Bremer County Veterans Affairs General Relief Fund

Bremer County Veterans Affairs funds emergency assistance to resident veterans based on need.  These basic needs include rent, food, medical bills, burial, and special needs.

For you to be eligible, you must have a basic, emergency need that cannot be met by other means.  Additionally, you must be a resident of Bremer County, meet certain income/asset guidelines, be registered with Iowa Workforce Development, and apply for all other assistance in the area.  See the list of community organizations that offer assistance below the VA General Relief Application.

If you choose, you may complete and print out a copy of the VA General Assistance Application or stop by the office for a copy.

Note:  All of the following links will open in a new window.

Dental Assistance

• Hawkeye Community College Dental Clinics
  
• Iowa Donated Dental Program
• People’s Dental Clinic
• I-Smile Dental Clinic

Employment

• Hiring Our Heroes
• Home Base Iowa
• Iowa Workforce Development
  • Iowa Works for Veterans
• Waverly Economic Development

Food Assistance

• His Hands Food Pantry, Oran
• Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sumner
• Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
• Northeast Iowa Community Action Committee
• Northeast Iowa Mobile Food Bank
  • New Hampton: Trinity Lutheran Church at 223 S. Water Ave. from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm on the 3rd Thursday of each month.
  • Oelwein: Oelwein Community Plaza at 25 W. Charles St. from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
  • Shell Rock: Boyd Community Center at 303 S. Cherry St. from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
  • Waverly: Vineyard Community Church at 319 W. Bremer Ave. from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.
• Salvation Army administered by Crosspoint Church
• St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Waverly
• United Way 2-11, Waverly

Community Meals

• Monday nights at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church & School from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
• Wednesday nights at Grace Baptist Church from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.
• Thursday nights at Peace United Church of Christ from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.

Medical Assistance

• If you’re currently involved or think you may be having a life-threatening emergency, dial 9-11 immediately!
• Health Insurance Marketplace
• Iowa Department of Human Services
• Northeast Iowa Area Agency on Aging 
• People’s Community Clinic

Rental & Housing Assistance

• Friends of the Family
• Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Sumner
• Northeast Iowa Community Action Committee
• Salvation Army administered by Crosspoint Church
• St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Waverly
• United Way 2-11, Waverly

Other Resources

• American Legion Temporary Financial Assistance: American Legion’s Temporary Financial Assistance Program grants cash awards to minor children of veterans who are eligible for American Legion membership. These grants help families in need meet the cost of shelter, food, utilities and health expenses, thereby keeping the child or children in a more stable environment.
• Our Heroes Dreams:  Our Heroes Dreams has teamed up with Home Depot and other organizations to help provide the needed repairs to our veteran’s homes. Providing these home repairs helps to let our veterans live more comfortable and puts less stress on a veteran when they can’t afford that new roof or needed repairs. One thing that is critical for this program to work is the community.
• USA Cares:  USA Cares Emergency Assistance program offers post-9/11 service members, veterans and their families assistance with utility bills and even provides emergency food assistance. It is not unusual for National Guard members or Reservists to suffer a significant loss of income when being called to active duty, and many return home from deployment with the task of finding a new job. For some families, an error in pay or delays in processing causes them not to receive income—a situation that may not be corrected for weeks.
• VFW Unmet Needs:  VFW Unmet Needs was created in 2004 through a corporate partnership to assist military service members and their families who run into unexpected financial difficulties as a result of deployment or other hardships directly related to military service. Unmet Needs assists with basic life needs such as mortgage and rent, home and auto repairs, insurance, utilities, food, and clothing. Unmet Needs helps meet unanticipated financial demands on our service members’ families that can’t be remedied through existing means and provides our service members with the security of knowing that their families have additional support here at home.