A Tale of Two Privates

I live in a small town outside an active duty army post. It could be any small town in America, and it could be any active duty installation of any of the services, but this is Radcliff, Kentucky, and the post is Fort Knox.

For those who don’t know all the details of how we were affected by the Base Realignment And Closure of 2005, Fort Knox was selected to house the 3^rd Brigade of the famed 1^st Infantry Division, perhaps better known as the “Big Red One”. Along with that privilege came a responsibility of our communities to honor the service of the young men and women who serve.

USA Cares headquarters sits about a mile and a half from one of the main gates of the installation, and right next to a super Walmart, so it is an understatement that we see a lot of traffic every day, but last week, we had a unique opportunity to see the best and the worst of some of those in the thousands of cars that pass by and to participate in our own way.

Two privates faced the same situation. They traveled here from other installations, both believing that there was available housing on post almost immediately. The truth of the matter is that there isn’t. It is perhaps as much as 3-6 months before you can be selected to move “on-post” and that depends on how many bedrooms you need and your rank.

Before I tell you about these two privates I have to stop and tell you about being a private. Privates are a special part of any Army family. They are our “interns” or our “apprentices” or just the “new guys” and while they have been taught all about how to act as a soldier, how to dress, how to assemble and disassemble a weapon or two, they can run long distances and are pretty self confident of themselves, what they are not, is experienced soldiers who know all about moving to a new location.

It is something you learn. And you usually learn it the hard way. As a career soldier of the nearly 30 years that I served, I moved my family at least 10 times. I know others who have moved a lot more times. It is part of a military life.

The situation that the privates faced, both whom were married, both with children (and one pregnant wife) and both showing up broke in Kentucky, was that living in a motel can get expensive very quickly. Landlords always want the same thing. Money. They want first and last month’s deposit, the charge for credit history reports, the utility companies want deposits and again, perhaps a credit report cost. Remember, I said they were broke and payday is still a week away.

Both showed up at Fort Knox already owing on a loan from Army Emergency Relief and were not eligible for more assistance. Both had tried the payday loan outfits, but they can’t loan money to soldiers anymore and neither had a local bank or the appropriate credit or the ability to open an account. When they found us either by referral or by accident, they were at the end of of their rope and their hope. They had one more night of paid up motel time and not sure where to go.

To rush to the end of the story, both of them were taken care of, provided a stable platform to find a suitable place to live, but there was a remarkable difference on how that happened.

The first private, after being assured that USA Cares would help them get going, found an apartment in nearby Elizabethtown. The landlord asked for the first month’s rent and deposit, and as we have done a thousand times, connected with them, told them who we were, and said we would provide the private with a check to cover the necessary cost of acquiring the rental unit. The very rude lady on the phone told our staff member that she had lived in Elizabethtown her whole life had never heard of us and that the soldier could not move in until the check had cleared the bank. She was asked, as we normally do, to just check out our website and they would see that we were capable of a month’s rent, to which she replied, “I’m too busy to check out some website” and hung up. The private was embarrassed, having filled out all the paperwork and felt like things were starting to go his way only to be treated to a very arrogant landlord who clearly didn't care about the soldier and his family, only if they were going to be paid or not.

What we saw was just plain old greed and ugliness, and sadly we see that more than we would like to when it comes to helping military families.

We sent this first private to several other property management companies, and I am happy to say they are moved in and getting on with being an Army family. Total cost to USA Cares? Less than $1,000.

The second private came to us five days later. Three kids, an expecting wife and just a little over a dollar left in the bank. He too, had one night of paid up motel bill, no refrigerator or place to fix meals and not sure what was coming next.

Our staff got a bit involved with this one, and immediately the assistance began to flow in ways other than money. One staff member called the local food bank (North Hardin Hope) and within an hour, several boxes of food were provided. A restaurant donated free meals and the family moved into an extended stay motel as they looked for the right place to live. A landlord had offered a fully furnished apartment for $1,500 a month. That isn't a good deal, not in central Kentucky.

In the meantime, a staffer sharing the story without names, with her family and friends, ignited a flurry of email messages about the young family, and again, offers of assistance, furniture, food, clothing, and money began to pour in, just to “help the soldier”. That is how I think it should be, all of us remembering the real value of the service these men and women are offering, and the freedoms we often times take for granted that they provide.

So to all those who assisted these young men and women, thank you from all of us at USA Cares, to those who didn’t, shame on you.

By the way, just in case you were wondering, because we are best known in Kentucky and that we started here, to date we have granted over $721,000 to 1,684 clients and saved 52 homes from eviction so far. Not bad for an organization that started in an “Army Town” just seven years ago.

Roger
USA Cares

Military Spouses Deserve Better

Last week I had to privilege to accompany two of my favorite Army Wives to Frankfort, Kentucky and appear along with our State Representative, Tim Moore before the Labor Committee of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Our purpose was to support through testimony the change in the unemployment compensation provided to military spouses who have to voluntarily leave their place of employment to follow their spouse to a new duty station. Specifically, if you are interested, to changes in the language of KRS 341.370 in Section 1.

Currently, if a spouse married to a soldier who is stationed at Fort Knox and is transferred to Fort Campbell, both of which are located in the Commonwealth, then she or he may be deemed ineligible for benefits.

One of our former Resource Coordinators, Kerri fell into this gap. Her soldier-husband received permanent change of station (PCS) orders from Fort Knox, Kentucky to Fort Campbell, Kentucky and after arriving, getting the house unpacked, (across the state line in Tennessee) she begin looking for work and after applying for unemployment benefits found out that she was ineligible.

The reason they gave her was that she had “voluntarily left her employment and had left the state, then later the state of Tennessee included in their denial the rationale that moving as part of a PCS did not constitute a valid reason for voluntarily leaving employment”. The current Kentucky statue will not support an unemployment claim in states that do not have similar statues. In other words, Kentucky will only provide unemployment benefits to spouses who move to a state that will reciprocate in kind.

Another Resource Coordinator, Christin, is facing the same issue, only her husband is being PCSed from Fort Knox to Fort Drum, New York where they don’t honor the unemployment benefits clause from Kentucky, so again, the military spouse is treated especially unfair.

During our testimony, I asked Christin where her husband was, the answer was Kandahar, Afghanistan, ending up his fourth combat tour. I asked the same question of Kerri, and her similar answer was that he was at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana, preparing for deployment to Afghanistan this summer, which will be his fourth combat tour.

During his testimony, Rep. Moore, a former Air Force Officer and C130 pilot with multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan reminded the committee of the sacrifice that the families are already making, and that as a part of helping shape Kentucky to be a “military friendly” state that this was a gap in the law that should be addressed quickly. Earlier this year, the legislature had passed a bill that ended state income taxes from being withheld or paid from Kentucky citizens who are serving on active duty.

Rep Moore also brought to light that Kentucky is not the only state that doesn’t recognize the situation of spouses moving with their servicemembers and that Kentucky could help set the right example for other legislatures to do the right thing. I agree with him, hopefully some of you might call and ask your elected officials how military spouses are treated in similar situations.

Several of the committee members expressed their appreciation for the service of the families of the two Army Wives, and even went so far as to apologize for this obvious unintended effect of the current law.

The Chairman of the Committee came up to us after the session ended and was very emphatic that he would push to get the bill to the floor where he felt very confident that it would pass overwhelmingly and correct the situation in the favor of military families that serve in the Commonwealth.

I was very proud of the two ladies for standing up and telling their stories. I was also proud of our legislative process and our Representative for doing the research and taking the appropriate action to make the lives of our military families just a little bit better. Often when USA Cares is working a case there is an issue with one or both of the breadwinners being unemployed and not receiving benefits that they might or should be entitled to be receiving.

USA Cares does not lobby for any particular bill or party or any individual, but what we have done in the past is to highlight issues that should be reviewed and possibly acted on, and provide background information as requested to support changes in laws and attitudes. This opportunity was no different.

I would ask anyone that reads this blog to ask their State Representative about the Unemployment Benefits and Entitlements to military spouses for their states, and if it doesn’t seem fair, then ask “why not?”

I will post a note when we find out what happened here in the Commonwealth, and I would be very interested to find out what you have learned about your state’s attitude toward these very special families who serve our nation so proudly.

Roger Stradley
Radcliff, Kentucky

One Family At A Time...USA Does Care

In the USA Cares employee break room there is a poster that hangs on the wall that has several letters that have come to us in the mail. I thought I would share one that sums up what we do, and more important, you will see again, why we do what we do.

Dear USA Cares-

USA Cares helped me & my family in ways that amazed and impressed me. I found USA Cares through someone at my local VA Hospital.

When I contacted USA Cares, I was in a very tough spot. Behind on a lot of bills, and in danger of being evicted from my house.

USA Cares was very prompt in contacting me. Everyone I talked to was kind, caring and compassionate. USA Cares paid my rent and late fees for me, and paid my gas bill, and helped get the gas turned back on.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude. At a time in my life when I had no one else to turn to, nowhere else to go, USA Cares was there for me.

The people at USA Cares truly do God's work. I am so very thankful for them, and the kind hearted people who donate to the organization. The help I received from USA Cares has allowed me room to breathe again, and I am nearly on my feet again.

Thanks to USA Cares, myself and my young daughter continue to have a place to live and we have gas to heat our water and cook our food. We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts!!!!

Initially, I was contacted less than 5 days after I applied for assistance online. the woman I spoke with was very kind and considerate. She explained to me that I needed to fax in a few things. Such as copies of past due bills, and my DD214 from the Army. After I did this , it was maybe two days until I received a call from another woman named Karri. She explained to me that she was now my case worker and that USA Cares was going to help me. I was so very happy with the courtesy and professionalism of the USA Cares Staff.

Not only did Kerri notify me of everything along the way, she even made sure to ask if we needed food, and other basic things needed for our survival.

Again, I am still overwhelmed by the caring, compassion, and the friendliness I was shown.

Thank you all so very much, from Ryan and Ashlyn P.

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As we approach $7 million in direct grants to families across our nation, we continue receiving daily reminders like these that this is a "Family Business" and that these people are real and not just a number or a statistic.

Of course we can't do any of this without the support of our donors and contributors and of course friends like you. Please feel free to pass this on, it is as easy as that.

Regards,

Roger