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Joshua Christopherson is introduced by HR Director Elba Gomez at the June 2 Board of Supervisors meeting

Madera County Welcomes New Veteran Services Officer

MADERA — The Madera County Board of Supervisors gave a warm welcome to new Veteran Services Officer Joshua Christopherson when he was introduced during a board meeting held earlier this month (June 2) right after Christopherson’s first day on the job.

As Veteran Services Officer, he will oversee staff and day-to-day management of the Madera County Veterans Service Office (CVSO), which was established by supervisors to “assist every veteran, their dependents and survivors in presenting and pursuing any claim in establishing the veteran’s right for benefits provided by law.”

A military veteran with more than a decade of private-sector leadership experience, Christopherson holds bachelor degrees in IT and business management and an MBA in “management and strategy” from West Governors University.

“I really think he is going to do a great job for the county,” said District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler after Christopherson was introduced by Human Resources Director Elba Gomez.

In recent years, Christopherson has worked with Fresno-area veterans and in a brief comment to supervisors, he said was looking forward to hitting the ground running in Madera County.

Christopherson served five years in the Air National Guard and also worked for three years as a state firefighter.

He will be based in the Madera County Government Center in Madera, where the CVSO provides assistance to veterans and veterans’ dependents in the following areas:

  • filing for service-connected disability
  • filing for pension benefits
  • filing for burial benefits
  • providing referrals for educational and employment benefits
  • filing for survivor benefits
  • applying for VA medical care

Depending on when a person served in the military, benefits may vary. The office has several programs designed for disabled veterans who served during a war time period but did not have any service-connected disabilities.These include monthly monetary benefits, hospitalization and outpatient medical care.

Later this year, mountain area veterans should be able to tap into CVSO services in Oakhurst after the County opens the new satellite government center.


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