What if… You knew of a military family that needed help?

What if… You could help a struggling military family keep their home, their car, their utilities?

What if… You could help a military spouse find job training and employment?

What if… You could provide the means to help a military family combat alcohol and drug abuse, divorce, suicide?

What if… You could make all of this possible for a military family for less than thirty cents a day?

You can.

Your support of H.E.R.O.E.S. Care can do these things and more. H.E.R.O.E.S. Care

Four well-established national organizations have joined forces to provide comprehensive, caring support through a network of trained volunteers dedicated to the service of military families in the communities where they live. H.E.R.O.E.S. Care

Developed by a team of mental health care professionals in cooperation with the United States Navy, the H.E.R.O.E.S. Care program addresses physical needs, mental health concerns, and issues that affect the human spirit. H.E.R.O.E.S. Care

Why H.E.R.O.E.S. Care? Subject experts agree that a dedicated local presence is the most effective method to address the problems experienced by a growing number of military families. The Veterans Administration model for support calls for a coordinated effort between existing non- government organizations. Until now, no program has been able to meet these two criteria in a meaningful and cost effective way.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care How Does H.E.R.O.E.S Care Work? Each military family is assigned a specially trained Hometown Support Volunteer (HSV). The HSVs coordinate program services available through the partner agencies as well as provide a caring presence in the lives of the families they serve.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care What Does H.E.R.O.E.S Care Do? The program supports members of the military and their families completely and proactively from pre-deployment and up to two years post-deployment, providing financial, job placement, family care, and mental health care services in the communities where they live. Never before has this level and scope of support been available in such a comprehensive and coordinated manner.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Applying the Power of Passionate Compassion in the Service of Military Families Stephen Ministries stephenministries.org Operation Homefront MO/SWIL Give an Hour giveanhour.org Military Spouse Corporate Career Network msccn.org HEROES H omefront E nabling R elationships, O pportunities, and E mpowerment through S upport

Stephen Ministries Founded in 1975, more than 500,000 trained volunteers in over 10,000 congregations have provided a caring, non-judgmental presence in the lives of others. Serving as Hometown Support Volunteers, they support military families in the communities where the live without regard to the faith, race, or national origin of those they serve. H.E.R.O.E.S. Care

Operation Homefront Founded immediately following 9/11 in response to the needs of military families, Operation Homefront has served over 100,000 military families through 30 chapters across America, providing emergency financial aid and morale to the troops, the families they leave behind, and to the wounded warriors upon their return.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Give an Hour Give an Hour A national network of mental health care providers who give an hour of their time each week to help members of the military and their families cope with the ‘unseen wounds’ associated with military service. With over 4,500 members and growing, these caring professionals can provide tens of millions of dollars in free mental health services each year.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care MSCCN MSCCN An award winning and nationally respected targeted service provider, Military Spouse Corporate Career Network is dedicated to finding meaningful employment for the spouses of members of the armed services and for our wounded warriors, providing job training and placement and a host of other career building services.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Training and Program Materials With the direction and support of a medical board of retired military physicians, an international board of advisors, and a research and development team of mental health care professionals, workshop manuals and training curriculum have been developed for all participants serving in and being served by the program.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Technology A secure system for registration and control has been created. The HEROESCARE.ORG website is complete. The internal infrastructure provides for layered protection to safeguard the privacy of the participants and data integrity. Electronic assessment tools have been incorporated to gauge the efficacy of the program and to provide information for future refinements.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Oversight and Peer Review The program was presented to senior military staff at the Pentagon on May 5 th of 2009 to ensure that the scope and design of H.E.R.O.E.S. Care would not interfere with any current program offered by the military or other governmental agency. The program has been presented at mental health care conferences for advice and comment, receiving enthusiastic and favorable reviews.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care The Program is Ready After two years in careful development, this unprecedented program is ready to implement. The initial military units have been selected. The comprehensive training of the core group of volunteers is complete. Additional funding is all that is required to expand this new program to more military families in Missouri.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Projected Annual Program Cost The projected annual cost of the pilot program in Missouri is $460,000. A detailed breakdown of the budget is available upon request. It is important to note that for the estimated 5,000 military families that will enroll in Missouri, the ‘private sector’ value of all services and material support provided would be a minimum of $21,000,000 per year. Volunteers applying the power of passionate compassion make these cost savings possible.

H.E.R.O.E.S. Care Additional Information To find out more about H.E.R.O.E.S. Care or to support the program, CONTACT US at Additional written materials describing the program are available upon request.