Pittsburgh-area organization helps aging veterans receive in-home care

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PITTSBURGH — Pennsylvania has one of the highest numbers of veterans in the nation, and as they age, it’s hard to find and afford home health care. One Pittsburgh-area organization has a solution that helps our aging veterans and their families to remain in their homes.

Betty Horning, 93, is still in the home where she raised her family. She’s still telling stories about her late husband Ernest’s army service.

“They selected him to be the driver of the officials,” Horning said.

Horning is fiercely independent. Her concerned daughter lives out of state.

“We are always wondering if she’s ok, or if something happens to her who is going to find her if she has a basic fall,” said Jane McCowan, Horning’s daughter.

But Horning has someone watching out for her.

Caregiver Heather Niedermeyer lives just a few doors down, making it easy for her to drop in, do housework, and help Horning pass the time.

Niedermeyer’s help is possible because of a little-known VA provision called the Aid & Attendance benefit. It ranges anywhere between $1,400 and $2,700 each month — but the VA can take months to approve the benefit.

Most families can’t afford paid in-home care and most recipients can’t afford to wait for it.

“Being able to get caregivers into the home sooner is vital to our patients and loved ones in keeping them out of the hospital,” said Jessica Culbertson, social services coordinator for Preferred Primary Care Physicians.

John Mozdzien saw the need for a faster turnaround for the benefits. From that need came a company that he co-founded here in the region called Veterans First.

“When we have a candidate, a veteran, a surviving spouse that we appear to be qualified for this benefit, we essentially bear all the risk and float the cost for in-home care while it’s pending through the Dept. of Veterans Affairs,” said Mozdzien, a Navy veteran himself.

“Our team has the ability to give a vet or spouse a benefit that they did not know existed and help them navigate the maze of this particular benefit,” Mozdzien said.

John Fredrick Goldaine, 93, is a Korean War veteran, serving in the Army’s Quartermaster Corps. Now he values being with family.

“It means closeness,” Fredrick said.

“Dad’s been living with us for about a year. He gets to see his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, and his grand dogs as well; he gets to be with family,” said Fredrick’s son, John Anthony.

For more information about Veterans First, click here. To see if you qualify for the VA benefit, click here.

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