Melville Firm Taking Care of LI Veterans

A Melville law firm is focusing on a special group of Long Island residents: veterans.

For more than three years, Genser Dubow Genser & Cona, an elder law and estate planning firm has helped more than 150 veterans obtain the federal Aid and Attendance benefit, which allows veterans and spouses to be cared for either in their home or at an assisted living facility.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone recently honored the firm with proclamations for its pro bono work.

The firm was also recognized for a special program it sponsored for veterans at The Bristal, assisted living facility in Westbury. The attorneys brought information and inspiration to veterans and their spouses at a program focusing on ex-service member’s needs and benefits. The firm paid special tribute to 91 year old Irwin “Rusty” Lyons, a former U.S. Air Force Lieutenant and resident of The Bristal.   

The Aid and Attendance benefit has given Irwin “Rusty”Lyons the ability to reside at The Bristal for the past five years and get the help he needs.

Several organizations and speakers participated in the program and discussed the benefit, the Wounded Warriors Project, Homeless Veterans Program, Vietnam Wall and LIAF’s Long Island Memory Center. 

In addition to Lyons, the firm recognized William Rodriguez of the Suffolk County Veterans Services Agency in Hauppauge with a plaque for helping Long Island veterans obtain the valuable Aid and Attendance benefit. “It gives me great satisfaction to contribute to the wellbeing of our veterans,” Rodriguez, said.

GDGC also honored Jonathan Spier, interim executive director of Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University, a 350-bed skilled nursing home and adult day care center.

“Jonathan has been responsible for coordinating a myriad of activities, programs and trips for the residents that have enabled our aging Veterans to still feel a part of their community,” Melissa Negrin-Wiener, a partner, with the firm said.

Other speakers included William Dowling, of I.J. Morris and Dignity Memorials, who discussed the Homeless Vets Program that buried 20 Veterans at Calverton National Cemetery; Christopher McNamara, a Veteran in Desert Storm and participant in the Wounded Warriors Project and president of Mac Abstract in Huntington; Joyce Schneider, Outreach Coordinator, LIAF who discussed the Long Island Memory Center

There are more than 200,000 veterans on Long Island.