Press
Repair The World: Home Front Hearts Advocating on Behalf of Military Families
2010-08-16
By Leah Koenig, Repair the World
Home Front Hearts, an organization that launched in 2008 and is supported by Repair the World and the Bronfman Youth Fellowship in Israel’s Alumni Venture Fund, provides resources for military families and helps to educate the larger community about the issues they face.
Below, founder Randi Cairns, an alumna of BYFI and a military spouse and mom, shares more about the organization’s work, how volunteers can get involved, and the importance of serving those who serve our country.
What was your inspiration for starting Home Front Hearts?
Well, I have over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector and a big chunk of that has been advocacy-based work. If there is a population to be served, I’ve probably done it – so I’ve become pretty adept at case management work and finding resources. As a military family, however, we were struggling to find the resources we needed and I realized that if I’m savvy in this world and struggling, than the average military family was likely having a hard time getting their needs met.
What major challenges do military families face, aside from the obvious hardship of being apart from loved ones?
The needs are unique depending on what type of service a family member is doing. We, for example, are a national guard family, which means that instead of living on military posts we live in civilian communities. In an active duty post, you can assume that your neighbors are also soldiers and people who have a point of reference for what you’re going through. But often, the people in civilian communities are not familiar with military families. A kid can read about the dangerous place their mom or dad is serving and go to school feeling very anxious – and the teacher or other kids might not be able to fully understand why.
There are also issues of access and logistics. There are two military posts near our house, but both are an hour away. I can’t just easily throw my four kids in the car and drive an hour to find someone to talk to. It can also be difficult to find doctors who take military health insurance – and navigating all of that is particularly challenging, especially if your spouse is away and you cannot easily contact them. There is a general presumption that the military takes care of those who serve, but that is not entirely the case. Not because they do not want to, but because there are simply limited resources. [Here's a recent article that sheds additional light on the challenges faced by military families.]
What main projects does Home Front Hearts do?
Referring families to resources that can help them is a big piece of it. I check into every resource listed on the site to make sure that if someone calls, there will actually be someone on the other end of the line who can help them. A lot of the work is case management and doing the legwork for folks to help them find the best resources specific for their family.
I recently organized a community baby shower for a pregnant soldier. The average person wants to help, but you need tangible suggestions for how they can get involved. Part of what I do is act as that liaison, giving shout outs to local community groups and matching up their support with the people who need it.
What about education?
I am working to expand the community outreach and education aspects of Home Front Hearts. I will go into Hadassah groups, or to speak with Hebrew school kids, for example, and talk with them about what it means to be a military family and how they can help.
Yesterday, I held an intergenerational seminar on military families – we had seniors talking about military service and also a group of teenagers. We had a Holocaust survivor share his story and a military wife whose husband served in WWII and whose son served in Viet Nam. If you go to any Jewish senior home, the residents will most likely have served – but it is not something that Jews do know. This often translates into them not realizing the extent of the issues, and thinking of this work as a priority.
What sort of impact have you seen on the military families you work with?
The overwhelming response has been of gratitude that someone would advocate on their behalf. Here is a recent example – I received a referral about a woman who was looking for a work at home job. Her husband was
suffering post-traumatic stress disorder (PDST) and brain injuries, and could barely function. But he’d received a very unfavorable disability rating from the VA, which means they would only get minimal funding assistance. He could not function- he had horrible headaches and often got angry and aggressive and the nearest military base was an hour and half away. This woman, who was the sole financial support for her family, eventually lost her job because she needed to take care of her husband.
Home Front Hearts was able to appeal the VA determination, which resulted in a much higher disability rating and more financial support. Another organization was able to help her find a work-from-home job, but she did not have a computer, so HFH was able to get one donated.
It was also close to the holidays, and they were not going to be able to get gifts for their small children, so we connected the family to a local daycare center that wanted to support a military family. There was an amazing outpouring of support – people donated thousands of dollars of gifts and clothes and other household needs like towels and gas cards. This family is a long way from okay. If you read about brain injuries, they are a long road. But the beautiful community outpouring of support brought the family to a place where they can focus on dealing with the illness, rather than trying to figure out how to make it to tomorrow.
How can people get involved?
Right now the work we have been doing is primarily matching up current needs with people who want to get involved, but I have plans to build a formal volunteer corps. Yesterday the teenagers made cards for vets at a local veterans home. One of the issues that people forget is that once a soldier is home, their life is never the same. And we continue to have an obligation to them once they get back.
We’ve also done cell phone collections – there are services that recycle old phones in exchange for calling cards for deployed soldiers. So one way to help is to collect phones. But there are many other ways to donate skills – even if you think you have nothing to give, trust me you do. We can always use volunteers who can offer marketing or legal advice, or who are willing to donate grant writing time. [You can also donate to financially support Home Front Hearts on their website.]
Any last thoughts to share?
I want to emphasize the resilience of these families, and the Jewish responsibility of helping vulnerable populations. These families are not weak by any means – they are incredibly strong – but the statistics are grim. Military families often face struggles that non-military families simply can’t fathom. Overall, the Jewish population does not have a high rate of enlisting. And while it is not my place to try to enlist people, I believe we have a responsibility to support the people who fight these battles.
