Program helps families deal with separation

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Julie Weckerlein
  • Air Force News Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  Studying her family's checkbook, military spouse Desiree Currie of Richmond, Va., faced a dilemma.

Her husband had just left for Iraq with the Virginia Air National Guard, leaving behind a second job that paid for their daughter's dance classes. Without the extra money, there could be no extracurricular activities.

Yet she didn't have the heart to tell Kayla, 7.

"Kayla just loves to dance," Mrs. Currie said of her daughter, who takes both baton and hip-hop lessons. "It didn't seem fair to have her Daddy go away, and then her dance classes, too."

Fortunately, Mrs. Currie soon received e-mail from her husband's unit family coordinator, directing her to Our Military Kids, Inc., a McClean, Va.-based nonprofit organization that provides grants to children like Kayla.

"It was so easy to do," Mrs. Currie said. "I filled out the form and sent them a pamphlet about the dance classes."

Within days, the grant for Kayla was approved, and she received a patch and certificate in the mail, thanking her for her sacrifices as a military child.

"Kayla loves that certificate," Mrs. Currie said. "It's hanging up in her room. She's the only kid in her class with a parent in the military, and it really made her feel special to be recognized like that."

With money from state and private donors, the program sponsors extracurricular events for children (kindergarten to 12th grade) of Guard and Reserve servicemembers across the country. Like the Curries, many Guard and Reserve families live far away from military installations where family support and youth programs are routinely offered for free to military families.

Yet, Guard and Reserve families must also live off a military paycheck while the servicemember is deployed, a hardship as most leave behind second, or higher-paying, civilian jobs.

"Deployments are always stressful," said Michelle Nelson, director of family programs and community relations for Our Military Kids, Inc. She knows from experience -- her own husband recently returned from Afghanistan with the Virginia National Guard. "I think it's even more so for the children, because usually they have to give up so much of their routine -- and children need routine."

Ms. Nelson said it's cases like Kayla's that inspire her work as director of family programs and community relations for the program. She pointed out another case of one little girl, also named Kayla, who struggled in school after her father deployed.

"Her mother was very surprised to learn Kayla was going to be held back from the second grade," said Mrs. Nelson. "So, through Our Military Kids, she was able to find Kayla a tutor during the summer and bring her up to speed so she was able to go onto the second grade with her friends."

Mrs. Nelson said she hopes more families take advantage of the program, especially since it's so easy to apply.

"We do get some people who are apprehensive about asking for help," she said. "But this is, more than anything, a recognition program. We do understand the sacrifices these families and children are making, and we know that happy kids make for happy spouses make for happy servicemembers. It goes full circle." 

Mrs. Currie said the program has been a huge boost for her entire family.
 
"Kayla's dad and I are happy she's able to keep dancing," she said. "And since her dad wasn't at her dance recital, she's working very hard to be able to show him what she's learned while he's been gone. It's something she looks forward to sharing with him."