Robeson County Veteran Services

The office's own statement of what it does: "To provide benefits counseling to Robeson County veterans and their dependents, using guidelines of the Veterans Administration and the North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs." And its function: "Assist veterans and their dependents in filing claims for compensation, pension, medical, home loans, VA insurance, burial benefits and hospital enrollment. Assist children of veterans in making applications for the NCDVA Scholarship. Advocate for veterans and their dependents in all aspects of Federal, State and Local Government benefits programs." Where and when. 550 Chestnut Street, Lumberton, NC 28358, in the Robeson County Administration Center behind the courthouse (the county's audited reports record that the 2020 building move put the County Manager's Office, Finance, the County Attorney, Human Resources, Computer Operations, the Tax Department, the Register of Deeds and Veterans Services under one roof); phone 910-671-3071, with 910-671-3070 listed too, and fax 910-737-4097; office hours Monday to Friday 8:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Director Chris Oxendine ([email protected]), Veterans Service Officer Angela Strickland ([email protected]), and Ms. Patricia Braswell, Administrative Assistant. The office's money. The FY 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report carries the Veteran Service Officer fund at $193,630 of expenditures against a $193,631 budget - $187,290 of salaries and benefits and $6,340 of other expenditures, with the report showing $189,852 spent the year before. It is a claims-counseling office on a two-officer base, not a spending programme; the county's own burial or relief assistance is published nowhere read. Rides to VA care. The county's transit, the South East Area Transit System (SEATS), carries the out-of-county medical runs: "SEATS provides scheduled routes for out-of-county medical trips to Duke Hospital, UNC-Chapel Hill Hospital, and Veterans Administration Hospitals in Durham and Fayetteville" (the county's adopted 2022 Comprehensive Plan; the SEATS page states the program's general terms). Reservations are required, by calling the SEATS office (910-618-5679, 1519 Carthage Road, Section 6, Lumberton) by 12 noon the day before; vehicles run Monday to Friday 4:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. and are wheelchair accessible. The county publishes no veteran-specific fare or VA-ride priority; the ride is the general transit program's. The Board's year could not be read (the county posts no agendas or minutes online, the county header records), so no county proclamation, grant or budget ordinance for veterans is written; what the office does is restated from its own page and the audited figures.