March 17, 2025 • 26 mins
What unique challenges do military families face, and how can we support them in times of need? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Vivian Dietrich, the Senior Regional Director for Region 4 of Operation Homefront, who brings 17 years of experience to the table. Gain insight into the critical financial assistance programs aimed at alleviating unexpected burdens like car repairs and housing costs, and discover the vital role that financial management guidance plays in fostering strong, stable, and secure military families. Vivian and I talk about the pressing issue of affordable housing near military installations.
Transitioning from military to civilian life presents its own set of challenges, and Operation Homefront's Transitional Homes for Veterans program is here to bridge that gap. Vivian takes us through the comprehensive support system offered, including low-rent housing and financial education, designed to empower veterans toward self-sufficiency. Listeners are encouraged to plan ahead and start thinking about life after military service well before separation. Don't miss out on how volunteers and donors are crucial in making these programs successful, benefiting not just the veterans' families but the entire community. Tune in to learn how you can make a difference and stay connected for upcoming episodes with even more impactful insights.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Larry Zilliox (00:00):
Good morning.
I'm your host, larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services,
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guest is Vivian Dietrich.
She is the Senior RegionalDirector for Region 4 of
Operation Homefront and beforewe get going, I've got to
believe that Region 4 is thebest of all the regions, and
(00:24):
she's here to tell us why andmore about what Operation
Homefront does.
I know they do great things.
We've been at tabling events.
Most recently we were both atthe holiday party at Walter Reed
in December, so I'm veryfamiliar with Operation
Homefront and I'm very excitedto have her join me.
(00:45):
So, vivian, welcome to thepodcast.
Vivian Dietrich (00:48):
Larry, thank you so much for inviting me.
My favorite subject OperationHomefront and how to help
military families.
I'm also excited to be able topartner with someone who has
extreme devotion to our servicemembers, and I'm just privileged
to be here today.
Larry Zilliox (01:08):
So tell us how long have you been involved with
Operation Homefront?
Vivian Dietrich (01:11):
Well, just the other day somebody on the inbox
dropped me an email that saidcongratulations on 17 years with
Operation Homefront.
And for a moment I don't knowwhether I was celebrating or
going gosh, has it been thatlong, but it's been a blink for
me.
A wonderful organization, and Ijust think the time that I've
(01:36):
been here sort of speaks foritself to find a place that
you're giving back and helpingmilitary families.
Just, the years go so quicklyand there's still so much left
to be done.
Larry Zilliox (01:51):
For sure, this is Region 4, which is Northern
Virginia.
How big is the region?
Is it also DC, maryland, orwhat is this region?
Vivian Dietrich (01:59):
Operation Homefront is a national
organization.
We have six regions across theUnited States.
We serve all 50 states, so I'vegot eight of those states the
DMV, west Virginia, both of theCarolinas and Tennessee and
Kentucky, so pretty much themid-Atlantic region.
Larry Zilliox (02:20):
Your programs.
What would you say is the topprogram that Operation Homefront
has, or is the one thatservices the most active duty
and veteran population?
Vivian Dietrich (02:33):
Well, we have a variety of programs, and
they're divided into relief, andthey're divided relief and
recurring programs.
Our real core program, though,is our critical financial
support, and this is anopportunity that we feel we have
to support military familiesthat are facing financial stress
(02:58):
.
Larry Zilliox (02:59):
What does that look like?
I know that housing is a hugeissue and lack thereof.
What other assistance do yougive them?
When it comes to financialassistance, is it for car
payments or repairs or anythinglike that?
Vivian Dietrich (03:15):
Our financial assistance program is helping
military families that arefacing financial stress.
Perhaps the family car brokedown?
The car needed repairing.
So what do you do?
You skip your house payment,you don't pay the utility bill?
Well, then you begin to fallbehind.
(03:36):
So this is our core value ithelps these families when
there's that shortfall, and itmost often will be around a
mortgage payment, rent,utilities, home and car repairs,
maybe overdue bills, andsometimes it's even something as
(03:56):
simple as groceries, whichisn't simple when you don't have
money and you have family.
Being able to call and getsupport for groceries is a big
deal, especially during thishigh inflation period of time.
We're finding that thesefamilies, the need is increasing
, especially in the world ofneeding food during this time.
(04:20):
Some of these contributingfactors and it's impacting a lot
of different people, not onlythe military, but it's partially
they're young, they have notthe skill sets that they need to
manage their income and tomanage their expenses, and we're
here to help build this strong,stable and secure military
(04:42):
family.
That's what we want to do.
So when they face a hardship,if there's a bump in the road
financially, they can reach toOperation Homefront and we can
assist.
Sometimes these situations caneven occur if there's a
deployment.
We're a military family.
My husband is retired now buthe went back with DOD and we've
(05:07):
experienced some of thosesituations yourself.
You deploy, many times thereisn't someone to care for the
children, so the spouse willhave to leave their job and come
home or they need to hiresitters.
Loss of income.
All of these things play intofactors that occur in a military
(05:27):
family that they can't avoid.
But they need a place to turn.
So our critical financialassistance program, which they
can go to our website,operationhomefrontorg and read
about how to apply for that typeof assistance.
Larry Zilliox (05:46):
I know housing is a huge, huge issue.
In fact.
Listeners, next Mondaymorning's episode will be one
that I recorded recently withAlyssa Sissa.
She's the Director of DefenseCapabilities and Management at
the General Accounting Office ofDefense Capabilities and
Management at the GeneralAccounting Office and they just
(06:07):
released a report on what DODshould do to address the
critical supply shortage ofaffordable housing around
installations.
And reading through this reportand you just hear story after
story of military families thatare struggling because they're
getting a base housing allowancebut it doesn't cover in their
(06:29):
community what the cost is ofrenting and they're either
sending a family home to livewith relatives and the service
member goes into the dormitoryor they're just struggling and
not, you know, just reallyhaving a hard time.
And does Operation Homefronthave any programs that help them
(06:51):
with budgeting or to teach themabout managing money?
Or, you know, because they'rein an environment where, by and
large, just about everything isprovided for them, you know you
have a legal problem, you godown illegal things like that.
Is there any training involvedor is it just a grant sort of
(07:11):
program?
Vivian Dietrich (07:14):
When you apply.
We like to really understandeverything about the family.
We do a deep dive into theirfinancials.
We try to find out how they'reliving, what their need is and
if they may call and just askfor, can you pay my utility bill
?
Well, we want to understand theentire financial picture.
(07:36):
It's important for us tounderstand that picture so that
we know how best to help themthe first time around that
someone applies, if they'reapplying for financial
assistance.
Once we check the eligibility,go through their financial
situation.
We're looking to make someoneresilient.
(07:58):
We're trying to stabilize them.
We will make a decision as towhat debts need to be paid and
we'll pay the debts to thevendor.
We do not give the cash to thefamily.
What we do is we pay the vendorand then we set them up so that
they can move forward, becausemany times it's just a bump in
(08:20):
the road.
A car set them behind.
It's just a bump in the roadCar set them behind.
They had maybe someone becameill and there was an expense
there.
So once we've alleviated that,we tell them okay, if there's
nothing else at this point, youknow we wish them well and they
(08:41):
can come back should they runinto a problem again.
If they come back a second timeand we see there's a pattern
beginning, okay, we begin tolook at okay, this family is
most likely going to need somecritical financial schooling at
this point.
So when they return, that'spart of the criteria.
(09:04):
There is that we do want to getthem sound on how to manage
their funding.
They're young, they don'treally know it's not taught in
the schools as much, it's notout there.
It's so easy to get that creditcard at $10 a month and the
next thing, you know it's $250 amonth in a high balance.
(09:27):
So we do have counselors thatcan work with them and referrals
that we can give them wherethey have to go to schooling, to
HACCP, and then come back andwe can help them again.
Then come back and we can helpthem again In all of our housing
programs.
That's something that weencourage as well is building
(09:48):
their financial literacy.
You just give someone a house,it's not going to work.
It's not going to work becausethey've got to know how to
maintain it.
We have a variety of housingprograms that you may have
noticed on our websites, and ifI could walk through them for a
second, I can kind of explain toyou how that works.
Larry Zilliox (10:09):
Let me ask you one question before we move on
to that.
Do you find that when servicemembers or veterans come to you
and say, okay, I have thisproblem, that very often it's
never just one problem?
It's probably a series ofthings like maybe they have an
(10:30):
issue paying a bill, but they'realso struggling to find care
for an autistic child, or youknow PCS.
Every time a service member PCS, there's always additional
costs that aren't covered by themilitary.
You know you have to.
You have to buy new thingsbecause you couldn't ship food,
all sorts of things like that.
Do you find that it's neverreally one thing, but usually a
(10:54):
couple?
Vivian Dietrich (10:55):
What I've found is it's really there's a
pattern.
The calls come very late in theday.
It's usually they're going toturn the power off at five
o'clock.
Okay, so they're calling at 415.
They're going to turn the poweroff.
Can you help?
Generally the wife, and it'salways.
(11:16):
I mean, obviously you knew youwere getting the disconnect
notices, but you can see thepressure and the stress that
they're under.
They don't know where to turn,so it's usually at a very last
minute.
I have nowhere else to turn.
They're Googling or they'researching or they've heard of us
and they'll call and it's justa desperate call that we get.
(11:40):
Most of the time, if you askthem, they'll say, oh, that's
all I owe.
But when you talk with thefamilies they'll begin to relax
and they'll share.
Well, I thought if I told you Ialso was going to have the
water cut off in two weeks Imight not be able to get the
power turned on.
So they're in such a storyabout support and where they can
(12:04):
go and where they can find it,and they're just desperate for
you to help them with the onecrisis.
But we have highly trainedcounselors that work with the
financial assistance and theyare always kind.
They're great listeners.
It's not easy for families totalk about their financial
(12:30):
situation.
It can even be embarrassing forthem.
But our counselors are gentleand they work through and in no
time they're just opening up andthey're sharing their story.
They're sharing about theirfinancial needs and they just
run through a list and we'll askthem is there anything else?
Because we're going to find it.
(12:51):
We go, we want to see the bankstatements, we want to look at
the eligibility requirements, wewant to know that they're in
the military.
You know it's certain stepsthat they go through, but the
professionalism of the OperationHomefront Critical Financial
Assistance counselors is amazingand they connect very closely
(13:13):
with those families.
They sort of own that familyand feel like, hey, I've got to
find everything that we can doto help this family and to get
them in a better situation.
So we're a simple bump in theroad.
Larry Zilliox (13:31):
Doesn't become a long-term crisis members call
and think that all they need isjust covering of one financial
debt, when, if the counselor hasthe entire picture, they can
make them aware of resourcesthey had no idea were available
(13:54):
and ways to get additionalsupport.
I mean that's just amazing.
So, yeah, let's talk a littlebit about the housing programs
that you have, because I mean,this is a nationwide problem,
not just effects only, you know,military, but there's a
(14:14):
critical shortage of affordablehousing nationwide.
You can't find a place to livein this country making minimum
wage by yourself.
You have to live with otherpeople to be able to afford it.
So our service members andveterans are not exempt from
that.
There are a lot of servicemembers who retire and find out
(14:37):
that their retirement pay is notenough and they start working
again, or spouses get jobs andit can be a real struggle.
But there's also a seriousproblem of homeless veterans and
I think your housing programsare really exceptional.
If you could, yeah, tell us alittle bit about the housing
(15:00):
programs.
Vivian Dietrich (15:01):
Well, to your point.
Last year's Blue Star Familysurveys actually showed that 44%
of the retired veterans and 46%of the non-retired had less
than one year to even thinkabout what were they going to do
when they got out of themilitary.
They just were not paired.
(15:22):
And many of them come out andthey don't even have a job to
step into, let alone where am Igoing to live, where are the
children going to go to school?
So Operation Homefront hashousing programs called
Transitional Homes for Veterans,called Transitional Homes for
(15:46):
Veterans, and knowing that thisis a challenge for veterans that
are stepping out of themilitary, we have established
some homes around the countrythat enables transitioning
veterans that are from threeyears of discharge, right in
that window where they're goingto be successful or they're not.
(16:07):
With that transition they canapply for one of our programs
based on having served honorably.
It's temporary, it's rent-free,they also have financial
education.
Again, just to give them a homewill not make them successful.
It has to have all of thecomponents.
We call it a program that theygraduate from and we support
(16:30):
these families and help themwork towards self-sufficiency as
they come into the civilianworld.
So once we select a family fromone of those homes.
We assign them a caseworker.
They also are assigned afinancial counselor and they
will work with them to create apersonalized financial,
(16:52):
educational, employment andpersonal goals.
We want to set them up forsuccess.
These families will gainknowledge about how to manage
their funds, how to buy a house,how to improve their credit
scores, pay off debt, what to dowhen there's an emergency and
(17:14):
how to engage in the community.
The homes that we have that aretransitional homes are in
communities that are affordablefor their income bracket so
hopefully, when the program endsthat they buy a home in that
community, come to our programsthat were $15,000, $20,000 in
(17:49):
debt, left debt-free with$15,000 to $20,000 in their
savings, because we hold themaccountable for how they're
managing their dollars whilethey're in these programs and
setting them up for success.
Even though it's rent free, wedo require the payments to pay a
monthly fee.
It's usually a portion of thereal estate tax.
(18:09):
It's not a handout.
It's like you're actuallyearning this and you're paying a
small fee.
It may be a few hundred dollarsand then they can reside in the
homes.
There's a two-year or athree-year program, but many of
these families that come intothese programs.
(18:31):
They're changed.
They're changed.
They're children.
We have them set up in schools.
They're active with other kidsin the community.
The family has connectedthrough different community
groups and activities and theyhave a home that they're proud
of.
They're also taught whilethey're in these homes.
You know you're going to haveto repair a home.
(18:52):
You can't just go get a placeand not take care of it.
Then you're going to run intoemergency issues again.
So it's really a wrap aroundthe family to help them get to a
place that they're stable andcan stand on their own.
That's a transitional home forthese military families that are
coming out.
But some of these homes and youcan go to our websites here in
(19:15):
Alabama, florida, georgia,illinois, louisiana, north
Carolina, south Carolina, texas.
We currently are takingapplications in Florida, georgia
, louisiana, south Carolina andTexas.
Obviously, these areas are moreaffordable.
To your point that you madeearlier, where do you find
affordable housing?
Larry Zilliox (19:36):
Yeah Well, I would urge our listeners to
check out the webpage, to go tooperationhomefrontorg.
Operationhomefrontorg Check outthe webpage.
There's plenty of resources.
Look at these programs.
It may not be right for you,you may have a house, you may be
fine, but you may know a youngservice member who's separating
(20:00):
and needs to be in this program,and they need to be in this
program long before it's timefor them to separate or retire
Three years.
Traditionally, we recommendthat service members look at a
TAPS program and begin toconsider their future after
military service at least twoyears before they've decided
(20:24):
they want to separate.
So this is a program that couldhelp them, especially the
wounded, ill or injured soldiersthat just really do need to
continue with treatment afterthey're medically discharged,
and being placed into this typeof program near a VA facility
(20:46):
could be a godsend, really.
So, listeners, take a look atthe webpage.
You all know where the big redbutton is.
It's up in the right-handcorner.
Go ahead and bang on it anddonate.
Think about the differentprograms that they have and how
effective they are with helpingfamilies.
I know that you can donate,give whatever you can $5,000,
$10,000, $15,000, whatever youcan.
(21:09):
It all goes to a very goodcause.
So don't overlook that, butcheck out every inch of the
webpage and find resourceseither for yourself or those
that you can recommend to yourbuddies and your fellow service
members.
You know, vivian, before wekind of wrap things up here,
(21:32):
what's the one thing that youwant, the most important thing
that you want listeners to knowabout Operation Homefront?
Vivian Dietrich (21:41):
You know Operation Homefront there's so
many.
We're one of the largestnonprofits in the United States
that support veterans.
But Operation Homefrontsupports military family, not
just the veteran.
To have a healthy militaryfamily is good for us, it's good
(22:04):
for our country, it's good fortheir family, and we can't do
this without volunteers.
We have over 4,000 plusvolunteers helping us support
our military families.
We also can't do it without ourdonors.
We have donors all around theprograms that help military
(22:28):
families get out and enjoy anevent where we provide holiday
meals.
A meal seems very simple tomany of us, but a holiday meal
(22:53):
every holiday, whether it's the4th of July, whether it's
Thanksgiving and the Decemberholidays it's Thanksgiving and
the December holidays a holidaymeal where everyone can come
together with their family,whether the service members
deployed and it's the family andthe neighbors.
It's a holiday meal thatprovides everything that they
(23:14):
would need to be able to pulltogether, a traditional holiday
meals of Thanksgiving, and wegive them a gift card to be able
to purchase the protein.
And that doesn't change thefact that they're alone, but it
does help them get through theholiday by having friends over
(23:35):
and having a meal and not havingit be a negative impact on
their budget.
So every single program we haveis budget relieving and we need
the support of the community tomake this happen for us.
Larry Zilliox (23:49):
I can't tell you how important this program is.
Listeners, this is one of thelargest VSOs.
Professionally run a steward ofyour donation, I guarantee it.
Professionally run a steward ofyour donation, I guarantee it.
You definitely want to checkout their webpage, which again
is operationhomefrontorg.
Don't overlook all of theprograms that they have, because
(24:13):
just reading down here I sawjust caught my eye that they
have the Star Spangled Babiesprogram, which provides
financial support and criticalbaby supplies for newborns to
service members.
So I mean, who thinks?
Vivian Dietrich (24:26):
of that Lettering baby showers.
We do baby showers and I'mtelling you we have so much fun
with these moms because they aremost likely hundreds of miles
away from families and friendsand maybe even a spouse is
deployed.
But this is a baby shower theywouldn't ordinarily have and
(24:48):
they are just showered withwonderful gifts and it's all
done by volunteers helping usand grateful donors saying hey,
we want to support our militaryfamilies while they're here in
our community, and these happenall across the United States.
Larry Zilliox (25:03):
Wow.
Well, that's just great.
So, vivian, thank you so muchfor joining us I really
appreciate it and for lettingeverybody know how wonderful
Operation Homefront is.
Vivian Dietrich (25:16):
It was my pleasure, it was a privilege to
be here and share with you aboutOperation Homefront, our
military family.
They serve us every day whenour country has a need.
I think it's important thatwe're there when they have a
need and that's what we can dotogether.
Thank you for allowing me to behere today and share about
Operation Homefront.
Larry Zilliox (25:37):
Well, absolutely, and, listeners, we'll have
another episode next Mondaymorning at 0500.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcast at willingwarriorsorg.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
Good morning.
I'm your host, larry Zilliox,Director of Culinary Services,
here at the Warrior Retreat atBull Run, and this week our
guest is Vivian Dietrich.
She is the Senior RegionalDirector for Region 4 of
Operation Homefront and beforewe get going, I've got to
believe that Region 4 is thebest of all the regions, and
(00:24):
she's here to tell us why andmore about what Operation
Homefront does.
I know they do great things.
We've been at tabling events.
Most recently we were both atthe holiday party at Walter Reed
in December, so I'm veryfamiliar with Operation
Homefront and I'm very excitedto have her join me.
(00:45):
So, vivian, welcome to thepodcast.
Vivian Dietrich (00:48):
Larry, thank you so much for inviting me.
My favorite subject OperationHomefront and how to help
military families.
I'm also excited to be able topartner with someone who has
extreme devotion to our servicemembers, and I'm just privileged
to be here today.
Larry Zilliox (01:08):
So tell us how long have you been involved with
Operation Homefront?
Vivian Dietrich (01:11):
Well, just the other day somebody on the inbox
dropped me an email that saidcongratulations on 17 years with
Operation Homefront.
And for a moment I don't knowwhether I was celebrating or
going gosh, has it been thatlong, but it's been a blink for
me.
A wonderful organization, and Ijust think the time that I've
(01:36):
been here sort of speaks foritself to find a place that
you're giving back and helpingmilitary families.
Just, the years go so quicklyand there's still so much left
to be done.
Larry Zilliox (01:51):
For sure, this is Region 4, which is Northern
Virginia.
How big is the region?
Is it also DC, maryland, orwhat is this region?
Vivian Dietrich (01:59):
Operation Homefront is a national
organization.
We have six regions across theUnited States.
We serve all 50 states, so I'vegot eight of those states the
DMV, west Virginia, both of theCarolinas and Tennessee and
Kentucky, so pretty much themid-Atlantic region.
Larry Zilliox (02:20):
Your programs.
What would you say is the topprogram that Operation Homefront
has, or is the one thatservices the most active duty
and veteran population?
Vivian Dietrich (02:33):
Well, we have a variety of programs, and
they're divided into relief, andthey're divided relief and
recurring programs.
Our real core program, though,is our critical financial
support, and this is anopportunity that we feel we have
to support military familiesthat are facing financial stress
(02:58):
.
Larry Zilliox (02:59):
What does that look like?
I know that housing is a hugeissue and lack thereof.
What other assistance do yougive them?
When it comes to financialassistance, is it for car
payments or repairs or anythinglike that?
Vivian Dietrich (03:15):
Our financial assistance program is helping
military families that arefacing financial stress.
Perhaps the family car brokedown?
The car needed repairing.
So what do you do?
You skip your house payment,you don't pay the utility bill?
Well, then you begin to fallbehind.
(03:36):
So this is our core value ithelps these families when
there's that shortfall, and itmost often will be around a
mortgage payment, rent,utilities, home and car repairs,
maybe overdue bills, andsometimes it's even something as
(03:56):
simple as groceries, whichisn't simple when you don't have
money and you have family.
Being able to call and getsupport for groceries is a big
deal, especially during thishigh inflation period of time.
We're finding that thesefamilies, the need is increasing
, especially in the world ofneeding food during this time.
(04:20):
Some of these contributingfactors and it's impacting a lot
of different people, not onlythe military, but it's partially
they're young, they have notthe skill sets that they need to
manage their income and tomanage their expenses, and we're
here to help build this strong,stable and secure military
(04:42):
family.
That's what we want to do.
So when they face a hardship,if there's a bump in the road
financially, they can reach toOperation Homefront and we can
assist.
Sometimes these situations caneven occur if there's a
deployment.
We're a military family.
My husband is retired now buthe went back with DOD and we've
(05:07):
experienced some of thosesituations yourself.
You deploy, many times thereisn't someone to care for the
children, so the spouse willhave to leave their job and come
home or they need to hiresitters.
Loss of income.
All of these things play intofactors that occur in a military
(05:27):
family that they can't avoid.
But they need a place to turn.
So our critical financialassistance program, which they
can go to our website,operationhomefrontorg and read
about how to apply for that typeof assistance.
Larry Zilliox (05:46):
I know housing is a huge, huge issue.
In fact.
Listeners, next Mondaymorning's episode will be one
that I recorded recently withAlyssa Sissa.
She's the Director of DefenseCapabilities and Management at
the General Accounting Office ofDefense Capabilities and
Management at the GeneralAccounting Office and they just
(06:07):
released a report on what DODshould do to address the
critical supply shortage ofaffordable housing around
installations.
And reading through this reportand you just hear story after
story of military families thatare struggling because they're
getting a base housing allowancebut it doesn't cover in their
(06:29):
community what the cost is ofrenting and they're either
sending a family home to livewith relatives and the service
member goes into the dormitoryor they're just struggling and
not, you know, just reallyhaving a hard time.
And does Operation Homefronthave any programs that help them
(06:51):
with budgeting or to teach themabout managing money?
Or, you know, because they'rein an environment where, by and
large, just about everything isprovided for them, you know you
have a legal problem, you godown illegal things like that.
Is there any training involvedor is it just a grant sort of
(07:11):
program?
Vivian Dietrich (07:14):
When you apply.
We like to really understandeverything about the family.
We do a deep dive into theirfinancials.
We try to find out how they'reliving, what their need is and
if they may call and just askfor, can you pay my utility bill
?
Well, we want to understand theentire financial picture.
(07:36):
It's important for us tounderstand that picture so that
we know how best to help themthe first time around that
someone applies, if they'reapplying for financial
assistance.
Once we check the eligibility,go through their financial
situation.
We're looking to make someoneresilient.
(07:58):
We're trying to stabilize them.
We will make a decision as towhat debts need to be paid and
we'll pay the debts to thevendor.
We do not give the cash to thefamily.
What we do is we pay the vendorand then we set them up so that
they can move forward, becausemany times it's just a bump in
(08:20):
the road.
A car set them behind.
It's just a bump in the roadCar set them behind.
They had maybe someone becameill and there was an expense
there.
So once we've alleviated that,we tell them okay, if there's
nothing else at this point, youknow we wish them well and they
(08:41):
can come back should they runinto a problem again.
If they come back a second timeand we see there's a pattern
beginning, okay, we begin tolook at okay, this family is
most likely going to need somecritical financial schooling at
this point.
So when they return, that'spart of the criteria.
(09:04):
There is that we do want to getthem sound on how to manage
their funding.
They're young, they don'treally know it's not taught in
the schools as much, it's notout there.
It's so easy to get that creditcard at $10 a month and the
next thing, you know it's $250 amonth in a high balance.
(09:27):
So we do have counselors thatcan work with them and referrals
that we can give them wherethey have to go to schooling, to
HACCP, and then come back andwe can help them again.
Then come back and we can helpthem again In all of our housing
programs.
That's something that weencourage as well is building
(09:48):
their financial literacy.
You just give someone a house,it's not going to work.
It's not going to work becausethey've got to know how to
maintain it.
We have a variety of housingprograms that you may have
noticed on our websites, and ifI could walk through them for a
second, I can kind of explain toyou how that works.
Larry Zilliox (10:09):
Let me ask you one question before we move on
to that.
Do you find that when servicemembers or veterans come to you
and say, okay, I have thisproblem, that very often it's
never just one problem?
It's probably a series ofthings like maybe they have an
(10:30):
issue paying a bill, but they'realso struggling to find care
for an autistic child, or youknow PCS.
Every time a service member PCS, there's always additional
costs that aren't covered by themilitary.
You know you have to.
You have to buy new thingsbecause you couldn't ship food,
all sorts of things like that.
Do you find that it's neverreally one thing, but usually a
(10:54):
couple?
Vivian Dietrich (10:55):
What I've found is it's really there's a
pattern.
The calls come very late in theday.
It's usually they're going toturn the power off at five
o'clock.
Okay, so they're calling at 415.
They're going to turn the poweroff.
Can you help?
Generally the wife, and it'salways.
(11:16):
I mean, obviously you knew youwere getting the disconnect
notices, but you can see thepressure and the stress that
they're under.
They don't know where to turn,so it's usually at a very last
minute.
I have nowhere else to turn.
They're Googling or they'researching or they've heard of us
and they'll call and it's justa desperate call that we get.
(11:40):
Most of the time, if you askthem, they'll say, oh, that's
all I owe.
But when you talk with thefamilies they'll begin to relax
and they'll share.
Well, I thought if I told you Ialso was going to have the
water cut off in two weeks Imight not be able to get the
power turned on.
So they're in such a storyabout support and where they can
(12:04):
go and where they can find it,and they're just desperate for
you to help them with the onecrisis.
But we have highly trainedcounselors that work with the
financial assistance and theyare always kind.
They're great listeners.
It's not easy for families totalk about their financial
(12:30):
situation.
It can even be embarrassing forthem.
But our counselors are gentleand they work through and in no
time they're just opening up andthey're sharing their story.
They're sharing about theirfinancial needs and they just
run through a list and we'll askthem is there anything else?
Because we're going to find it.
(12:51):
We go, we want to see the bankstatements, we want to look at
the eligibility requirements, wewant to know that they're in
the military.
You know it's certain stepsthat they go through, but the
professionalism of the OperationHomefront Critical Financial
Assistance counselors is amazingand they connect very closely
(13:13):
with those families.
They sort of own that familyand feel like, hey, I've got to
find everything that we can doto help this family and to get
them in a better situation.
So we're a simple bump in theroad.
Larry Zilliox (13:31):
Doesn't become a long-term crisis members call
and think that all they need isjust covering of one financial
debt, when, if the counselor hasthe entire picture, they can
make them aware of resourcesthey had no idea were available
(13:54):
and ways to get additionalsupport.
I mean that's just amazing.
So, yeah, let's talk a littlebit about the housing programs
that you have, because I mean,this is a nationwide problem,
not just effects only, you know,military, but there's a
(14:14):
critical shortage of affordablehousing nationwide.
You can't find a place to livein this country making minimum
wage by yourself.
You have to live with otherpeople to be able to afford it.
So our service members andveterans are not exempt from
that.
There are a lot of servicemembers who retire and find out
(14:37):
that their retirement pay is notenough and they start working
again, or spouses get jobs andit can be a real struggle.
But there's also a seriousproblem of homeless veterans and
I think your housing programsare really exceptional.
If you could, yeah, tell us alittle bit about the housing
(15:00):
programs.
Vivian Dietrich (15:01):
Well, to your point.
Last year's Blue Star Familysurveys actually showed that 44%
of the retired veterans and 46%of the non-retired had less
than one year to even thinkabout what were they going to do
when they got out of themilitary.
They just were not paired.
(15:22):
And many of them come out andthey don't even have a job to
step into, let alone where am Igoing to live, where are the
children going to go to school?
So Operation Homefront hashousing programs called
Transitional Homes for Veterans,called Transitional Homes for
(15:46):
Veterans, and knowing that thisis a challenge for veterans that
are stepping out of themilitary, we have established
some homes around the countrythat enables transitioning
veterans that are from threeyears of discharge, right in
that window where they're goingto be successful or they're not.
(16:07):
With that transition they canapply for one of our programs
based on having served honorably.
It's temporary, it's rent-free,they also have financial
education.
Again, just to give them a homewill not make them successful.
It has to have all of thecomponents.
We call it a program that theygraduate from and we support
(16:30):
these families and help themwork towards self-sufficiency as
they come into the civilianworld.
So once we select a family fromone of those homes.
We assign them a caseworker.
They also are assigned afinancial counselor and they
will work with them to create apersonalized financial,
(16:52):
educational, employment andpersonal goals.
We want to set them up forsuccess.
These families will gainknowledge about how to manage
their funds, how to buy a house,how to improve their credit
scores, pay off debt, what to dowhen there's an emergency and
(17:14):
how to engage in the community.
The homes that we have that aretransitional homes are in
communities that are affordablefor their income bracket so
hopefully, when the program endsthat they buy a home in that
community, come to our programsthat were $15,000, $20,000 in
(17:49):
debt, left debt-free with$15,000 to $20,000 in their
savings, because we hold themaccountable for how they're
managing their dollars whilethey're in these programs and
setting them up for success.
Even though it's rent free, wedo require the payments to pay a
monthly fee.
It's usually a portion of thereal estate tax.
(18:09):
It's not a handout.
It's like you're actuallyearning this and you're paying a
small fee.
It may be a few hundred dollarsand then they can reside in the
homes.
There's a two-year or athree-year program, but many of
these families that come intothese programs.
(18:31):
They're changed.
They're changed.
They're children.
We have them set up in schools.
They're active with other kidsin the community.
The family has connectedthrough different community
groups and activities and theyhave a home that they're proud
of.
They're also taught whilethey're in these homes.
You know you're going to haveto repair a home.
(18:52):
You can't just go get a placeand not take care of it.
Then you're going to run intoemergency issues again.
So it's really a wrap aroundthe family to help them get to a
place that they're stable andcan stand on their own.
That's a transitional home forthese military families that are
coming out.
But some of these homes and youcan go to our websites here in
(19:15):
Alabama, florida, georgia,illinois, louisiana, north
Carolina, south Carolina, texas.
We currently are takingapplications in Florida, georgia
, louisiana, south Carolina andTexas.
Obviously, these areas are moreaffordable.
To your point that you madeearlier, where do you find
affordable housing?
Larry Zilliox (19:36):
Yeah Well, I would urge our listeners to
check out the webpage, to go tooperationhomefrontorg.
Operationhomefrontorg Check outthe webpage.
There's plenty of resources.
Look at these programs.
It may not be right for you,you may have a house, you may be
fine, but you may know a youngservice member who's separating
(20:00):
and needs to be in this program,and they need to be in this
program long before it's timefor them to separate or retire
Three years.
Traditionally, we recommendthat service members look at a
TAPS program and begin toconsider their future after
military service at least twoyears before they've decided
(20:24):
they want to separate.
So this is a program that couldhelp them, especially the
wounded, ill or injured soldiersthat just really do need to
continue with treatment afterthey're medically discharged,
and being placed into this typeof program near a VA facility
(20:46):
could be a godsend, really.
So, listeners, take a look atthe webpage.
You all know where the big redbutton is.
It's up in the right-handcorner.
Go ahead and bang on it anddonate.
Think about the differentprograms that they have and how
effective they are with helpingfamilies.
I know that you can donate,give whatever you can $5,000,
$10,000, $15,000, whatever youcan.
(21:09):
It all goes to a very goodcause.
So don't overlook that, butcheck out every inch of the
webpage and find resourceseither for yourself or those
that you can recommend to yourbuddies and your fellow service
members.
You know, vivian, before wekind of wrap things up here,
(21:32):
what's the one thing that youwant, the most important thing
that you want listeners to knowabout Operation Homefront?
Vivian Dietrich (21:41):
You know Operation Homefront there's so
many.
We're one of the largestnonprofits in the United States
that support veterans.
But Operation Homefrontsupports military family, not
just the veteran.
To have a healthy militaryfamily is good for us, it's good
(22:04):
for our country, it's good fortheir family, and we can't do
this without volunteers.
We have over 4,000 plusvolunteers helping us support
our military families.
We also can't do it without ourdonors.
We have donors all around theprograms that help military
(22:28):
families get out and enjoy anevent where we provide holiday
meals.
A meal seems very simple tomany of us, but a holiday meal
(22:53):
every holiday, whether it's the4th of July, whether it's
Thanksgiving and the Decemberholidays it's Thanksgiving and
the December holidays a holidaymeal where everyone can come
together with their family,whether the service members
deployed and it's the family andthe neighbors.
It's a holiday meal thatprovides everything that they
(23:14):
would need to be able to pulltogether, a traditional holiday
meals of Thanksgiving, and wegive them a gift card to be able
to purchase the protein.
And that doesn't change thefact that they're alone, but it
does help them get through theholiday by having friends over
(23:35):
and having a meal and not havingit be a negative impact on
their budget.
So every single program we haveis budget relieving and we need
the support of the community tomake this happen for us.
Larry Zilliox (23:49):
I can't tell you how important this program is.
Listeners, this is one of thelargest VSOs.
Professionally run a steward ofyour donation, I guarantee it.
Professionally run a steward ofyour donation, I guarantee it.
You definitely want to checkout their webpage, which again
is operationhomefrontorg.
Don't overlook all of theprograms that they have, because
(24:13):
just reading down here I sawjust caught my eye that they
have the Star Spangled Babiesprogram, which provides
financial support and criticalbaby supplies for newborns to
service members.
So I mean, who thinks?
Vivian Dietrich (24:26):
of that Lettering baby showers.
We do baby showers and I'mtelling you we have so much fun
with these moms because they aremost likely hundreds of miles
away from families and friendsand maybe even a spouse is
deployed.
But this is a baby shower theywouldn't ordinarily have and
(24:48):
they are just showered withwonderful gifts and it's all
done by volunteers helping usand grateful donors saying hey,
we want to support our militaryfamilies while they're here in
our community, and these happenall across the United States.
Larry Zilliox (25:03):
Wow.
Well, that's just great.
So, vivian, thank you so muchfor joining us I really
appreciate it and for lettingeverybody know how wonderful
Operation Homefront is.
Vivian Dietrich (25:16):
It was my pleasure, it was a privilege to
be here and share with you aboutOperation Homefront, our
military family.
They serve us every day whenour country has a need.
I think it's important thatwe're there when they have a
need and that's what we can dotogether.
Thank you for allowing me to behere today and share about
Operation Homefront.
Larry Zilliox (25:37):
Well, absolutely, and, listeners, we'll have
another episode next Mondaymorning at 0500.
If you have any questions orsuggestions, you can reach us at
podcast at willingwarriorsorg.
Until then, thanks forlistening.
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