Hey Again Everyone,
It’s time to get back to Avery. I realize I haven’t blogged about him in a couple of days.
When I last discussed Avery, he discovered he had several benefits heading his way. But wait! There’s still more! The next thing I asked Avery was, “Do you have access to your entire house? Can you use the kitchen, navigate the bathrooms, and get to your den they way you would like to?” Avery said, “I haven’t been able to do that in ages. If it weren’t for my grabber, I wouldn’t be able to get anything out of the kitchen. I can’t tell you about the number of things I’ve dropped.” I couldn’t wait to tell him about his next benefit.
According to Title 38 CFR § 3,809, veterans with loss or loss of use of two extremities may be entitled to a Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant. The two extremities could be both legs, both arms at the elbow, or an arm and leg. Another way to qualify for this grant is having loss of use of one lower extremity AND blindness in both eyes, or loss of use of one lower extremity AND loss of balance due to other conditions. There are a couple other ways to qualify. Most importantly, the VA Regional Office I deal mostly with gets confused if the veteran isn’t confined to a wheelchair. If the veteran is a paraplegic or quadriplegic, my Regional Office will usually award this grant. But if it is for one of the other combinations, my Regional Office usually misses this award. I’ve lost count of the number of veterans with service-connected hemiplegia (loss of use of an arm and leg mostly due to stroke) veterans I have had to refer back to the Regional Office or refer to a Veteran Service Organization to discuss this grant.
The grant for Avery was $50,000.00. This money goes to a contractor to change the veteran’s home to make the home accessible. Avery’s $4,100.00 HISA grant could be added to the SAH grant as long as the money wasn’t used for the same item. And Prosthetics could still provide the temporary ramp. This allowed for almost a complete modification of Avery’s home without him having to spend even one penny. Veterans with permanent and total service-connected conditions meeting the above description should complete VA Form 26-4555 (http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-26-4555-ARE.pdf) and submit the completed for to the VA Regional Office or to the VSO.
The rates have increased since Avery received them. Currently the maximum SAH amount is $63,780. Due to the flexibility of this grant, I urge veterans, or family members, review the fact sheets or go to the following link for information: https://gibill.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1260/related/1/session/L2F2LzIvdGltZS8xMzE3MTM1NTgzL3NpZC9CTlJVQjhGaw==
Avery’s house, a single story ranch style home was beautiful. He thoroughly enjoyed his last few years of life. He was able to use his home and travel places again. For too long, Avery was confined to his home. He told me he often felt trapped in his home. It was my pleasure to guide Avery through all the regulations the VA has to follow.
