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Veterans Services reports surge in outreach after advertising; warns state grant rules restrict emergency spending
Summary
Macomb County’s Veterans Services reported increased inquiries and requests for assistance after a recent streaming advertising campaign and warned that state grant restrictions now limit some emergency spending.
Macomb County’s Chief Veterans Service Officer, Laura, presented the department’s third-quarter report on Nov. 5 and described a noticeable uptick in service demand tied to recent advertising buys.
Laura said the county ran streaming ads tied to Detroit Lions games on Fox and selected non-Lions broadcasts; she told commissioners that one game’s streaming audience report showed about 42,000 viewers and another showed about 50,000 viewers. "Our phone calls seem to be more every week after our advertising on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday," Laura said, and staff are tracking whether callers cite the ad as the reason for contacting the office.
Veterans Services staff reported increases in requests for financial assistance, transport to the VA, psychological evaluations and hearing-loss services. The office is coordinating with community partners: Laura noted the Vietnam Veterans Chapter 154 food pantry has seen an uptick in demand and will not turn away clients.
Laura also outlined grant developments affecting program operations. She said the department's IRS grant application was not approved, the CDM grant was approved, and a state grant (referred to in the meeting as a GrAMA/GRAMa award) released by Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency now contains language that limits eligible spending to payroll and training. "Payroll can only be a new employee, not an existing employee," Laura said, which restricts how the county can use those funds for outreach, advertising and emergent needs. She said until state grant language is changed, local programs that previously used those funds for emergency assistance must pause or seek alternate funding.
Commissioners asked about geographic targeting of streaming ads and outreach events; Laura supplied device- and platform-level breakdowns for streaming and described upcoming outreach venues. The committee received and filed the quarterly report.
The presentation and subsequent budget review highlighted a dependency between county millage and grant funds: Laura said the department maintains a millage fund and several grants, and she asked finance staff to clarify grant fund balances and capital-outlay items.
