Kent County Veterans Services - June 2026 Newsletter

Summer is here, which means we are seeing an increase in veterans coming to our office to apply for financial assistance, thanks to our Soldiers and Sailors Relief Fund (SSR). We are receiving an average of nearly 2,000 calls to our office each month! To continue to spread the news about programs like SSR, we have spent the last several months forming new partnerships with local companies who have a large number of veteran employees, like:

• Acron Aviation who are a major global player in commercial aviation technology, focusing heavily on safety, pilot training, and data intelligence. (Photos here)
• Amphenol Borisch Technologies who are an electronics manufacturer serving the military and aerospace industries. (Photos here)

Our team has visited both of their offices to meet with their veterans and provide information on how they can apply for VA benefits and utilize our other services. This is just one of the ways we are working to reach more veterans.

We continue to invest in training for our team members as well! Our Accredited Veterans Services Officers (VSO), along with myself, just returned from the Michigan Association of County Veteran Counselors (MACVC) Spring Conference in Bellaire, Michigan. One of our VSO Theresa Ergang, was named the new Judge Advocate for MACVC after previously serving as the Legislative Officer. This week, some of our staff is attending the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers (NACVSO) Annual Conference and training. VSOs Theresa Ergang and Andrew LaPres are in Reno, Nevada and Supervisor Rachel Wustman and Clerk and Emergency Relief Coordinator Amanda Lake are attending the virtual training. This event offers critical training including 16+ Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

Our team also just launched an outreach vehicle which serves as a mobile billboard for our office. This vehicle will be used to travel to and from the many different events we attend, across the 35 municipalities we serve, while alerting people about our office and encouraging them to call us or visit our website. We just used it in both the Walker and Grand Rapids Memorial Day parades and got a lot of good feedback. We want to send a big thanks to our Purchasing and Fleet Services departments who worked to make this happen!

From everyone at Kent County Veterans Services, we want to wish you a happy and safe summer. We thank you for helping get the word out about the services we offer while supporting continued education for our staff and making sure we are present in many parts of our community.

Ryan Grams
Director

Not only do we send our Accredited Veterans Services Officers to trainings, but we also sent our Community Outreach Specialist Dan Zar to Greater Palm Springs, California in early May to attend the 2026 Communications School with the National Association of Government Communicators. Zar joined hundreds of fellow communicators from different sectors of government including county, federal, state and tribal. The annual event equips communicators with practical skills in crisis communication, digital engagement, and media relations.

While he was there, Zar was nominated to serve as the Marketing and Communications Director for NAGC for a one-year term, starting this month. Please congratulate him on his accomplishment!

U.S. Army Veteran Doug Larabel is one of 19 artists taking part in the Kent County Veterans Services grant funded Art for Honor program which pays for veteran artists to compete in ArtPrize. Larabel is 79-years-old and served 23 years in the military including three tours in Vietnam.

Larabel specializes in Intarsia which is an intricate woodworking technique that creates mosaic-like pictures by fitting together individually cut and shaped pieces of wood. When asked how he got involved in art, Larabel said that he was given a scroll saw back in 1991 when he retired and it sparked a new chapter in his life. Join us from September 17 to October 3, 2026 at our display located outside Grand Rapids city hall.

We are looking for volunteers to join us in walking and handing out items during the Grandville 4th of July parade at 10am on Saturday, July 4, 2026. Staff from our office will also have a booth at the craft show from 8am-5pm to make sure all veterans and their spouses know about the free services we offer. Interested? Reach out to Dan Zar our Community Outreach Specialist for details.

In honor of America's 250th anniversary, Kent County Veterans Services has unveiled a limited edition Challenge Coin. The small medallion is a military tradition that serves as a powerful symbol of membership, achievement, and camaraderie.

Each year, our office designs a coin to give to veterans we meet at events throughout the year. This year, we have a very limited number of coins in honor of our nation's birthday. Visit us at one of our upcoming events for your chance to get one of our limited edition coins.