Washtenaw County Veterans Relief Fund

Michigan requires every county to keep a fund for the relief of indigent wartime veterans and their families (MCL 35.21; see the Michigan entry on the county veterans relief fund). The Washtenaw County Department of Veterans Affairs administers it as the Veterans Relief Fund, paid for by the county's voted relief levy. What it covers. The department lists financial assistance, food, rent or mortgage, transportation, utilities, dental care, phone and internet, and funeral and burial reimbursement among the county help it files for. Who qualifies, by the county's eligibility page. It quotes the fund as being for "honorably discharged members of the U.S. Armed Forces of all wars or military expeditions" and their indigent spouses, minor children and parents, and adds that veterans of no war period who hold the Armed Forces or Navy Expeditionary Medal can qualify. Its war dates run from World War I to the Gulf War, which has no end date, and it adds the Detroit riots of July 23 to 28, 1967. The page and the statute. The quoted wording is from an older text of MCL 35.21; today's section ties the fund to the period-of-war list in 38 CFR 3.2, with Michigan's Vietnam-era dates and its rule for an expeditionary or Vietnam Service Medal after January 31, 1955. The page attributes its dates to MCL 35.61 and 35.62, but section 35.61 now defines a veteran without any dates, and the July 1967 Detroit riots already fall inside the Vietnam era (February 28, 1961 to May 7, 1975), so that line adds no one. The department's own page for the fund's rules, "VRF Eligibility Emergency Relief Fund", was empty on October 3, 2026, so ask a service officer what the fund pays and requires. Appeal. A refusal can be taken to the circuit court within 15 days (MCL 35.23; see the Michigan entry). The State fund. The department also helps with Michigan Veterans Trust Fund applications, for honorably discharged wartime veterans and dependents (800-642-4838). Call 734-973-4540.