Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Livingston County veterans and their families that might be struggling are being reminded that free emergency assistance is available.

The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency says thousands of Livingston County veterans have benefited from Michigan Veterans Trust Fund or MVTF.

For 77 years, the Trust Fund has supported eligible veterans and their families throughout the state with emergency financial assistance.

In Livingston County, 4,957 emergency assistance grants have been distributed to veteran families for a total of $1.5 (m) million in aid since the Trust Fund was created in 1946.

The MVTF’s emergency grant program helps veterans overcome unforeseen situations causing a short-term financial emergency or hardship if the veteran can demonstrate the ability to meet future expenses. Historically, the Trust Fund has provided emergency grants to eligible wartime-era veterans for things like mortgage and rent assistance, home repairs and heating bills.

In 2021, the Trust Fund started providing emergency assistance to eligible peacetime-era veterans who are 65 years and older.

The MVTF was created by the state Legislature in 1946 to help veterans with a $50 (m) million corpus that has since grown to more than $66 (m) million. Interest from the corpus funds the emergency grant program. It’s said to be one of the nation’s oldest veteran trust funds and became part of the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency in 2013.

More information about applying for an emergency grant from the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund is available in the provided link, or by contacting the MVAA at 1-800-MICH-VET.