A Network of Angels

There are thousands of support groups out there designated specifically to help our troops, each one has a very unique specialty to contribute. Our job at America Supports You is to use this network of organizations to cater to a service members' specific need.

At America Supports You, we hear stories everyday about how Americans are banning together to make a difference in each individual service members' life. I just thought I would share one that I heard recently from Soldiers' Angels, specifically from the organizations' founder Patti Patton-Bader:

**There was a young soldier recently who had just been hit by a hand grenade and was returned to his family suffering the ramifications of PTSD, a more frequently reported complication with many of our soldiers. The soldier lost his job, and he and his wife were having some financial setbacks as he was readjusting and recovering from his stint in Iraq. He was a brave patriot, deserving of a purple heart, which would provide him with traumatic injury insurance to get through this difficult time.

The soldier reached out to Frontline, who had him placed in the hospital. Meanwhile, his wife reached out to Give to the Troops, who contacted America Supports You program, who then connected the family with Soldiers' Angels who has a team of individuals stationed in California that can help. Not only did Soldiers' Angels start the paperwork rolling for the soldier to get his purple heart, but they got them the financial support they needed in the meantime.

"I got an email on a Sunday night," said Allison Barber, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Liaison and Internal Communications, who heads up the America Supports You program. "On Monday, we connected the families to one of our America Supports You groups, and by Tuesday they had money to pay the bills, and had already been visited by one of the Soldier's Angels so they could know they had support. Now they are working to get them help with the mortgage as well."

For Patti, this is an everyday experience, speaking of the wife of the soldier she says "now, an angel will work with her everyday for the next month and he will get thousands of cards and letters of support from the American people. It's that network...if we all network together...there are so many support networks out there...if we all work together just think of what a difference we can make." ***

We are so proud to support organizations like Soldiers' Angels that reach out and touch the lives of individual soldiers like this. We hope that if you, as a service member, have a specific need we can help with you will use the America Supports You network to connect with the hundreds of support groups like Soldiers' Angels that are eager to help.