Veterans' Resources

Fraud alert

December 2013: The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a fraud alert about a marketing scam that is targeting veterans who misdial the VA National Call Center (800-827-1000) or the GI Bill Call Center (888-442-4551) phone numbers. It is possible that other VA and related phone numbers might be subject to similar scams.

A marketing company created two phone numbers that differ from the real VA numbers by one digit. If a veteran misdials and calls the bogus number, the answering party will offer a gift card and try to obtain sensitive personal data, to include credit card information.

Please note that the VA will never ask for credit card or banking information over the phone.

The two bogus numbers are 800-872-1000 and 888-442-4511.

For a list of toll-free VA phone numbers, go to the VA’s Inquiry Routing & Information System webpage.

(END OF FRAUD ALERT)

Washington Department of Veterans' Affairs
1-800-562-2308 (toll-free within WA only)
360-586-1070 HQ (Olympia)
PO Box 41155, Olympia, WA 98504-1155

206-220-6145 Seattle office
1-877-249-0516 Toll-free number for Seattle Service Center (within WA only)
915 2nd Avenue, Rm 1050; Seattle, WA 98174

Assistance with VA benefits, State & County veterans' benefits. Enrollment in Washington State Soldiers' Homes in Orting, Retsil, and Spokane. Able to take on full fiduciary responsibility for veterans who have been legally ruled incapable of handling their own finances. Referrals and counseling for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Veterans Estate Management Program.
Verified 10/04

King County Veterans' Program
206-447-8338
206-296-5242 (TTY/TDD)
2106 Second Avenue (first floor), Seattle, WA 98121

Assistance to veterans, their spouses, and their children age 18 and under. Job placement, referral, testing, counseling. Assistance for rent, food, utilities. Long- and short-term transitional housing. Individual and family mental health counseling. All assistance requires at least 181 days of honorable, active-duty service. Financial assistance requires county residency. Trauma services for families of veterans with PTSD. "Veterans Incarcerated Program" can help veterans in jail (but not in prison) with treatment, housing, employment upon their release. (In the same building as DSHS.)
Verified 04/2016

Seattle Vet Center (Veterans' Readjustment Counseling Center)
206-553-2706
2030 Ninth Ave, Suite 210, Seattle 98121

Mental health assessment, readjustment Counseling for Vietnam-era veterans and other veterans of periods of armed conflict. Counseling for vets and their family members. Time-limited skills groups such as stress, self-esteem. Long-term focus groups, couples, communication, psychotherapy, special population groups (ethnic and sexual minorities). Referrals for government benefits including Veterans' Affairs. Referral services for homeless vets.
Verified 10/04

Federal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office
General line: 1-800-827-1000
915 Second Ave, Room 1214, Seattle 98174

8 am-4 pm M-F. To qualify, VA must be able to find a record of the person in VA's database. Provides provides copies of certain military records (including statement of service) and provides letters to verify whether or not a veteran is receiving VA benefits. For assistance with filing and checking on claim statuses, Veterans' Service Offices are located on the 10th floor. For direct assistance with disability information and to file claim for elderly and/or homeless veterans, elderly veterans may call Erika Hoppe, Elderly and Homeless Veteran Outreach Coordinator at 206-220-4186.
Verified 4/09

VA Puget Sound Health Care System
VA Hospital Social Work Department
206-764-2646
1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle 98108

8am – 4:30pm M-F. For homeless and other veterans with mental health problems or substance abuse problems. Provides psychological and psychiatric health-exams, treatment, referrals to appropriate VA and community agencies. Also housing referrals (transitional and long-term), access to government surplus clothing.
Verified 10/04

VA Puget Sound Telehealth Services
1-800-329-8387

Nurse-staffed telephone-only service link offers health advice to veterans and answers their health questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Verified 10/04

University of Washington Center for Anxiety and Traumatic Stress,
Department of Psychology, University of Washington
206-685-3617
Guthrie Annex II, 2nd Floor | Box 351525; University of Washington | Seattle, WA 98195

At least through 2015, this program has a federal grant to conduct research and treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Because they receive funding for their research, they are able to offer no-cost services to eligible individuals who are experiencing trauma-related problems. Individuals who are 18 years or older may be eligible for this research study that offers 10 weeks of counseling or counseling plus medication. For more information, call 206-685-3617 or visit website http://www.ptsdoptions.com.
Verified 11/2012

VA Home Loan specialists. This is a for-profit company. Normally we don't list those, but as far as we can tell, they have an very positive reputation: the closest to a negative we've heard of is someone complaining they couldn't get him a loan, so we figure this is worth a listing.
Verified 10/2012

Washington State has put out a big veterans' guide in the form of a PDF file. This is particularly useful for information like how to contact a wide variety of veterans' organizations (American Legion, VFW, but also lesser known groups like Paralyzed Veterans of America, Wounded Warrior Project, Black Veterans of America, etc.)

Veterans who were involved in the military (especially the Navy) between 1940 and 1970 are at an increased risk for mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses. Several rather similar web sites address this. The information on most of these sites is generally good, but the proliferation of these similar sites is because they are being well paid to channel business to lawyers. We originally listed the first three of these sites that approached us, but some people have been confused by this (seeing as the sites do not disclose how they are financed), and we are no longer listing such sites.

If you are looking online for information on mesothelioma and other asbestos-related illnesses, be very wary of giving your personal information to such sites. If you are seeking a lawyer, we strongly recommend that you do so through more normal channels rather than place yourself in a position where lawyers who have paid for leads will try to contact you. See http://www.mesothelium.com/affiliate-signup.jsp for an example of such an "affiliate" program as presented to the webmasters who can profit from it. You can learn more about such sites by typing "mesothelioma affiliate" and/or "mesothelioma scam" into any good search engine.

There appear to be several very good finance-related articles for veterans on moneygeek.com. Just to be clear: they approached us, and unlike most for-profit organizations that do that, it looked like their content was pretty worthwhile and they do not appear to have a hidden agenda. Most of this is pretty basic, but sometimes pretty basic is what you need. If anyone has further feedback about moneygeek.com, we'd be interested in hearing. Email us.

• Student Financial Aid Guide For Veterans
• Tax Guide for Military Members & Veterans
• Military Life Insurance
• The Servicemember’s Guide to Financial Scams
• Job Hunting: From Camo to Business Casual
• VA Loans
• A Guide to Housing Benefits for Veterans
• Small Business Loans for Veterans

Feel free to copy all or part of this document for any non-commercial purpose. Notification and credit would be appreciated.

The master of this page is http://seattlecrisis.org/veteran.html.