Community Resources

Accredited American Legion service officers are specially trained to provide expert assistance, free of charge, to veterans and their families. While the majority of a service officer's work involves application for VA disability benefits, these compassionate professionals also provide information, referrals and resources on education, employment and business, death benefits and other important topics.

Combat Veterans to Careers (CVC) was founded in The Villages in May 2012 with the commitment to serve our nation’s combat veterans and their families. Since our inception, we’ve assisted more than 955 veteran families in the area of education, employment, housing and wellness. CVC has partnered with local residents, clubs, businesses, colleges and VA offices to bring combat veterans and their families “home” to a community that embraces them and provides education, understanding and meaningful employment to minimize hardships. In addition to counseling, housing, career and educational opportunities, we provide veterans with opportunities to deliver services beyond themselves. This is essential to successfully reconnecting with others in the community, and is a large part of why many veterans were led to serve their country in the first place. Accessing care and benefits through the VA, utilizing earned education benefits, training for civilian careers, securing affordable housing and developing a quality resume package are just a few of the ways we continue to help our veterans transition back into civilian life.

At the end of World War II, the State of Florida recognized the need to provide ‎services to returning service members and created a division within state ‎government to connect Veterans with their earned benefits. To address the growing Veteran population, Florida voters in 1988 overwhelmingly approved a ‎Constitutional Amendment to create a Cabinet Agency to “Honor Those Who ‎Served U.S.” Today, the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs (FDVA) is the premier ‎point of entry for Florida’s nearly 1.5 million Veterans to access earned services, benefits and ‎support. ‎FDVA ‎‎operates a ‎‎network of nine State Veterans’ Homes and provides statewide outreach to connect Veterans, their families, and survivors ‎‎with earned services, benefits and support.

The Lake & Sumter Counties Chapter (MOAA) was chartered and became an affiliate of The Retired Officers Association of America (TROA) in 1970, originally designated as the "Lake Chapter."  This included the geographical area of Lake County, Florida.  The majority of membership came from the cities of Eustis, Mount Dora, Tavares, and Leesburg, Florida.  The name of TROA was changed by a vote of members in 2003 to the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). In 2010, chapter members voted to change the name to include Sumter County, thus Lake & Sumter Counties Chapter - MOAA. This was done to recognize the entire geographical area in which our members reside.  It more accurately portrayed a "Pride" of demographic location and ownership to our members.  It did result in an increase in membership, including many new members who reside in The Villages.  Residents of Marion County who live in The Villages are also welcome members of our chapter. The chapter holds their monthly meetings at the Eisenhower Recreation Center near the Brownwood Paddock Square in The Villages from January through November.  No meetings are held in June, July, August, or December.  All meetings, except the November meeting, are luncheon meetings starting at 11:30 on the second Tuesday of the month.  The November meeting is a dinner meeting honoring the Junior ROTC students from the six high schools the chapter supports and starts at 5:30 p.m. The mission and purpose of our chapter shall be to:

1. Promote the purposes and objectives of MOAA.

2. Foster fraternal relations among retired, active, and former officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

3. Protect the rights and interests of active duty and retired personnel of the uniformed services and their dependents and survivors.

4. Provide useful services for members of our chapter and their dependents and survivors.

5. Support family financial assistance projects and scholarship programs as approved by the Executive Board.

6. Serve the community and nation.

Free Help for Homeless Veterans

Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness—and their family members, friends and supporters—can make the call to or chat online with the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans, where trained counselors are ready to talk confidentially 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Hours

Our Name is Our Mission Veterans Helping Veterans USA, Inc. is dedicated to assisting veterans and their families who are in need by providing social services and information to help improve their lives and maintain their independence. We are a 501(c) (3) not-for profit organization