San Diego CA— In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Foundation for Women Warriors has shifted their focus to the most immediate needs of the women veteran community. The nonprofit organization is actively assisting women veterans and their children through the new Women Veteran Emergency Services program by providing stipends to help female veterans remain financially sustainable in the face of crisis.
Foundation for Women Warriors is the only organization in California solely dedicated to serving women veterans and their families. Through their recent COVID-19 Impact survey, they learned that many women veterans who were once stable are now currently facing employment instability and their financial futures are uncertain. In response, Foundation for Women Warriors has launched an Emergency Assistance Fund to provide financial stipends to help women veterans and their families with critical needs such as paying bills, rent, and feeding families. These financial stipends give women veterans the urgent and critical relief they need to navigate life’s obstacles, prevent homelessness, and serve as a safety net for when unforeseen necessary expenses and events place women veterans and their children at risk for falling into (or back into) homelessness.
Their goal is to raise $25,000 by Mothers’ Day. An anonymous donor will match each dollar donated, up to $10,000.
Jodie Grenier, CEO of Foundation for Women Warriors, shares, “Our programs exist to honor the service and empower the economic stability and well-being of the women veteran community. Women veterans have historically been a vulnerable and underserved population, and due to COVID-19 our emergency services are in high demand. We are providing high impact emergency financial assistance to our women veterans that are currently in financial crisis and to meet the needs of our community in the months to come. Financial stipends are awarded to women veterans to help cover the cost of rent, utilities, food, car registration, gasoline, car repairs, and household items. Most of our clients are the sole income earners providing for their families. 70% of our women veterans are single mothers and many have lost their job or had a reduction in their employment hours and/or wages as a result of local shutdowns. We are committed to keeping women veterans and their children in their homes, in pursuit of their educational goals, and stable.”
While the organization expects the most immediate needs will be served through our Warrior Assistance program, they anticipate a rise in Childcare Assistance needs in the near future as childcare facilities and providers re-open and children are not anticipated to return to school until the fall. Foundation for Women Warriors’ Childcare Assistance program ensures that women veteran mothers are able to attain and maintain employment by providing childcare stipends for daycare, after-school care as well as spring, summer, and winter camps for working or student veteran mothers.