Since 2003, H.E.R.O.E.S. Care has provided support for more than 250,000 military and veteran families through programs designed to mitigate the stress of service to our Nation. Excerpt from our Fact Sheet:  The H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Hometown Support Program is an affiliation of national charities working together to provide a system of coordinated, one-on-one care for military families before, during, and after deployment. Specially trained caregivers are assigned to military families who have dedicated access to emergency material and financial aid, confidential mental health care, and job training and placement services made available free of charge.  More than 3000 caregivers have received our specialized training to provide one-on-one care to military families in the communities where they live. Our Hometown Support Volunteers serve military members, veterans, and their families in 43 states as well as overseas. 

Examples of Caregiving: 

EMERGENCY CARE:

“A military member registered for family support. We contacted our Give an Hour partner to recruit and train a mental health care professional in that community to be on standby in case of need. After the military member returned from deployment, he called our direct line. It was evident he was contemplating suicide. Within 18 minutes he was on the phone with his assigned mental healthcare provider.” 

LONG TERM CARE:

“A pilot lost his position with a major airline. Shortly thereafter, his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. He joined the reserves in order to obtain medical benefits. He was almost immediately deployed, leaving his wife at home alone. A caregiver was assigned to the family who was a breast cancer survivor. After a few weeks of follow-up phone contacts, the caregiver was invited into the home. She came to learn that shortly before her husband lost his position with the airline, the couple had purchased a ‘fixer upper’ house in need of significant repairs. The caregiver arranged for volunteer tradesmen to make repairs and in two weekends the house was completely refurbished. One of the tradesmen involved in the project was also a Boy Scout leader with a troop in need of a service project. The grass was cut, the leaves were raked, and snow was removed during the entire deployment by the scout troop. The wife was required to travel over 100 miles each way for her cancer treatments. The caregiver arranged for volunteers to drive her to and from her weekly appointments. The caregiver arranged for women to prepare nutritionally appropriate meals and every two days these volunteers would have dinner with her and leave additional prepared meals, encouraging her to eat properly, an important part of the treatment and recovery process.” 

Putting the numbers into perspective:

 • 50,000: the average number of military families residing in each state 

• 5,000: the number of military families affected by deployment at any given time 

• 500: the number of military families who will require the support H.E.R.O.E.S. Care provides 

• 50: the number of military members who will make an attempt and/or take their own lives 

We reach the 50,000 to support the 5000 to sustain the 500 to help prevent the 50.

To learn more, visit http://heroescare.org/about/he...