The challenges facing families who have a member serving in the U.S. Military are extraordinary and many, especially when that member is a father or mother, and the primary bread winner for a family with kids. The parent may be away for up to one year at a time. Military pay is low, but the family back home still has to pay all the same bills.

It’s also about a lot more than just money – having one parent gone means the other parent at home shoulders all the many responsibilities of daily life. Furthermore, many soldiers come home from their service wounded, physically, but also often psychologically – it creates a situation of enormous difficulty on many levels.

The only way to truly appreciate the challenges of a military family is to live them, certainly, but the rest of us only have to look at the dismal statistics associated with military families – suicide and divorce levels are sky high – not to mention mortgage foreclosures on the homes of military families, and high rates of unemployment.

Now more than ever, military families need everyone’s love and support – and that means leveraging the resources of the communities that military families live within. Community means churches and church organizations, youth groups, schools, health care providers, volunteer groups, local employers, Chambers of Commerce, veterans groups and more.

Local community leaders should get together to create a “blueprint for action” which creates a comprehensive safety net, or a kind of overall environment designed to recognize and help military families in a way that identifies problems and provides solutions.

An important thing to remember about military families is that they tend to be naturally independent, incredibly proud, and tend to be among the last sort of people that are willing to ask for help, even when they sorely need it. The idea is not to force solutions on anyone, but create awareness that resources are close at hand when needs arise.

The children of military families are a critical factor. Kids often need special attention. With a parent away from home, and the other parent stressed to the limit, groups like the YMCA, schools,  after-school groups, scouting,  church groups and youth organizations can step in and provide much needed structure and support to kids who may be in dire need of more attention on any given day. A parent who has a resource, a group they can rely on to surround children with a supportive and safe environment can make a huge difference for a stressed parent.

The good news is that no neighborhood or community has to recreate the wheel when it comes to establishing community support systems for military families. One of the best places to get information on how to start your plan of action is to check out the web site of the U.S. White House  – First Lady Michelle Obama has made support for military families her primary project during her tenure as the country’s First Lady. There you will find a variety of resources and information,  and very  specific ideas and strategies for doing everything you can to support a military family in your neighborhood.

Incoming search terms:

• www wingfam org

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