NYSBA Teams up With New York State Department of Veterans Services to Help At-Risk Vets
1.29.2026
The New York State Department of Veterans’ Services is launching a new grant program encouraging solo attorneys and law firms to commit time and resources to represent veterans. The program is co-sponsored by the New York State Bar Association and will provide grants to attorneys or firms in exchange for their representation of veterans who are at risk of becoming homeless. The state agency will award up to seven grants in the program.
Lawyers who are interested must contact Department of Veteran Services Deputy Counsel Benjamin Pomerance at bejamin.pomerance@veterans.ny.gov or call the department at 1 (888) 838-7697.
Pomerance supervises the Veterans Department Appellate Unit, training and programming initiatives. He advocates for veterans, service members, and their families on a wide variety of legal issues, from disability compensation to discharge upgrades to access to healthcare.
In exchange for the funding, the firm or organization must serve veterans in the following practice areas:
- Landlord/ Tenant issues
- Taxes
- Family Law, especially child support
- Discharge Upgrades or Military Records Corrections
- Driver’s License Revocation and remediation
- Criminal Defense
Gary Port, co-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Veterans, says this is a great opportunity for solo practitioners and small firms that want to help veterans but often don’t have the means.
“This is a great program. Many small firms and solo attorneys would like to help but don’t have the ability to do pro bono work. Bigger firms can do a lot of pro bono, but smaller ones cannot,” he said.
Port says family law cases, especially those dealing with child support, can be complicated and time intensive, often racking up billable hours that veterans cannot pay. What’s more, he says, having an attorney in Family Court can affect the outcome of the case.
“If attorneys can get funding to help them pursue child support cases, it’s huge. If you are in Family Court without counsel, it can have an adverse result.”
Port recounted a recent case in which he helped a colleague find emergency housing for a reservist who was living in her car. He says this case demonstrates how pervasive these issues are among at-risk service members.
The National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans was founded in 2009 to coordinate services for veterans experiencing homelessness and to conduct research on the issue. This research found that veterans often become homeless following an unmet legal need involving housing, taxes, child support or a lack of transportation. Providing legal services to these at-risk veterans can prevent them from becoming homeless.
Each January, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development conducts a point in time census of America’s homeless population including veterans. Its 2024 survey estimated 32,882 veterans were experiencing homelessness on a single night, the lowest number since HUD began reporting in 2009. This marked a decline of approximately 8% compared to the survey taken in January of 2023.
While the HUD survey is showing a decrease, others report an increase in younger veterans who are experiencing homelessness. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans reports veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars represent approximately 9% of the overall homeless veteran population.
