Now more than ever there is a strong need for the DAV meetings as there are around 300,000 veterans in the Sacramento area and the population only continues to increase. Photo designed by Magnific

NORTH HIGHLANDS, CA (MPG) – Are you or a loved one a veteran looking to file disability claims but not sure how? Disabled American Veterans Chapter 93 is looking to help you. Whether that is aiding you filing disability claims or recruiting new members to a tight knit community of fellow veterans, there is a community right next door in North Highlands.

Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is more than 100 years old and began in 1920 by Captain Robert S. Marks, a disabled veteran who later became judge and started lobbying congress for a way to take care of veterans after they have served. He eventually won and DAV was born as an organization for disabled military veterans of the United States Armed Forces that helps them and their families through various means. The first national convention of DAV was held in Detroit in July 1921.

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 93 is a local DAV chapter in the Sacramento area looking to assist veterans with filing VA disability claims, aiding veteran widow claims and recruiting new members into the chapter.

Chapter 93 Recruiter and Commander Raymond Richmond has been with Disabled American Veterans for more than 30 years. He expresses that there is a strong need for these meetings as there are around 300,000 veterans in the Sacramento area and the population only continues to increase.

“DAV has only gotten bigger; there is more of a need as more veterans are coming in from all over. It’s a continuation of more needs for vets because of what is going on in the world,” Richmond said.

Richmond went on to discuss how many veterans or widows of veterans often do not know how to file a claim or need to be walked through the process to ensure that they are receiving what they are entitled to.

“Some vets do not have a claim, or they don’t know how to get an increase in claims and some widows don’t know how to get their husband buried,” Raymond said.

 

Chapter Service Officer, Kevin Findley has been with DAV Chapter 93 for three years and was originally recruited while Findley visited the Public Affairs table at the McClellan outpatient clinic in November 2023. It was explained to him that joining DAV Chapter 93 would be a good idea and within a couple months after Findley was recruited the current chapter service officer had to retire. Findley stepped up to the position as he already had experience helping veterans in his family seek benefits, so he figured, “there is no reason I can’t do it for somebody else.”

While the Chapter 93 meetings are mainly hosted in the North Highlands meeting hall, Findley has recently begun hosting meetings in Citrus Heights. These meetings take place at the All Veterans Community Center off 6921 Sylvan Road in Citrus Heights. Unlike the meetings in North Highlands, there are two meetings each month in Citrus Heights, these occur on the fourth Wednesday and the second Tuesday of every month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Findley explained that the additional meetings in Citrus Heights provide more of a chance to engage with the community while also providing him a “much better homebase to work at.”

The DAV Chapter 93 meetings are not only a place to seek assistance for filing disability or widow claims, but they also serve as an important place for veterans to foster a familiar community.

“One of the fun things about these meetings is being able to sit down with a group of people and share stories and lives with,” Chapter Service Officer Kevin Findley said.

Findley went on to explain that there is a strongly compassionate comradery that veterans with DAV have with each other.

“One of the benefits of working with DAV Chapter 93 is that you are working with people who have already been in the system for the decades, so they understand how it works fundamentally,” Findley said. “Real help is getting in and talking through it.”

This is quite different than how many veterans have been treated in the past after returning home once they have finished serving. DAV makes it their mission to ensure that every veteran that seeks help are treated with dignity and respect. Findley emphasized how there are veterans that join Chapter 93 that had not been to a clinic until the past year.

“We get people that come back [from service] who weren’t treated very well, they would put their uniforms in the closet, but it wasn’t always respected. We have some veterans who have never been to a clinic until 2025. For everyone like that, it is not necessarily about getting a pension but helping them with medical care and getting a bit more dignity,” Findley said.

The DAV Chapter 93 meetings are not only a place to seek assistance for filing disability or widow claims, but they also serve as an important place for veterans to foster a familiar community. Photo designed my Magnific 

Currently three members of DAV Chapter 93 recruit new members at the VA McClellan outpatient clinic in McClellan Park just south of North Highlands, where Findley was recruited just three months ago.

Disabled American Veterans Chapter 93 service is free to all and meetings in North Highlands are located at the VFW meeting hall at 3300 U St. at 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month.