7/1/14 - Itâs no easy mission but some members of the community are coming together to raise funds in hopes of keeping a veteran in his Brighton-area home. 82-year-old Ross Dahlberg is a Korean War-era veteran who has suffered from a lot of medical problems over the last year and is now confined to a wheelchair. He fell behind on his mortgage after several surgeries and despite efforts to obtain assistance through a state program as well as efforts to intervene by the Livingston County Department of Veterans Affairs; Dahlbergâs home was sold for $132,000 at a sheriff auction. Veterans Benefits counselor Joshua Parish tells WHMI he wholeheartedly feels an injustice has been done to Dahlberg in that heâs been overlooked and essentially taken advantage of by the system. He says Dahlberg sought assistance and believed he had been accepted in the state program but was hospitalized at the time recovering from a triple bypass surgery. Dahlberg learned upon returning home that he had actually been denied due to a clerical error. Parish says an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order was filed in the local court system to try and prevent the sale that day but it was denied and a private investor also fell through. There is a six month redemption period for Dahlberg to come up with the full amount owed of $132,000. Parish says theyâre soliciting donations through the Go Fund Me website and planning fundraisers to try and help. The department is also accepting checks on Dahlbergâs behalf from any businesses for tax write-off purposes, which can be mailed to: Livingston County Veterans Affairs, 2300 E. Grand River Suite 109 Howell, MI 48843. A link to the donation site is posted below. (JM)
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