
Bea, a veteran with a family of four including her spouse, son and daughter, was at a crossroads. Her son was growing and she believed he was in need of a male role model in his life as he approached his teenage years. Like many parents, Bea wanted to provide more for her son than she could give him herself but wasn’t sure how she could accomplish this.
“My wife and I knew our son was getting to that age where he needed a male figure in his life,” Bea said. “His father was locked up at the time and he was literally in the house with girls so we wanted for him to be able to have a male role model in his life.”
Then she discovered United Way’s Service Members and Veteran Families (SMVF) resources, a network of programs that support military families. SMVF programs support military families with special needs resources, child mentorship, parenting education, counseling and military transition assistance.
Soon after, she was connected to Big Brothers Big Sisters, who matched her son with an individual who could provide mentorship through being a positive male role model for her son. The positive impact on her son was visible immediately after his first meeting with his new mentor.
“They were able to make a tremendous connection,” Bea says. “His Big Brother was really there for him.”
“It’s hard to explain because you can see it as a parent that they’re at the cusp of where they can either go off to the left and get into some trouble or they can go right,” Bea said. “I personally feel this gave him the ability to go right. I am really proud of our son and who he’s grown up to be.”
With the success of matching her son with a mentor, Bea then decided she needed to do the same for her daughter. “Shortly after we saw that our daughter was going through some mental health issues and she was isolating. We wanted to get her connected to somebody. Her Big Sister really helped her get out of her shell.”
Bea and her family have also benefited from other SMVF resources, including free family days at SeaWorld, Morgan’s Wonderland and the use of the SMVF Basic Necessities Fund. This fund helps cover the cost of unexpected expenses for military families, including critical items like a new stove which Bea’s family received.
“We worked without an oven for over a year and I just couldn’t afford to get another one,” Bea says. “I was embarrassed and I wasn’t going to tell anybody until my wife shared it with someone at United Way and they wound up helping us get one. To have that type of support meant a lot,” she added.
After seeing the many benefits SMVF resources have had on her family’s daily life, Bea wants to help improve support services available to other veterans in the community. She now serves on United Way’s Service Members, Veterans and Families Parent Advisory Committee, providing invaluable insight from her experiences on how these services can better serve veterans.
“I hope to continue to be able to represent veteran families,” Bea says. “It’s important that we can get more families to the table.”
“There’s a lot of veterans out there, just like me, they’re doing their best but maybe they’re going through a rough patch. We’ve got to put our pride aside and know that there are people there that want to support us,” she said. “I have done my best to refer veterans that I meet who are going through hard times.”
With support, Bea is building a stronger foundation for her family and for veterans throughout the community.
Categories: Impact Stories |