Union County Office of Veteran’s Services

The county's page. "Committed to serving veterans of all ages, their spouses & family members. Our office acts as your representative and liaison to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), helping you navigate the often complex benefits & claims process with guidance, advocacy & support." Contact: W. Geoff Smith, Coordinator, 908-527-4918, [email protected]; general email [email protected]; Office Hours Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-4:30 PM; "Location: 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, Administration Building, Elizabeth, NJ 07207." "Walk-in appointments are not accepted. Please email [email protected] to schedule an appointment before visiting" - with the DD214 attached, place of birth, home address, phone number and claim type. The office also publishes Intent-to-File guidance: "This may preserve your potential effective date while you gather supporting documents. You have one year to complete your claim after filing an Intent to File." What the office assists with. Initial service-connected claims, increased-rating claims, secondary-condition claims, TDIU and Special Monthly Compensation; VA health-care enrollment (with the Lyons, East Orange and Piscataway facilities listed); VA Pension, Aid & Attendance and Housebound; education claims (GI Bill, Chapter 35, VR&E); "Burial and funeral reimbursement, Headstones and grave markers, Burial flags, Assistance with national or state veterans cemetery eligibility"; survivor DIC and pension; and accrued-benefit reviews. The office's year (2026 Union County Executive Budget). "Sourced and distributed approximately 28,000 American flags for placement on the graves of veterans in observance of Memorial Day"; "Hosted a POW/MIA Flag Raising Ceremony on September 19th"; "Hosted the first Veterans on the Green, an exclusive day of golf dedicated to celebrating and supporting Union County's veteran community"; "As part of Veteran Appreciation Month, coordinated with municipal partners to increase participation in Operation Green Light"; and "Filed hundreds of veterans' claims with the Veterans Affairs Benefits Department, with 158 claims currently in various stages of progress." For 2026 the budget plans a Veterans Connect Networking Series of biannual mixers, a "Pet Therapy & Veteran Mental Health" project "to address the mental health challenges many veterans face, such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression," and an expanded Operation Green Light. The board's June 25, 2026 agenda carried the $12,000 DMAVA "Paratransit - Veterans Grant" budget modification and the laudatory resolution for World War II veteran and Japanese prisoner-of-war Navy Chief Electrician's Mate John Judson Campbell (2026-259/260, adopted); the August 27, 2026 agenda recognized September 18, 2026 as POW/MIA Remembrance Day. Veterans on the Green. The board's announcement (September 8, 2025): "Veterans on the Green: Honoring Service With a Day on the Fairway" - "un dia exclusivo de golf dedicado a honrar a nuestra comunidad de Veteranos," Wednesday October 1, 2025 at the Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth; registration $65.00 per golfer including cart rental and lunch, limited to 60 golfers; Commissioner Al Mirabella is the board's Veterans Affairs Committee Liaison and Chair Lourdes Leon hosted; with Kemper Sports and the Friends of Union County. The resource page. The office's ucnj.org/uc-hero/ page lists employment resources (Heroes/USAJobs, NJDOL Veterans Services, the VA Veterans Employment Center), the Veterans Crisis Line (call 988 press 1, text 838255), VA mental health and Vet Centers, and homeless-veteran programs: "NJ SOS Veterans / Catholic Charities - Emergency Housing Assistance... Contact: NJ SOS Vets: 1-855-289-8527; Welcome Home Vets of NJ: 1-973-245-9505"; the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans 877-4AID-VET; and VA Homeless Programs. The county's HOME-ARP awards include "Westfield Veterans Housing awarded $2,668,449.80 HOME-ARP funds - new construction of twenty-two (22) affordable residential units," and the board's February 27, 2025 resolution 2025-209 awarded HOME-ARP funds to the Westfield NJ Veteran's Organization "for the purpose of providing newly constructed rental housing for homeless Veterans, beginning March 1, 2025 through December 31, 2028, in an amount not to exceed $2,487,882.20." The board also contracts "the Gateway Family YMCA, Elizabeth, NJ to operate the Dudley House Veterans Transitional Housing Program for homeless veterans and eligible homeless males" (2026-108, January 29, 2026).