A one-time payment of up to $500 for a Vermont veteran or veteran family in a financial crisis, for housing, utilities, or another critical need. The application is taken over the phone and takes about ten minutes.
Also called: $500, emergency assistance, 20 VSA 1601, veterans in need, housing, utilities, Office of Veterans Affairs.
Title 20, chapter 85 is headed "Veterans in Need" and section 1601 directs the Office of Veterans Affairs, at the direction of the Adjutant and Inspector General, to disburse funds in aiding, caring for, and educating veterans in need and persons in need who are legal dependents of veterans.
In practice the Office administers it as the Vermont Veterans Assistance Fund. The payment is up to $500 and is described as a one-time payment, for a low-income Vermont veteran or veteran's family in a financial crisis, for a critical need such as housing or utilities.
The application is done over the phone and takes about ten minutes. That is worth stating because it is unusual: most state emergency funds run on a written application with attachments, and a veteran facing a shutoff notice does not have days.
Two statutory conditions shape who gets it. Monetary assistance is to be given only to applicants who would not be better served by other State, federal, or private assistance programs, so expect to be asked what else has been tried and to be referred on where a better door exists. And the Adjutant and Inspector General determines the conditions for eligibility and is required to manage the program to the limit imposed by available funding, so the fund can run dry in a bad year in a way a statutory entitlement cannot.
The criteria themselves are not in the statute. Section 1601(b) requires the Office to develop written application and operating procedures, approved by the Adjutant and Inspector General, and to make them available for review by applicants, service providers, and others with an interest in the fund. A veteran who is refused is entitled to read the procedure they were refused under.
Section 1605 lets the Office spend some of the fund on educating veterans in need about programs and benefits that would give them a more permanent solution, with the Adjutant and Inspector General's advance approval.
No disability rating and no wartime service is required, and the fund reaches legal dependents of a veteran as well as the veteran.
The line is 802-828-3379, or 888-666-9844 toll free in Vermont. A serving member of the Vermont National Guard should go to the Guard's own family support program instead, which is a different fund with a different gate.
Thresholds
Thresholds for Vermont Veterans Assistance Fund
Gate
Rule
Low income and in a financial crisis
The fund is for a low-income Vermont veteran or veteran family in a financial crisis. No published income table applies. Assistance is given only where the applicant would not be better served by another State, federal, or private program.
Vermont residence, and legal dependents are covered
The fund reaches veterans in need and persons in need who are legal dependents of veterans. No disability rating and no wartime service is required, so the rating filter never hides this benefit.
Limited to available funding
The Adjutant and Inspector General sets the eligibility conditions and must manage the program to the limit imposed by available funding, so this is not an entitlement. The written application and operating procedures are available for review by applicants.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.