Local

Many veterans stop receiving disability checks due to gov't shutdown

CENTRAL FLORIDA — More people in central Florida are worried they will start to feel the impact of the government shutdown.

Some local military personnel have received letters that say their benefit checks will stop.

Many veterans said they depend on that money to pay for basic things, such as rent and food.

Disabled veteran Patricia Black said the government they served is now letting them down.

"To have it taken away is just unfathomable," said Black.

Black signed up to serve her country in the Air Force. For four years, she was a surgical technician until a medical condition forced her to leave.

It didn't take long for the VA to start giving her lifetime monthly disability payments, but now they're gone.

"Out of anybody in this entire situation that doesn't deserve to get screwed over it's the veterans," she said.

The federal shutdown means disabled vets like Black are not getting their disability checks, and they don't know how long it'll take to get them back.

Black said she needs the money to pay rent and feed her family of four, and she is now stuck in limbo while Congress hashes things out.