Legion shifts gears in southern California outreach
Verna Jones, executive director of The American Legion's Washington office, holds the microphone for Larry Van Kuran, adjutant of Legion Post 826, during the Legion's Veterans Benefits Center at Legion Post 496 in Long Beach, Calif. (Photo by Ben Morris)

Legion shifts gears in southern California outreach

In an effort to reach more veterans in critical need of assistance, The American Legion is moving its Veterans Benefits Center from Long Beach to Cloudbreak Communities at 725 S. Hindry Ave. in Inglewood, Calif.

The new location is closer to downtown Los Angeles, which has one of America’s largest concentrations of homeless veterans. Gary Blasi, a UCLA law professor emeritus, estimates that one out of every eight homeless veterans in the country lives in Los Angeles County.

“While the American Legion post in Long Beach offered us an excellent facility to use, we decided that our Veterans Benefits Center could serve more veterans if we moved it closer to Los Angeles,” said Verna Jones, the Legion’s executive director in Washington.

The American Legion’s benefits center is open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and tomorrow, Oct. 30.

Jones is leading a group of Legionnaires, VA workers and other service providers who are helping veterans this week with delayed benefits claims and other VA-related problems. “We appreciate Cloudbreak Communities’ help in putting us closer to a large veterans population – many of them homeless with serious mental issues.”

Since June, The American Legion has reached out to several thousand veterans and family members, securing more than $1 million for them in retroactive benefits.

“Most of these homeless veterans living under tarps, blankets or cardboard don’t even know they may qualify for monthly benefits payments because of their military service,” Jones said. “The American Legion is here to help them and we are asking greater Los Angeles to help us get the word out to its veterans.”