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NJ 211 Helps Military Families
“Need Help? Start here.” - With a motto like that, NJ 211 receives calls and Web inquiries from people throughout the state facing all kinds of challenges. It puts 2-1-1 in the position of hearing about emerging needs long before the issues reach the public spotlight.
Such was the case when we began hearing from military families who were in need of assistance.
Calls first came in to our NJ 211 call centers from spouses who talked about the very feelings that one wife expressed to us so beautifully:
The loving husband that left for Iraq is not the husband that returned. My husband suffers from bouts of depression, causing him to alienate himself from the family and the activities he once enjoyed. Can you help me and my family?
We heard from sons and daughters who were being deployed for a second and third tour of duty who were distraught with concerns for the loved ones they were leaving behind.
I will go back to Iraq willingly, but I must first find a way to help my mother and my disabled brother…their world fell apart the last time I left them. Can you tell me where I can find the help I need to keep them safe?
Because of military protocol, stoicism and a reluctance to ask for help, we sensed that the needs being expressed were just the tip of the iceberg. That’s when 2-1-1, in collaboration with New Jersey’s local United Ways and the North Jersey Media Group Foundation, reached out through military channels with an offer to help – directly and concretely.
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The result is the Fund for Military Family Assistance which provides a way for concerned citizens to help soldiers and their families who are sacrificing so much for our freedoms.
The fund has been used to buy food; pay for counseling for children despondent over the absence of a father; and help troubled families who are trying to keep it all together while their loved ones are overseas. Donations have prevented evictions and foreclosures. Assistance has even come in the form of activities like the club that was started to teach young kids the craft of scrap-booking so that they could capture images of the life that their deployed parent was missing in the hope of sharing it with them upon their return. Support networks based on shared experience can also be credited to the initiative. As new needs have been expressed, new solutions have been found.
“This is a perfect example of all that NJ 211 can offer,” explains Tom Toronto, chairman of the NJ211 Partnership. “It serves as a vital access portal for people in search of help, while it simultaneously provides an established mechanism for tracking where assistance is most needed. Through a statewide database of existing community resources, it provides essential information to citizens who are looking for answers. And, when no resources exist, NJ 211 is there to make powerful connections in an effort to find solutions that work.”
If you know someone who is in need of assistance, please encourage them to call 2-1-1 or visit www.nj211.org. They will be connected to a care manager who is ready to help.
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