within a $767,395 Veterans Services budget. What to bring. The commission's financial aid checklist (dated November 2023) asks for the DD-214 or DD-215; verification of Richland County residence (an Ohio driver's licence or state ID, mortgage or lease); Social Security cards for the applicant and every family member applied for; the marriage certificate; 60 days of pay stubs; a 454 form completed by what its checklist calls the Ohio Bureau of Employment Compensation, by filing for unemployment compensation on 1-877-644-6562; and, for an applicant not working, a current letter from a medical physician - not a chiropractor - stating that the applicant or spouse is unemployable. Submitting fraudulent case information bars the client from all future commission assistance. Who qualifies. The statute's test, in Revised Code 5901.08 and 5901.01(B): a veteran discharged under honorable conditions whose active duty was for reasons other than training (or who was disabled on training duty with a recognised service connection), an active-duty member, or the spouse, surviving spouse, dependent parent, minor child or ward of either, who has lived in Richland County at least three months before applying. The site's benefits page describes the office as "dedicated to helping honorably discharged veterans"; the checklist asks for the DD-214 itself, so a veteran with a general or other-than-honorable discharge who is inside the statute should apply and cite section 5901.08 if turned away. No rating is needed.