VA Loan Updates

Housing and health care were the top issues among Queens veterans who met with Congressman Gregory Meeks Tuesday night during a public meeting on improving services to those who served America.

Several of the crowd’s approximately 50 veterans took the floor at St. Albans Primary and Extended Care Center’s Pratt Auditorium to voice their everyday struggles to find homes or obtain adequate medical care.

James McLaughlin, a Vietnam veteran, described the hardships of obtaining affordable housing as he continues his residency at the Borden Avenue Veterans Residence in Long Island City — a homeless shelter for male veterans. The 56 year old is on disability from the City Housing Authority, but does not make enough money to get a permanent home. He is trying to get benefits from Veterans Affairs, but representatives there said his Army records are lost.

“They are making veterans feel like underclass citizens,” he said.

Avery Fletcher, 50, a former Marine who also lives in the shelter, said he and McLaughlin live each day with many veterans who have “serious mental handicaps,” sitting despondently for hours at a time. Both men also said they constantly worry about making evening curfew so they do not risk losing their beds.

Fletcher stressed the importance of Mayor Michael Bloomberg not spouting “hot air” about supporting veterans’ rights and work on creating housing units for those who served.

“There should not be such a thing as a homeless veteran in this country,” he said.

Other veterans asked about getting together and utilizing their home loan guarantee benefits to accumulate more money to purchase homes.

Cedric Smith, senior employment specialist for Black Veterans for Social Justice in Brooklyn, was one of several veterans’ officials who offered their input at the meeting. He noted that veterans cannot apply together for housing.

A home loan entitlement for veterans, which is worth a minimum of $240,000, also cannot be utilized by veterans’ spouses or by veterans who were not honorably discharged.

In matters of health care, veterans narrated their tales of paying for medication that should have been covered by VA benefits. Also, veterans with young children described how they cannot find adequate family medical coverage, leaving them with hefty health care costs for pediatrician visits.

Navy veteran Kenneth Landherr said he was denied treatment in the emergency room at a Long Island hospital last year, although his benefits covered such care. The 73 year old Ridgewood resident had trouble breathing, but the doctor refused to treat him because of his cigarette habit.

Landherr understood the detriments of smoking, but believed his sacrifices in the Korean War qualified him to get whatever treatment he needed. “I couldn’t breathe and I needed help,” he said.

Zygmunt Wartski, an 81 year old Whitestone resident and veteran of World War II, said veterans should not have to worry about whether they qualify for adequate health care benefits. He pointed to his past military service, adding that he and other former soldiers had earned health care treatment at clinics and hospitals.

“I’m a veteran, and I should get in there for nothing,” he said, adding that hospital administration officials ask too many questions about veterans’ financial status. “It’s none of their business. We’re veterans.”

Meeks called Tuesday’s meeting to obtain specific areas the federal government needs to address when initiating veterans’ services. He told the crowd that elected leaders “too often fall short” of helping those who served, and more advocacy efforts — and funding — need to be implemented for change.

“We got to do better,” he said.

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