Veteran Crises Line 1-800-273-8255 - Always confidential
Helping Veterans, Active Duty Military & Their Families
Click the RESOURCES button to access 100+ FREE Veteran benefits. 112 VA Disability Presumptives are also listed.
Who We Are
Our Organization
People have questioned us as to the word "Progressive" in our name. Are we really a bunch of tree huggers out to give everything away for free? Not quite. Why we chose that word is a long story, and not really relevant to write about here. What is relevant is what the word means to us: forward-looking; dynamic; reforming; innovative. We are made up of people politically on the left, on the right and independents. We came together to make things better...for Veterans, Active Duty Military and their families. Please join us.
1. The El Paso County Colorado Progressive Veterans is an IRS vetted and approved 501(c)4 Social Welfare Veterans nonprofit organization. We focus on the many ways that we can help our Veterans, Active Duty Military and their families. Our website has over 100 Veteran support and benefit groups listed, with hot links to the appropriate websites.
These include everything from homeless solutions, FREE trained support dogs, FREE scuba diving lessons and even how to get FREE Colorado license plates. We have also included excellent information on how to apply for VA Healthcare and Disability Benefits. We have listed in that section 112 presumptives (automatic VA Disability awards). Click the RESOURCE Button for more information.
2. We give a voice to El Paso County Colorado Veterans, Active Duty Military and their families. To do this effectively, we need to have our voice in Washington DC. For us to be heard, we need numbers ... in other words, a large number of members. There are NO dues or meetings.
Membership is strictly confidential and our membership numbers are used only for communicating with Congress, their leadership and the VA. Click the About Us button above to learn more about membership and the benefits that membership offers.
3. We don't stop there. Veterans won't find us just by word of mouth. We have found that attending events is the best way to increase our membership and we schedule a number of these every year. On the cost side of our organization, we do have some operational expenses, such as this website. We have no paid staff or rent and Board members are not compensated. Please donate. Our Donate button has a hot link to make this easy. A 501(c)4 can NOT donate to candidates or political parties, but we do endorse candidates the we believe will best support our Veterans and Active Duty Military. Our current endorsements are located within the Voting button.
The Platinum Seal is the highest award GuideStar gives to any nonprofit.
112 VA Disability Presumptives (automatically awarded if you qualify)
Are you currently receiving VA Disability Benefits? Do you think you may have a claim for Disability Benefits? Have you received a new diagnosis that you think might be related to your military service? Click the RESOURCES Button to view 112 VA Disability Presumptives (in other words, automatically awarded).
These disability benefits may not need to be tied to your service. Your VSO (Veteran Service Officer) will sort this out for you. How to find a local VSO is shown within the Resource/VA Disability Button). Some are obvious, some not so much. And always keep in mind that the VA Health Care providers are NOT allowed to suggest that you apply for benefits if you are diagnosed with a Presumptive. This is YOUR responsibility.
Secondary Conditions are sort of secret disabilities. These are typically symptoms or diseases that are not directly connected to someone's service, but can be tied to their service. Let's say you break your foot while serving. Military Doctors put a cast on it and you are good to go. 30 or 40 years later you develop debilitating arthritis in that leg. That would be a Secondary Condition and probably would be approved for VA Disability compensation. The following is a link that gives more examples: https://vaclaimsinsider.com/secondary-conditions-the-overlooked-claim/
And always keep in mind that these are EARNED benefits. These are benefits that will help your spouse and your children. If you don't want to apply for yourself, think of them.
POW-MIA