Chattanooga, TN · Est. 2026
We find the veterans the system missed and connect them to the people who can help.
VA disability benefits aren't charity. They're compensation — earned through service and sacrifice. Many veterans don't know what they're owed, and the VA process can easily frustrate anyone who tries to navigate it alone.
Worth Their Weight finds the veterans the system missed. When we find one, we connect them with a VSO partner who handles the VA claims process — because no veteran should have to navigate it alone.
"The veterans least likely to file are those who need their benefits most."
Many veterans have earned VA disability benefits they've never claimed. No one showed them how.
Street outreach finds veterans. VSO referral connects them to monthly tax-free income and access to VA healthcare, which may include long-term coverage depending on eligibility and disability rating.
Functional zero veteran homelessness in Hamilton County — 15 to 20 veterans connected to benefits in year one.
In service to the veteran. Outrageously generous to all.
We find veterans in the community and connect them with the accredited representatives who can help.
Veteran Recon is our street outreach program. Field Scouts embed in the community — visiting shelters, attending community events, and building relationships with local organizations to identify veterans. No clipboard. No intake form. No clinical lens. Just genuine human contact and the primary mission: find veterans and build the trust that makes everything else possible.
When our Field Scouts identify a veteran, we connect them with a VSO partner who handles the VA claims process. Worth Their Weight's role is identification and connection — we find the veterans, then ensure they reach the accredited representatives who can pursue their claims.
Worth Their Weight prioritizes unsheltered veterans first — the population the desk-based referral model cannot reach. We do not turn away veterans who walk in or are referred to us. Triage is based on need.
Worth Their Weight is not a law firm and does not provide legal representation before the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. All claims-related services are performed by VA-accredited attorneys, agents, or Veterans Service Organizations.
In 2015, Cory Gold joined the Army with a contract — and a dream — to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment. He excelled through basic training, AIT, and Airborne School. Then, right before Ranger selection, his parachute failed to open fully. He hit the ground with a broken back and a traumatic brain injury.
After an honorable discharge, Cory spent four years in excruciating physical and psychological pain — not knowing how to get help, or that help even existed. In 2020, a fellow servicemember told him about VA benefits. He filed his claim. Today, Cory is 100% disabled by the VA, gets the treatment he needs, and lives a happy life with his wife and daughter.
Worth Their Weight exists because Cory knows what it's like to be a veteran who doesn't know when to ask for help. He founded it in March 2026 so that no veteran has to wait four years to learn what they've already earned.
You earned your benefits. Now help another veteran earn theirs. Select your VA disability rating to see your 1% monthly giveback amount.
Based on 2026 VA disability compensation rates for single veterans with no dependents. Enter the suggested amount as a recurring monthly donation on Zeffy.
Your donation funds the outreach that finds veterans and connects them to what they've already earned. There are 570 veterans experiencing homelessness in Tennessee. We know how to help them.
Covers supplies and resource cards for a Field Scout's outreach in the community.
Sends a Field Scout into the community for a full day — shelters, events, and veteran identification.
Covers the outreach and coordination to get a veteran connected with a VSO partner.
Can support a veteran through the outreach and claim-support process — potentially supporting access to significant lifetime benefits.
Worth Their Weight is a 501(c)(3). All donations are tax-deductible.
Questions? cory@worththeirweight.org · 833-WTW-VETS
Our highest-level supporters who carry the weight with us.
Updates from the field — veterans helped, milestones hit, ways to get involved. No spam.
