From Military.com:
“How We Can Fix Food and Housing Shortfalls for Veterans and
Military Families”
We as a nation have an obligation to ensure that our veterans
and military service members have what they need. When the basics of food and
housing are not met, we collectively must fight for solutions. While most
veterans excel with good jobs and a stable family, others struggle with complex
and often overlapping issues of financial, food and housing insecurity, as
outlined in a Military Family Advisory Network (MFAN) study that found that one
in six veteran and military families faced food insecurity or hunger.
The challenge for veterans and military service members
requiring assistance has been locating a central point of access, a place to
find local resources they can trust to meet their families' needs. The answer
is a national network of respected and forward-looking organizations. This
nonprofit network complements government agencies like the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense that work tirelessly on behalf
of veterans. However, the support these agencies can provide is sometimes
limited.
We have the model to provide help. When our organizations
joined forces, we were able to build a network of over 350 veteran-focused
organizations and 10,000 extended partners reaching more than 20 million
veterans and uniformed military members in communities across the country. Our
partners use existing resources to provide more veterans and military service
members with valuable information, services and referrals.
Many operate as a hub, essentially a single front door. If a
veteran goes to one organization that can meet only some of their needs, that
group will introduce them to other vetted resources in their area. Named for
the World War I term meaning "Got Your Back," the Bob Woodruff
Foundation Got Your 6 Network reaches 97% of the U.S. veteran and uniformed
military population in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, American Samoa and Guam. This
network also provides data and insights on veterans' needs nationwide,
community by community, enabling us to dig deep into the challenges our
veterans and service members face through national and regional research.
To get a true picture of the impact of the pandemic, for
example, we surveyed partners in our Got Your 6 Network. Sixty-seven percent
reported that many or almost all their veteran clients requested food or
nutrition assistance, and 53% saw significant needs for assistance with housing
or homelessness. To help us understand what these issues look like in different
communities, we convene experts from government, military, academic and
nonprofit sectors. At a recent summit in San Antonio, regional and national
organizations shared the challenges of significant population growth, a plus
that presents opportunities to military families, but can intensify
difficulties in accessing affordable housing, medical care, food and child
care. Likewise, MFAN's research on what's causing military and veteran family
food insecurity points to other financial pressures, such as the costs of
frequent moves, and employment and earning challenges facing military spouses,
as driving the problem.
Sadly, food and housing insecurity can hit military families
and veterans hard. Both veteran and military families make serious sacrifices
to defend democracy. We will not accept them struggling to get enough to eat or
find a safe place to sleep. That's why over the last three years, led by data,
research and expertise, we have financially supported 130 organizations to
address, among other topics, food insecurity and housing instability. In 2022
alone, our funding supported programs reaching more than 6,200 veterans and
addressed complex needs around housing, health care, food, employment and
benefits. In 2023, we've continued our commitment to investing in these
efforts, and military families can find resources in their areas here.
Our veterans and service members often know what they need.
It's up to us as philanthropists and advocates to listen, to identify root
causes, to enable local solutions, and to inform the national dialogue from the
lessons we learn from our community partners across the U.S.
^ This has some good ideas that should be explored more. ^
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