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Welcome to The Veterans Disability Nexus, where we provide unique insights and expertise on medical evidence related to VA-rated disabilities. Leah Bucholz, a US Army Veteran, Physician Assistant, & former Compensation & Pension Examiner shares her knowledge related to Independent Medical Opinions often referred to as “Nexus Letters” in support of your pursuit of VA Disability every Tuesday & Wednesday at 7AM Central.
Take control of your medical evidence related to your benefits and visit https://podcast.prestigeveteranmctx.info/veteran/ for more information and to connect directly with us!
Hey, guys. It's Leah B from Prestige Veteran Medical Consulting. I am a US army veteran, physician assistant, and former compensation and pension examiner. So today, wanted to come on and discuss a really incredible organization, the Folds of Honor Foundation, that provides scholarships to spouses and dependents of disabled veterans or veterans that died in in the line of duty. So there's a lot of really great scholarship programs out there, but this is one that I'm pretty familiar with and have had a lot of friends and colleagues that have have been able to utilize this scholarship, and it's it's pretty widely available.
Leah Bucholz:Not everybody gets it, but it's it's a pretty great way to get some high not only college, but some high school or some primary schooling if you're going to private school or tutoring paid for. So, this organization, again, provides those scholarships for the children and spouses of fallen and disabled service members. It's called the Folds of Honor. We're gonna zip over to their website here in a minute and take a look at it. But in today's video, we're gonna cover what Folds of Honor does, who qualifies, how to apply, and why their work is changing lives for military families across the country.
Leah Bucholz:So the Folds of Honor Foundation was founded in 2007 by lieutenant colonel Dan Rooney, who was a fighter pilot who wanted to make sure that families of fallen and disabled service members had a chance at a brighter future. Their mission is simple but powerful, and that is to provide educational scholarships to the spouses and children of Americans fallen and disabled military service members. So since its founding, Folds of Honors has has awarded tens of thousands of scholarships, changing the trajectory of families who might otherwise struggle to afford education. So who's gonna qualify? So that's a great question.
Leah Bucholz:There is a higher education FAQ over on their website, so we're gonna look at that. But, again, those children of spouses children and spouses of service members who were killed in action and those that are disabled at a specific percentage. So families from all branches of the US Armed Forces, including guard and reserves, can qualify for this. It's not just about college either. As I mentioned, scholarships can go to towards k through 12, private schooling, trade schools, and higher education.
Leah Bucholz:So what are some of those types of scholarships? So Folds of Honor offers two main types of scholarships, the children's fund scholarship, which helps cover k through 12 education at private schools or tutoring programs. Higher education scholarships are gonna be for college, trade school, or technical training. The average scholarship award is around $5,000 per year, but it varies based on financial need and educational costs. Now people can get more than one award for this.
Leah Bucholz:You can reapply for it every year. So how do you apply? Applying is straightforward, but you'll need to have the right paperwork. So here's the process. You're gonna go over to foldsofhonor.org and check the application window, which is usually gonna be from February through March of each year.
Leah Bucholz:You're gonna gather the required documents, proof of service, VA disability rating, and proof of relationship. You're gonna submit the online application before the deadline closes. Awards are generally announced in the summer, before the upcoming school year. So you may wanna work with your school's financial aid office or a veteran service organization to make sure your application is as strong as possible. So why does this matter?
Leah Bucholz:So education changes everything for families who've sacrificed so much, and the folds of honor provides more than just financial aid. It provides hope and opportunity. Each scholarship is a reminder that the service and sacrifice of veterans and their families is honored, not forgotten. It's a way of making sure the next generation has the tools that they need to succeed. So let's go ahead and pull up that website so we can kinda take a look at it together.
Leah Bucholz:One second. Okay. So this is foldsofhonor.org. So let me scroll up to the top here. So they have a bunch of different tabs, scholarships, donation, ways to donate, and their about page.
Leah Bucholz:So the annual application window was February 1 through 03/31/2025. Next year's will probably be in the same time frame, and, the scholarship guidelines are gonna be again, you you submit in that February to March time frame. The scholarship awards are up to 5,000, not to exceed 2,500 per term. If the children's fund, they're usually gonna give it to you all at once in the beginning of the year once they grant it. If after submitting, the awardee has an unmet need of less than 2,500, folds of honor will only disperse the student's actual unmet need.
Leah Bucholz:K? So they ask for different documentation from the school, like how much you still owe. So if you applied for the children's fund for $5,000, they awarded it to you, but your unmet need, like, it's only $4,000. They're gonna want that receipt from the school, and then they're gonna pay what that unmet need was. They're not gonna give you an extra thousand for your pocket.
Leah Bucholz:So let's go to their FAQ. Let's see if we can take a look at that real quick. Well, let's look at the eligibility requirements first. This is gonna be the military children's fund, that k through 12 that we talked about. They have to be in an accredited private school or tutoring institution.
Leah Bucholz:They have to be at least five years old. Current military ID. Let's see. State issued marriage. They're they're wanting to prove they want to see how you're related to this veteran or this veteran, so they wanna see the marriage certificate, adoption papers, guardianship papers, things like that.
Leah Bucholz:They need different documents from the school. They need to see that either the veteran was k was killed in action or killed in the line of duty. They need to see a disability percentage if the veteran is, let's see, disabled with a VA percentage of a 100% or higher for the children's fund must provide members current benefit use. So I don't think it's quite that high for the higher education. I think it's about 70%, but let's look at the higher education.
Leah Bucholz:So that was k through 12. Okay? So for the higher education, this is their little terms page. Scholarship eligibility. Current, if it's a dependent, they wanna see that current military ID or some kind of state issued birth certificate to prove that you're related.
Leah Bucholz:K? They also wanna see if you're classified as one of the following. The veteran was KIA or killed in the line of duty. If the death was not deemed service connected, then, they had to be 70% or higher. Or if you're a dis if the veteran is not deceased, it's a disabled veteran with 70% or higher.
Leah Bucholz:K? So that's it's a little bit more stringent for that children's fund. K? So, you guys, I just want you to be aware of where you can go to kinda look over this. And, again, the application window is usually in February, so you wanna start coming over to this website, you know, in the springtime or in the after the first of the year to, like, get updated on it.
Leah Bucholz:They're really good about responding to inquiries, and it's just a great service. If you're if you're a small business owner and you wanna donate, that would be great. Or if you just wanna donate in general to the to this foundation, it's a great foundation to donate to. So please drop some comments if any of you guys have used this organization in the past. Let me jump off this screen share.
Leah Bucholz:So if any of you guys have any experience, please share your experiences. If you have any other really cool college funds or higher education funds that veterans can, you know, use for the themselves or for their dependents, we'd love to hear about it. So as always, thanks for watching. Please like and subscribe. Alright.
Leah Bucholz:See you later.