All Los Angeles County Military & Veterans Affairs locations will be closed for business until further notice due to the coronavirus pandemic, but necessary services to veterans and their families will continue to be provided via telephone and electronic mail.
Claims will continue to be filed electronically, including those for compensation, pension, college fee waivers or burial benefits, according to the county Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Veterans can contact an MVA Veteran Service Officer directly by calling (877) 4LA-VETS, (213) 765-9680 or (213) 765-9681 or via email at outreach@mva.lacounty.gov.
For immediate assistance, general questions or to check on the status of a claim or appeal, contact the VA at (800) 827-1000 or the CalVet District Office at (213) 620-2755.
Veteran Service tenants housed at Bob Hope Patriotic Hall may be contacted at the following:
—Veterans America’s Job Center of California: (213) 742-9560, Herbert Thau, Hthau@JVS-SoCal.org.
—USVets: (213) 700-6450, Antonio Casasola, Acasasola@usvetsinc.org.
—LA County Mental Health: (213) 763-0300, Nancy Pelayo, NPelayo@dmh.lacounty.gov, Katherine Guerra, Kguerra@dmh.lacounty.gov.
—LA County Bar Association, Veterans Legal Services Project: (213) 896-6537, inquiries-veterans@lacba.org.
—Community Veteran Justice Project: (818) 633-2440, Jodi Galvin, Office.cvjp@gmail.com.
—California State University Northridge VITA Tax Service: csu5vita@csun.edu.
Anyone experiencing depression, anxiety or having thoughts of self-harm can call the Veterans Crisis Line at (800) 273-8255. To better cope with stress during COVID-19, visit the LA County Department of Mental Health website.
The LA Regional Food Bank continues to be operational. For a food bank location, go here: https://www.lafoodbank.org/find-food/pantry-locator/.
For health information, visit the L.A. County Department of Public Health website, http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/.
