Everlight Care provides in-home private duty care services for veteran seniors and their surviving spouses. Certain veterans may qualify for financial assistance with activities of daily living like eating, bathing, dressing, continence (using the toilet), mobility (transferring, walking), and grooming.

What is the Community Care Network?

Through the Community Care Network, veterans can access a broad range of services, including:

• medical,
• behavioral health,
• surgical,
• dental services
• complementary and integrative health services (CIHS).

CIHS includes:

• biofeedback,
• hypnotherapy,
• massage therapy,
• Native American healing,
  relaxation techniques
• tai chi.

Other services include:

• dialysis,
• comprehensive rehabilitation,
• residential care,
• home-health care,
• non-medical home care (Everlight Care!)
• hospice care,
• dental,
• immunizations
• long-term acute care.
• Durable medical equipment (DME)
• prescription medications (up to a 14-day supply)

Veterans must be authorized by VA to obtain services through CCN.

This program emphasizes a patient-centered approach, focusing on the unique needs and preferences of each veteran, and fostering a collaborative relationship between the veteran, their VA care team, and community providers.

Personal Care Services Provided

Personal Care Services provide assistance with more intimate types of care. This includes all of the activities of daily living: (ADLs)

• Bathing, dressing, and grooming
• Oral Hygiene
• Ambulation
• Safety and fall prevention
• Feeding
• Medication reminders
• Toileting and incontinence care
• Transferring from bed to wheelchair
• Expertise with Memory loss, confusion, and forgetfulness
• Monitoring and reporting conditions and changes

Personal care services keep seniors in their own homes longer by preventing illness and the worsening of long-term medical conditions.

How Do Fresno and Madera Veterans Get Help with this Program?

In order to apply for those benefits, contact The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet).  They offer the state’s veterans a full suite of services that includes assisted living homes, help with Veterans Administration claims, legal aid, and more. CalVet works in tandem with the state’s County Veterans Service Offices (CVSOs) to help veterans and their family members with benefits, referrals, and advocacy.

To be connected to the closest CVSO, call 844-SERV-VET. To reach CalVet headquarters in Sacramento, call 800-952-5626.

What is the Veterans Aid and Attendance Pension?

The Veterans Benefits Administration, a branch of the VA, provides monthly payments to certain wartime veterans with financial need, and their survivors. This pension is available if you (the veteran) or a surviving spouse of a veteran, meet certain criteria.

The Aid and Attendance amount is available for those who need the “aid and attendance” of another person for their routine daily living activities on a long-term basis.

How Does a Veteran Qualify for Aid and Attendance?

A simple way to determine if you are eligible is to start with the three main qualifications or “must-haves” for the VA Pension with Aid and Attendance:

1) Military: Are you a veteran or the surviving spouse of a veteran who served at least 90 days on active duty, at least one day during wartime, with an honorable or general discharge? (Persian Gulf War veterans must have two years of active duty or the full period for which they were called for active duty.)

2) Medical: Do you have a non-service-connected medical condition causing you to need assistance with activities of daily living?

3) Money: Do you have a net worth of, or less than, $130,773 (limit established by Congress 12.1.2020)? A primary residence and auto are not counted as part of net worth. Ongoing non-reimbursable medical and long-term care expenses may reduce your countable income.

Did you serve during one of the VA Defined War Periods?

• World War II:  December 7, 1941-December 31, 1946
• Korean Conflict: June 27, 1950-January 31, 1955
• Vietnam Era: August 5, 1964-May 7, 1975  Veterans who served February 28, 1961-August 5, 1964, must have served “in country” (Vietnam).
• Persian Gulf War: August 2, 1990- date to be prescribed by Presidential Proclamation or law. Must have served active duty for two years or the full period of which the veteran was called for active duty.

Help with Activities of Daily Living

Activities of daily living (ADLs) are routine self-care activities that people tend to every day without needing assistance. There are six basic ADLs: eating, bathing, dressing, continence (using the toilet), mobility (transferring, walking), and grooming. Home care agencies provide aides who can assist those who need help with activities of daily living. Aid and Attendance helps wartime veterans and spouses pay for help with activities of daily living.

More About This Veterans Benefit

In 1952 Congress passed Title 38 of the United States Code authorizing certain benefits for veterans. One of these benefits is the Non-Service Connected Pension, with “Aid and Attendance.” It is also known as simply “Aid and Attendance” or “Veterans Aid and Attendance benefit” or “Aid and Attendance Pension” or “Improved Pension with Aid and Attendance.”

In March 1989, during President George H. W. Bush’s presidency, the Veterans Administration (VA) was elevated to a cabinet-level executive department. The Veterans Administration was then renamed the Department of Veterans Affairs, and continued to be known as VA. Today the VA is comprised of three basic branches: the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Veterans Benefits Administration and the National Cemetery Administration (NCA).