Listen Now: Recorded Tele-town Hall Highlighting Resources for South Dakota Veterans

AARP South Dakota salutes the service and sacrifice of our state’s veterans and military families, and that is why the organization hosted a free tele-town hall conversation to help connect veterans to important resources available to them.

You can listen to the recording from the tele-town hall, which took place on August 20, 2024.

The panelists included:

• Erik Gaikowski, AARP South Dakota State Director
• Aaron Pollard, Deputy Secretary of the South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs
• Brett Dickerson, Benefits Division Program Manager, South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs
• Shawn Bohn, Dakotas Regional Office Director, Veterans Benefits Administration
  

“Nearly 59,000 military veterans live in South Dakota, and many of them may be missing out on important resources and programs,” said Erik Gaikowski, AARP South Dakota State Director. “For example, according to a recent AARP survey, more than half of veterans ages 45 and older are unaware that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers grant funding to modify their homes so they can continue living in their homes safely and independently.”

Gaikowski adds that, according to U.S. Census Data, 75 percent of the state’s veterans are age 50 or older, three percent are without health insurance and less than half have used the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for healthcare.

“AARP has a long history of supporting veterans and military families,” Gaikowski says. “We help them navigate health benefits or the job market, we support family caregivers of veterans, and we fight fraud that targets our service members. Our goal is to connect our veterans to resources available to them right here in South Dakota.”