Veterans Help Group: Celebrating Our 2025 Successes

Veterans Help Group: Celebrating Our 2025 Successes

In 2025, our team fought—and won—some of the toughest VA disability battles veterans face today. Through meticulous evidence gathering, strategic legal advocacy, and a deep understanding of the VA system, we helped veterans and their survivors nationwide secure the benefits they earned.

Here are a few of the victories that defined our year and show how zealous, dedicated and experienced advocacy makes a real difference.

Veterans Help Group: 2025 Case Highlights

Reopening a Parkinson’s disease claim VA denied based on the wrong theory

Client: Navy Veteran, Gulf War Era and Peacetime
Issue: Non-presumptive Parkinson’s disease secondary to mycotoxins from Hurricane Katrina
Outcome: 100% service connection granted with significant retroactive benefits, other benefits for dependents

When this veteran reached Veterans Help Group, he was exhausted and discouraged. VA kept denying his Parkinson’s disease claim because he was ineligible for presumptive service connection.  In 2005, during active duty, the Navy sent him to New Orleans for one month after Hurricane Katrina.  He led clean-up work, including removing waste and tearing down damaged buildings.  We learned that he was regularly exposed to mold, dirty floodwater, strong chemicals in the water and in the air.  New research shows that Parkinson’s may be linked to mycotoxins, which are harmful chemicals released by certain molds.

After submitting sufficient medical and lay evidence about the veteran’s exposures, along with medical treatise evidence linking them to his condition, VA granted his claim for Parkinson’s at 100%. He was found permanently and totally disabled with over $100,000.00 in backpay.

The work Veterans Help Group does helps veterans’ families, too.  Here, we also won him Dependents Educational Assistance, which means his 5 children now receive education benefits paid for by VA.

What prospective clients should know:
Sometimes, all it takes is an experienced advocate who can expertly connect the dots. Also, VA benefits can benefit the entire family, not just the veteran.

Making a world of difference for a surviving spouse

Client: Widow of Marine Corps Veteran, Peacetime
Issue: Service connection for cause of death (aka DIC benefits) related to Camp Lejeune contamination
Outcome: DIC benefits granted for surviving spouse

In the early 2000s, the veteran passed away from leukemia.  He left behind a wife and young child, who was unable to support herself due to severe disabilities.  For many years, the surviving spouse sought survivor benefits on her own.  When we got involved, it was clear to us VA should have granted service connection for leukemia as the cause of death.  They overlooked favorable presumptions already in the law.  After advocating to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, Veterans Help Group won the surviving spouse over $90,000.00 in backpay effective 2017, when leukemia became a Camp Lejeune presumptive condition. Her monthly VA payment increased from $0.00 to over $1,600.00, tax-free.

What prospective clients should know:
DIC claims are often misunderstood, even by VA. The right medical evidence and expert advocacy can turn an initial denial into a major victory.

Securing a Favorable Character of Service Determination and Reinstating Eligibility

Client: Marine Corps Veteran, Vietnam Era
Issue: General discharge initially considered a bar to VA benefits
Outcome: Favorable Character of Service Determination; mental health claim reopened

This veteran had been shut out of the VA system for nearly 50 years. Even after the Board for Corrections of Naval Records upgraded his discharge to General (under honorable conditions), VA refused to honor his 2013 claim for benefits.  The veteran had been working with VSOs for nearly 50 years before he hired us.  Ultimately, we took this case to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.  Veterans Help Group submitted legal arguments, along with relevant service and post-service medical records, to build a full picture.  Once presented, the Board reversed VA’s decision, granting service connection for PTSD back to 2013.  This past October, after a successful conference with a Higher-Level Reviewer, we won him TDIU back to the same date. 

Experienced advocacy matters.  Thanks to our efforts, the veteran won over $441,000.00 in backpay. 

What prospective clients should know:
A General discharge does not automatically disqualify you from benefits. With the right narrative and evidence, we can often break through those barriers.

Helping a Veteran Win TDIU After Repeated VA Pushback

Client: Army Veteran, Gulf War Era
Issue: Multiple disabilities prevented sustained employment, but VA insisted she was “sedentary-capable” and did not meet the percentage requirements
Outcome: TDIU granted with full retroactive compensation

The veteran came to us in May 2024.  Despite her inability to work due to service-related disabilities, VA kept saying she could work a sedentary job.  Even after we submitted new and relevant evidence, VA held its position.  Ultimately, we determined VA was overlooking favorable facts and federal regulations.  Veterans Help Group requested an informal conference to speak with a more experienced VA decision-maker.  After we laid out why the facts and the law were on our side, it was a no-brainer: VA granted TDIU back to 2019, a full 5 years before the veteran hired us. After about a year of work, we won her $128,176.80 in backpay.

The turning point was presenting a unified medical and vocational argument to a VA decision-maker, leaving no room for the VA to overlook favorable evidence.

What prospective clients should know:
TDIU is winnable when the evidence is strategically organized. Veterans Help Group advocates are experts at turning a TDIU denial into a win.

From Homeless on the streets of Chicago to Housed and Financially Secure

Client: Army Veteran, Peacetime
Issue: For multiple disabilities, VA mistakenly assumed lack of treatment meant lack of symptoms. VA also overlooked clear evidence of his PTSD’s impact on his ability to work.
Outcome: 100% Permanent and Total back to 2024, and TDIU back to 2023.

Last year, a homeless veteran in Chicago was desperately seeking assistance with his VA benefits. When he got connected with his VHG Senior Advocate, Catherine, and Case Manager, Mari, he was close to tears and convinced no one would be able help him. Catherine and Mari assured him that now that he was working with Veterans Help Group, he would get the help he needed, and in a matter of months he was 100% service connected. This helped him get into housing.  Because he needed to also house his daughter and have the unit ready for inspection from child services, Catherine organized her neighbors in the Chicago area to donate enough furniture and household items so the unit was ready to go. In short order, it was approved for his daughter to move in. This veteran and his daughter are now stable and living safely and comfortably in their new home, thanks to the work and support of Veterans Help Group.

What prospective clients should know:
This is not just a job to us.  We do this work because we care deeply about veterans and their families.  Veterans Help Group does all we can, including leveraging local relationships, to serve the families of those who served our country.

What 2025 Taught Us

Across hundreds of cases this year, one truth stood out:
experienced advocacy changes outcomes.

Throughout 2025, Veterans Help Group consistently saw that:

• Thorough evidence-gathering is often the difference between denial and approval
• Our deep understanding of VA rules and regulations can often lead to victories without developing any new evidence
• Complex claims—PTSD, secondary conditions, TDIU, discharge upgrades—are absolutely winnable (with the right team)
• Every veteran’s story is unique, and we make sure the VA sees the full picture
• Advocates can do more than just win claims; we can support the whole family

These victories aren’t just numbers, they are life-changing results for the veterans and families we’re honored to serve.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we move into a new year, our commitment remains unwavering:
Veterans Help Group will continue fighting to ensure every veteran receives the benefits they earned through service.

If you or someone you love is struggling with a VA disability claim or appeal, reach out to our team. Whether you’re filing for the first time or navigating a complicated denial, the VA-accredited representatives at Veterans Help Group are ready to stand with you and fight for your benefits. Contact our team of expert VA disability advocates HERE today for a FREE consultation.

Read More About VA Disability:

• DIFFERENT TYPES OF 100% VA DISABILITY RATINGS
• 50% VA DISABILITY RATING EXPLAINED
• WHAT BENEFITS DOES A 60% VA DISABILITY RATING GET?