HOUSTON -- Project Salute is in Houston this week, helping veterans with benefits and training lawyers to help in the future.

Veterans who need legal help are invited to visit Project Salute, and attorneys are asked to volunteer.

The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law put together a nationwide tour of its Mobile Law Office, an RV outfitted to provide legal assistance and /or representation to thousands of low-income veterans on federal benefits throughout the United States.

The tour stopped in Houston on Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the American Legion Post #416, located at 1216 West Clay Street.

Project Salute staff and students is conducting individual benefit interviews with veterans.

In addition, the school is asking for the support of additional, local attorneys. It will host a training session for attorneys and representatives interested in assisting veterans and learning more about veterans' federal benefits law.

The attorney training will take place on Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lone Star Legal Aid, located at 1415 Fannin Street.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are approximately 1.7 million military veterans in Texas, 304,000 of whom live in the Houston metropolitan area.

KPRC Local 2 will provide live coverage of Project Salute Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Project Salute Helps Local Veterans

Hit by a mortar blast in Iraq, Army Pvt. Patrick Feges of Sugar Land has war stories and a purple heart. But what he didn't have when KPRC Local 2 spoke with him and his mother in 2007 were any of the benefits he earned. He had waited 19 months for help.

"I guess I was sort of ticked off, you know. I lost a lot of faith in the VA system," Feges said.

Feges is an example of what law students and professors from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law want to help.

They are rolling around the country in a mobile law office trying to make a difference.

Project Salute is a program to help veterans get their benefits.

Students and attorneys meet one-on-one with vets and recruit attorneys in each city to volunteer their time to continue the mission when the mobile law office moves on to its next stop.

On average, a veteran using the VA office in Houston is waiting almost seven months, that's 209 days, to get earned benefits.

More than 19,000 Houston-area vets are waiting for help.

More Information:

University of Detroit Mercy School Of Law: Project Salute

Project Salute Stories:

Video: Day 3: Project Salute Passes Knowledge To Lawyers
Video: Day 2: More Local Vets Helped By Project Salute
Video: Day 1: Project Salute Helps Vets Get Benefits
Video: Hope Arrives For Houston-Area Vets
Video: Tour Project Salute Bus