About Our Foundation
The Foundation
The Lake County Veterans and Family Services Foundation is a 501c (3) non-profit organization founded in 2012. Originally a Department of Health and Human Services grant, today we are 100% funded by private donations which means we need your help to serve those in our Lake, McHenry and Southern Kenosha County Communities who have served, sacrificed, and continue to struggle emotionally, financially and vocationally.
Financial Disclosure: Click here for the latest filed 990.
Our Mission
Our mission is to connect Service Members and their families with each other and to the resources and benefits they earned and deserve, free and confidentially regardless of discharge status. Through our professionally trained Veteran Peer Specialists, we provide “help from those who’ve been there” for support services, counseling, program resources, and a sense of hope and purpose.
Our Guiding Principles
Peer support is an essential component for our success. Those who have been there are the ones who can truly understand and guide someone through recovery from the impact of their military experiences.
Community support is not bound by legal or traditional military restrictions. When issues emerge that affect our target consumer, we will engage all those affected.
We believe that employment and volunteer work are significant contributors to an improved feeling of worthiness and normalcy for our target consumer. Our focus is to develop these principles of connection in our community for veterans and their families.
Our primary goal prior to, during, and after deployment is to keep families intact, engaged, and flourishing. We acknowledge support persons as a part of the family to be included in the process.
All interventions will be confidential, and any discussion or dissemination of information associated with the interaction of our programs or partners will be consumer-controlled.
Our support of programs that thwart suicide and homelessness is grounded in the value of developing the individual’s hope that things can get and stay better.
We will support programs that recruit, train, and certify the next generation of trauma-informed providers of our transformational care.
Latest News
2023 Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption
Standard Homestead Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities (SHEVD) PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS A RENEWAL APPLICATION NOT A FIRST-TIME APPLICANT. This exemption provides a reduction in
Veterans MLK Day Service
Martin Luther King Day Service Member Family Dinner a Smash Success! A Service Member family dinner to celebrate MLK Day was hosted at the JIC
Debra Lewis Military Academy
Military service is one of the greatest honors and responsibilities in this country. Each year Congressman Brad Schneider has the privilege of nominating young, promising
Veterans Benefits Dec 2022
Table of Contents Raising Your VA Compensation Rates As the cost of living goes up, VA ensures that your benefit rates do too! Starting Jan.
Free Veterans Dinner held November 7 at JIC Community Development Center in Waukegan
A free Veterans dinner was hosted by Lake County Veterans and Family Services Foundation (LCVFSF) Waukegan “Cup-A-Joe”, the JIC Community Development Corporation, Northern Illinois Recovery
Millburn Middle School Students Learn About the Vietnam War from Veterans
For the 8th consecutive year, teacher David Schroeder has helped his Social Studies students at Milburn Middle School in Lindenhurst understand the Vietnam War in
