Veterans and Military Families

As Veterans’ Day approaches, it is important to remember that veterans, people currently serving with the Armed Forces, and families of veterans and military personnel often have legal issues.  There are laws and programs that only apply to veterans and military families, such as Veterans Administration benefits and associated regulations.  Other times, a veteran or military family will have an issue common to many low-income people, such as a housing issue, but there are special laws like the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act that may affect the family’s rights.  As part of our overall mission to serve low-income Montanans, MLSA is committed to helping veterans and military families assert and protect their legal rights.  MLSA thanks Veterans Justice Outrach Specialist Paul Harman, NAMI-MT Executive Director Matt Kuntz, and other experts and community members for their input about MLSA’s efforts relating to veterans and military families.In this vein, an upcoming project at MLSA is a collaboration of MLSA staff, AmeriCorps members serving with MLSA, and other AmeriCorps programs throughout the state to develop and distribute a veterans’ resource guide.  AmeriCorps members serving with the MLSA VISTA Project, the AmeriCorps*State Justice for Montanans Project, and MLSA’s Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow program will combine forces with other AmeriCorps members throughout the state on this project.  MLSA thanks the Montana Field Office of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the Governor’s Office of Community Service, and the nonprofit organization Equal Justice Works for their support in this collaborative effort.  And we also thank the AmeriCorps members who will contribute their time, talents and efforts to this important project.