On July 31, the University of Michigan-Flint hosted its first-ever Benefits Boot Camp and Resource Fair at the Harding Mott University Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., a multi-institutional event providing resources to all veterans in the Flint area.
The event has previously been hosted at various other colleges and universities around Michigan, such as Ferris State University, Lansing Community College and Schoolcraft College.
This year, UM-Flint welcomed the multi-institution event, allowing veterans to get resources closer to the area and to open resources up to the general public, not just students.
Joshua Fenner, an education services specialist at the Department of the Army and National Guard Bureau, said hosting events like these helps soldiers utilize the benefits they deserve.
“(Veterans can) understand what their benefits are and overcome hurdles that may prevent them from utilizing them,” Fenner said. “Whether it be getting ID cards, whether it be issues applying for benefits, whether it be some sort of veteran affairs issue, we have everybody here that can address whatever problems they’re having to make it a smoother process.”
The first-year benefits fair offered multiple resource tables, which included: the Veterans Affairs Center, transition assistance advisors, military family readiness, UM-Flint undergraduate and graduate counselors, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Health System, Genesee County Veterans Service Office, Michigan’s Veterans Affairs Agency, Division of Military and Veterans Affairs Lansing and UM-Flint’s Student Veterans Resource Center
Student veteran Sergio Molina said that veterans have earned their benefits, “I feel like it’s in our best interest to use something that we’ve earned and not just let it go to waste.”
Veterans who attended the event received guidance on tuition assistance questions, submitting military tuition applications, receiving benefits, and using the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
This allows veterans to receive educational and housing benefits, medical and commissary services, Military installations and facilities as well as TRICARE coverage.
Helen Budd, program manager for UM-Flint’s Student Veterans Resource Center, said that often
there is difficulty transitioning from military to civilian life.
“You go from an environment where you can look at another person’s uniform and immediately know what their rank is and where they’ve served,” Budd said. “You go from that to a place like U of M Flint that has no apparent obvious structure.”
The last two Benefits Boot Camps are set to take place Aug. 7 at Northern Michigan University and Aug. 14 at Western Michigan University.
Rylie Yeiter is a writer for the Michigan Times and can be reached at jasobii@umich.edu.
