Good morning,

I am writing to express my deepest appreciation for Kim Davis, director of Alachua County Veteran Services.  My father is a Disabled Vietnam Era Veteran who tragically lost his home to Hurricane Ian in Ft. Myers after sitting through the eye of the storm and the flood came up to his waist with furniture floating around.  He and my stepmom floated on their bed mattress wondering if they were going to drown.  Eventually the waters went back down and they are now having to rebuild their life completely. 

They were able to evacuate to Gainesville and stay at my home since they are now homeless.  I knew that there are some resources that the VA could assist but the system can be extremely complicated and overwhelming to apply for benefits.  So I heard from the community that Kim Davis is an excellent point of contact to assist with applying for disability and getting Veterans connected to the benefits they deserve.  I emailed her with this tragic and dire situation and she very quickly was able to set up an appointment to see what she could do to help as well as provided emotional support.

Kim did an outstanding job!  In the midst of this major storm in my dad’s life it was refreshing to have someone empathize with his loss.  We felt that she truly cared for his situation and was not just another person on a list to talk with.  Kim demonstrated expertise, sounds advice, professional competence and the ability to quickly assess my father’s situation and develop a plan of action that feels achievable.  I could really tell Kim knows the system like the back of her hand and she gave so many tips on how to navigate us through this extremely stressful situation.  It felt so reassuring to know that my dad, who almost died floating on his own bed a month ago was going to get the support he deserves.  He has hope that his wife who takes care of him on a full-time basis will have the assistance to navigate the VA system.  We are so deeply appreciative of Kim providing my dad with top notch care and customer servive.  Words cannot express how appreciative we are of Kim’s outstanding service. You can tell Kim is living out a true calling on her life to serve Veterans.  There were complicated VA issues that she was able to quickly and calmly resolve for us.

Thank you to Alachua County Veteran Service and to Kim Davis for all that they do.  I don’t know what we would do without her!  I also attached a photo of my dad and step mom.

Sincerely,