Here to help
The Georgia Department of Veterans Service was created to advise, counsel and assist Georgia veterans and their families in receiving their rightful benefits. (Important to remember: No veterans benefits are automatic. You must apply for them.) The GDVS central office is at Floyd Veterans Memorial Building, Suite E-970, Atlanta 30334-4800; phone 404-656-2300; email: gavetsvc@vs.state.ga.us. GDVS Veterans Field Service Offices provide direct assistance to veterans. Veterans seeking assistance with their benefits can find contact information for their local office at: http://veterans.georgia.gov/field-offices
The Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) is assisting veterans and their spouses in finding work; transitioning into the workforce; building career skills; credentialing military experience and training; and accessing state and federal veterans services.
Want to find the closest of the state’s 44 career centers? Go to https://dol.georgia.gov/locations/career-center.
Also, EmployGeorgia.com is a website created by the GDOL to help state residents find work. It offers specialized services for military personnel. Through various computer prompts, members of the military can translate how their experience, skills and service can benefit a private sector employer. The GDOL also lists some Veterans Employment Initiatives on its website, including Hero2Hired, an effort that pairs veterans with military-friendly companies, and Vets to Cops, a program that assists veterans in finding opportunities in law enforcement.
Military.com offers resources, including a job board and military-to-civilian transition support. The website reaches a national audience but prompts the user to enter location information to tailor the search to an exact city and state. Another job board with opportunities for veterans looking for work in Atlanta is HireVeterans.com.
Atlanta Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Initiative helps U.S. veterans, military service members, and their families build through a proven program for qualified homebuyers, improve their current homes by completing critical home repairs, and use their skills and talent to give back to their community through volunteering. Phone: 404-223-5180.
Georgia Tech Veterans Education Training
Georgia Tech Professional Education is collaborating with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) to offer an online entry-level course for veterans transitioning from the military to corporate life. There is funding available to waive tuition for up to 7,000 soldiers. The short online course, “VET2101,” is based on “Boots to Loafers, Finding Your True North,” by retired Lt. Col. John W. Phillips. Phillips currently collaborates with the Military Program (VET2) offered through Georgia Tech Professional Education, and his book is required reading for students enrolled.
We Hire Heroes (http://WeHireHeroes.US/Atlanta) is a veteran-owned, online job board and career center providing quality employment opportunities and transition guidance for metro Atlanta's veterans, spouses, retired military, and active duty personnel.
OTHER AGENCIES
Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities provides treatment and support services to people with mental health challenges and substance use disorders, and assists individuals who live with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Contact: 404-657-2252
Georgia Department of Community Health provides Georgians with access to affordable, quality health care through effective planning, purchasing and oversight. Contact: 404-656-4507
Georgia Department of Defense coordinates and supervises all agencies and functions of the Georgia National Guard, including the Georgia Army National Guard, the Georgia Air National Guard and the Georgia State Defense Force. it provides ready and relevant military forces to the Combatant Commanders and, with the consent of the governor, provides command and control capabilities to support Homeland Defense and Defense Support of Civil Authorities. Contact: 678-569-3911
Georgia Department of Human Services delivers a broad range of human services designed to promote self-sufficiency, safety and well-being for all Georgians. Gives priority to veterans for enrollment in Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), which serves the unemployed age 55 and older looking to re-enter the workforce. Contact: 844-694-2347
Georgia Secretary of State engages veterans in the elections process as members of the electorate and volunteers at the polls. Assists veterans in navigating the processes of applying for business, corporate and other professional licensing. Contact: 404-656-2881
Georgia Veterans Education Career Transition Resource Center offers career counseling, educational coaching and workforce training for veterans entering Georgia's public postsecondary education systems and workforce. Contact: 478-218-3900
Council of Accountability Court Judges assists in the development of veterans treatment courts.
Contact: 404-656-2613
Technical College System of Georgia provides support for veterans pursuing education.
Contact: 404-679-1667 or 404-679-1760
University System of Georgia provides support for veterans education. Contact: 404-962-3110 or 404-962-3082
Workforce Division of the Georgia Department of Economic Development offers assistance through Operation: Workforce, a program through which veterans can find tools to translate their military occupational classifications into civilian jobs and search for career opportunities with employers who have pledged to hire veterans. Contact: 404-962-4069
Some breaks for veterans are available through state
tax exemptions. (Georgia Department of Veteran Services makes no guarantee regarding the award of tax exemptions. But these are some possibilities.)
Abatement of income taxes for combat vets: Georgia law provides that service personnel who die as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while serving in a combat zone as a member of the U.S. armed forces are exempt from all Georgia income taxes for the taxable year of death.
Ad valorem taxes on vehicles: This exemption is for veterans who are verified by VA to be 100 percent totally and permanently service-connected disabled and veterans who are receiving or who are entitled to receive statutory awards from VA for: (1) loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet; (2) loss or permanent loss of use of one or both hands; (3) loss of sight in one or both eyes; or (4) permanent impairment of vision of both eyes to a prescribed degree. The exemption is for one vehicle the veteran owns and upon which the free Disabled Veteran (DV) license plate is attached. Also exempt are veterans who qualify for the Purple Heart or Medal of Honor specialty license plates.
Business certification of exemption: Georgia veterans are eligible for an exemption from any occupation tax, administrative fee, or regulatory fee imposed by local governments for peddling, conducting a business, or practicing a profession or semi-profession, if they meet all of these conditions:
■ discharged under honorable conditions
■ service-connected disability rating of 10 percent (wartime veterans) or 25 percent (peacetime veterans).
Exemption of filing deadline for combat deployment: The tax filing deadline for combat deployed military personnel (those who served on active duty as members of the U.S. armed forces during a period designated by the president) runs until 180 days after such deployment ends.
Veterans Driver's License – Free version of a Georgia driver's license includes a U.S. flag and the word VETERAN prominently displayed on the front. An honorably discharged veteran is entitled to a free veteran's driver's license if two criteria are met: Georgia residency and service during a recognized period of war or conflict.
On March 4, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln decreed that the government had an obligation to “care for who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan …”
