Family Matters: Army Community Services

Today's guest blogger is Kristen Smith.  Kristen is an Army spouse and blogger, writing about her experiences in the Army at "That Army Wife Life."  This post is about all the amazing resources available at every Army installation.  New to your post?  Start with Army Community Services!

There are a multitude of services of available on every post for Soldiers and their spouses. The key is learning where to look and who to ask when looking for assistance. My experience has been that a great many of these programs are vastly underutilized. People don't know that they are there, the benefits to utilizing them, or don't think the programs can help them.

A good place to start no matter what you are looking for is Army Community Services. Known as ACS, Army Community Services provides information, assistance, and guidance to active duty Soldiers and their Families. In many cases, ACS can refer an individual or Family to the appropriate agency.

I wanted to highlight a few of the standard offerings of ACS. While it is an Army-wide program, the details of any program will vary a bit from post to post.

ACS OFFERINGS:

Army Emergency Relief (AER) - Emergency financial assistance in the form of low interest loans and (occasionally) grants. The application for AER assistance goes through the Soldier's chain of command and is generally approved to pay a very specific amount (bills/car repair). Soldier is often required to provide proof that the funds were used to pay that specific expense by bringing back a receipt or similar verification.

Financial Readiness - credit information and assistance, budget preparation, and more offered through financial readiness classes. Open to both service members and their Families. These classes are frequently offered by units, especially while gearing up for a deployment.

ACS Volunteers - Between jobs, want to get out of the house, or build a resume? ACS is staffed by volunteers in many areas. Some posts offer free childcare to ACS volunteers.

Information and Referral - Assistance regarding crisis counseling, foster care information, support information, referrals for food stamps, emergency food resources, emergency food baskets, and community education.

EFMP Assistance - Help with resources, information, referrals and assistance with registration in the Exceptional Family Member Program, or EFMP.

Relocation Readiness Program - Know that a PCS is imminent? Or just arrived at a new duty station? ACS has Welcome Packets and local information. Citizenship assistance and classes as well as ESL (English as a Second Language) are often also offered.

Loan Closet - short term loan of daily use items for Families in the course of a move to or from an installation. Usually available are dishes, plate and silverware, cots, cribs and other similar household items to bridge the gap between the move and the delivery of household goods.

Army Family Team Building (AFTB) - a series of classes with something for everyone. Army basics (like what all those acronyms mean!), an installation tour, basic overview of resources available at your post, and a chance to speak to representatives from many different on post organizations.

This list is not exhaustive, but should show you that your local ACS has something to offer for even the most experienced spouse. There are all these resources out there to many this often challenging life a little easier ... let's use them!
 
For more information, visit Army Well-Being: Resources A - Z.

In a Money Bind? Consider Army Emergency Relief

I love to read about programs the directly impact Soldiers and their Families in a positive way. It's often too easy to see only the struggles that come along with being an Army Family, so encountering programs that make life easier is always welcomed.

One such program is the Army Emergency Relief fund. Wow; what a great idea! This program uses it's funds to help Soldiers in need. Simple concept, but a true lifesaver for anyone who finds themselves in need.

In a recent Army News Service article, the program announced that it's 2010 campaign begins this week.

From the AER Website:

AER is a private nonprofit organization incorporated in 1942 by the Secretary of War and the Army Chief of Staff. AER's sole mission is to help soldiers and their dependents.

AER is the Army's own emergency financial assistance organization and is dedicated to "Helping the Army Take Care of Its Own". AER provides commanders a valuable asset in accomplishing their basic command responsibility for the morale and welfare of soldiers.

AER funds are made available to commanders having AER Sections to provide emergency financial assistance to soldiers - active & retired - and their dependents when there is a valid need.

AER funds made available to commanders are not limited and are constrained only by the requirement of valid need.

For these reasons, the AER assistance program is conducted within the Army structure by major commanders and their installation/organization commanders through AER sections and other related organizations.

Typically, it seems that AER loans (which are always interest free!) have been under $1,000 and granted for terms between 12 and 24 months.

Some information from Andrew H. Cohen, AER deputy director for finance, found in the online article:

"Not only are extensions possible, but if repaying a loan creates an undue hardship, a Soldier can convert the loan to a grant," Cohen said. "There's no boiler plate solution to take care of a Soldier and his Family."

Cohen said the loan process has become easier for requests under $1,000 due to the command referral program whereby company commanders and first sergeants have the authority to approve a loan. Local installation AER sections can approve cases up to $3,500. For more than $3,500 in emergency funds, the local AER will forward the case to AER headquarters in Alexandria, Va.

It's not uncommon for an emergency fund request to be dropped off at the local base AER office in the morning, then return at lunch to pick up their assistance checks. Cohen said it's much quicker and easier than going outside the gate and having to pay a huge interest rate.

Read the full article and get the details here:

Army Emergency Relief Campaign Begins March 1

During the Army Emergency Relief campaign this year, AER officials want to promote awareness to Soldiers and their Families that donations generate interest-free loans to fellow Soldiers and Families in times of need.

Founded in 1942, the AER has provided more than $1.2 billion in assistance, and in the last five years alone has distributed nearly $300 million to more than 280,000 Soldiers and Families for unforeseen cash flow problems.

For more information, visit Army Well-Being: Your Financial Life

Also, participate in our Quick Poll: Where is your family financially?

Free Tutoring for Army Families

Have you tried this? Army Families Have Access to Free, Online Tutoring!

We posted a news article on www.armywellbeing.org about free, live, online tutoring available to all military Families.  This service has been available for Army Families for about a year, but I had yet to try it.  With a 1st and a 4th grader at home, I decided today was the day to check it out.

First, I have to say, it was the easiest registration of any website I've encountered.  Simply enter your "Army Affiliation," your email and gender, and click "Register!"  I instantly received a confirmation email with my login code and ta-da!  I was in. 

One thing I really liked about the site is that you can browse the different lessons to see what is available.  I was worried I'd be automatically connected with a live person asking me questions I wasn't ready to answer ... like "Why exactly are you here?" or "What specific topics would your students like to study?"   But, no.  I was free to browse and the directions on how to contact a live tutor were clear and easy-to-follow.

There are many different subjects, shown in this clip art from www.tutor.com.  Another cool feature is that there are sections for "Student Center," "College Center," and "Career Center."  So it's not just for kids!

I took a minute to browse around the "Career Center" and was happy with the sections there, too:  Career Help (including a resume review, help with job searches, and interview prep), GED Prep, Citizenship, Back to School, and "Proof Point" where you can get any document reviewed by a live English tutor.

Finally, I was amazed to see that they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!  For those of us who sometimes put kids to bed before working on our own career goals, that was a very pleasant surprise. 

So ... I plan to bring my own two children back to the website to go through some of the resource library lessons for practice.  Math is our nemisis and I think this will be a huge help.  Try it out for yourself ... and let us know what you think!

For more information on this fabulous resource, visit Army Well-Being: Online Tutoring.

Leadership in an FRG

PHOTO:  Screen shot of the FRG Leader Community at http://frgleader.army.mil/.

I very clearly remember my first FRG meeting (actually, it was an FSG meeting … back when the title was still “Family Support Group”). I had been married to my fabulous Soldier for several weeks and wanted to see what this Army thing was all about. To start the meeting, the nice lady at the head of the table (whom I later learned was the battalion commander’s wife and the leader of the battalion’s FSG), asked us to introduce ourselves and tell what unit our spouse was in. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, at this point in our Army lives, I had not yet learned … well, … really anything. When my turn came, I remember stammering my husband’s name and proudly informing the group that he was in the Army AND in the Field Artillery! (For those of you not familiar with the Army, ALL of the Soldiers were in the Army AND in the Field Artillery; it was a Field Artillery battalion. My answer just made clear to all that I had no idea about how the Army was organized.)

My husband gave me a quick tutorial that night and I learned that a Field Artillery battalion was comprised of four batteries and was a part of the division’s Artillery, called DIVARTY. I learned our battery name, our battalion name, and even found out the name of the division we were in. Who knew? Years later, when my husband became the commander of a battery, I knew that I wanted to help every single spouse feel comfortable, invited, and informed. I had learned a lot from that first battalion FSG Leader; she was a wonderfully compassionate, down-to-earth leader who genuinely cared about the Soldiers and Families in the battalion. I knew that was the kind of leader I wanted to be.

If you are in a leadership position for an Army Family Readiness Group, you likely have the same kind of goals that I did – keep Families informed, support unit readiness, and maintain a flow of communication with your unit members. There are many ways to work toward these goals … taking your local installation FRG Leader training, completing the online FRG Leader Training at Army OneSource, and working with fellow FRG Leaders to plan events and activities.

One of my greatest lessons learned as an FRG Leader was to share ideas with others. Sharing your lessons learned and taking lessons from others is one sure way to get the most of your planning. The best place that I’ve found to start sharing ideas is on a website created specifically for Army FRG Leaders: The FRG Leader Forum at http://frgleader.army.mil/.

The FRG Leader Forum is an online community of leaders. As the website states …

“The FRG Leader forum is BY and FOR those serving in a FRG Leader role. This forum provides like-minded individuals the opportunity to share new ideas and lessons learned improving leadership skills and family readiness programs. FRG Leader is more than just a resource for FRG Leaders; its value comes from Leaders connecting with each other and sharing their experiences and hard-earned knowledge. We invite you to participate and join the conversation!”

If you don’t have an account on the FRG Leader forum yet, stop now; open a new tab on your Internet browser, and type in http://FRGLeader.army.mil. Create your account now! You’ll be so glad once you see all of the amazing resources there.

The FRG Leader forum is made up of FRG Leaders from across the globe, sharing their successes as well as their lessons learned. You will find tons of great discussions and enjoy an atmosphere of support and encouragement. One of the best features is that everything posted on the site is yours to use! FRG Meeting agendas, newsletter examples, checklists, articles, certificates … all are yours to download, put your own unit crest on it and it’s yours! Not only is there no copyright on any original work, the authors (FRG Leaders who created these items for their own FRGs) want you to use what they’ve labored over.

The FRG Leader forum has recently branched out and created shared spaces for Senior FRG Advisors (at the battalion level or higher) and Family Readiness Support Assistants (FRSAs) as well, so please share these with your unit.

Finally, I wish you the best of luck as you take on the challenging yet rewarding task of leading an FRG. Thank you for your service to our Soldiers and Families!

Some Website Links for You: 

• http://frgleader.army.mil/
• http://frsa.army.mil/
• http://senioradvisor.army.mil/
• FRG Leader Training at Army OneSource

Connecting with Soldiers and Families

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