{"id":94318,"date":"2025-12-19T16:43:28","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/94318\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T16:43:28","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:43:28","slug":"el-paso-county-division-of-veterans-services-holds-claims-clinic-in-fountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/94318\/","title":{"rendered":"El Paso County Division of Veterans Services holds claims clinic in Fountain"},"content":{"rendered":"

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KOAA) \u2014 The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services held a veterans claims clinic on December 18 at the Fountain Utilities Building, providing local veterans with in-person assistance navigating the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits system.<\/p>\n

Accredited Veterans Service Officers met individually with veterans to help file claims for healthcare, disability compensation and other benefits. The clinic aimed to reduce barriers veterans often face when seeking assistance through the VA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a 30 to 45-minute drive from Fountain to our office, so we wanted to provide the opportunity for veterans who don\u2019t already utilize our services or who have a hard time getting to us,\u201d said Charles Graves, Division Manager for El Paso County Veterans Services.<\/p>\n

Thousands of Veterans Not Accessing Benefits<\/p>\n

According to Graves, El Paso County is home to approximately 100,000 veterans. Of those, only about 54,000 are currently using VA benefits, leaving an estimated 47,000 veterans who may be eligible but are not accessing available support.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re accredited veteran service officers,\u201d said Graves. \u201cWe\u2019re not allowed to charge you money, and being accredited means we have access to your VA file. We\u2019re not guessing, we know exactly what\u2019s going on with your claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

The clinic also provided guidance to surviving spouses who may qualify for benefits, offering free assistance and information about resources they may not have known existed.<\/p>\n

Veterans Say Face-to-Face Help Makes a Difference<\/p>\n

Veterans Jimmy Gurule and Steve Elisha traveled to Fountain for the clinic, despite neither living in the area. Both said the opportunity to receive in-person guidance made the drive worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Gurule, a Vietnam veteran from Pueblo, sought help regarding his late mother\u2019s will, which has not been probated after more than three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about the money,\u201d said Gurule. \u201cWhen she died, she had six generations alive, with photographs of her grandfather and great-grandfathers. Without help getting into that will, it\u2019s like whole generations are lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gurule said he initially hesitated to ask for help, but found reassurance through the clinic. Service officers were able to connect him with a Judge Advocate to help guide him through the legal process.<\/p>\n

Elisha, who currently has a 90% disability rating, attended the clinic to request a review of his medical records in hopes of increasing his rating.<\/p>\n

\u201cFace-to-face is definitely way better than drilling through a phone tree,\u201d said Elisha.<\/p>\n

With assistance from a service officer, Elisha was able to submit his claim during the clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just sign right here, hit the submit button, and it\u2019s now in the works,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

How to Access Veterans Services<\/p>\n

The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services encourages veterans and surviving spouses to seek assistance through accredited service officers, emphasizing that all services are provided at no cost.<\/p>\n

For more information, contact the El Paso County Division of Veterans Services at (719)520-7750<\/a>, email vet@elpasoco.com<\/a>, or visit veterans.elpasoco.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One wildfire in Yuma County reaches about 40K acres, amid windy conditions<\/p>\n

Officials told us they believe these fires were caused by downed power lines. The Scripps News Group is working to gather more information and will have a crew reporting the latest updates.<\/p>\n

One wildfire in Yuma County reaches about 40K acres, amid windy conditions<\/p>\n

News Tips <\/p>\n

What should KOAA5 cover? Is there a story, topic, or issue we should revisit? Have a story you believe should make the light of day? Let our newsroom know with the contact form below. <\/p>\n

____<\/p>\n

Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5<\/a>, download and start watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KOAA) \u2014 The El Paso County Division of Veterans Services held a veterans claims clinic on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94319,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[943,944,945,946,138,44029,44030,140,139,44031,947,948],"class_list":["post-94318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-news","tag-colorado-pueblo-news","tag-colorado-springs-news","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-county-division-of-veterans-services","tag-el-paso-county-veterans","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-fountain-colorado","tag-koaa","tag-koaa-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}