Author: Andrew DeMillo

From leadership training for military youth caregivers to training veterans to be baseball umpires, this year’s five Fisher Service Award winners have found innovative ways to fill gaps to meet the needs of those in the military and veteran communities.

The top winner, with a grant of $100,000, is the Caregiving Youth Student Leadership Program, which is part of the Military Child Education Coalition of Harker Heights, Texas.

“These are students who balance homework with hospital visits, who help care for a parent who is healing from injury or illness,” said Mary Bier, president and CEO of the Military Child Education Coalition.

Bier accepted the award during a ceremony Oct. 29 in Arlington, Virginia. During the event, Bier said students in the program often sacrifice their own needs to care for someone that they love.

MCEC was founded in 1998, and like many organizations, its programs have evolved to meet the needs of the military community. Their caregiving youth program, started in 2023, is an immersive, five-day leadership training that provides a supportive environment where they have “a place to be seen, to connect with peers who understand their journey, and to imagine what’s possible in their next chapter of life,” Bier said.

The award will help the organization expand the program to reach more youth, “giving them the tools, the confidence and the hope that they deserve,” she said.

The Fisher Service Awards, created by the Fisher House Foundation and the Military Times Foundation, recognize and help fund innovative programs created to improve the quality of life of service members, military families and veterans. Since the awards program began in 1999 as the Newman’s Own Awards, it has distributed more than $3.8 million across 215 nonprofits.

“The strength of our military isn’t just in cool jets or brilliant strategies,” said Marine Corps Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in remarks at the Oct. 29 ceremony. “It’s defined by the resilience of our people, our warfighters and their families and the communities that stand behind them.

“You are, in fighter pilot lingo, the jet fuel that fuels the joint force. You organizations, without fail, step into a gap … and provide resources and offer hope when and where it’s needed most,” he said. “You do it when others can’t or won’t.”

This year, more than 443 entries were received, and nine judges evaluated each entry based on the organization’s creativity, innovation and impact on their community. While not all of the organizations could receive awards, Mahoney said, “their collective dedication to the military community is a testament to that resilience” of the military and their families.

The awards ceremony was held on the 29th day of the government shutdown, which has affected many military families. Asked after the ceremony by Military Times about what the efforts of these organizations mean to the military community, especially now, Mahoney said, “Regardless of what the environment is like, they’re there. If times are tough, they’re there. If times are good, they’re there.

“It’s an immutable part of our community … It’s remarkable to see.”

The Fisher House Foundation is known for its network of 100 comfort homes where military and veteran families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment at a major military medical center or Veterans Affairs hospital.

“We’re grateful to have reached the milestone of 100 houses, and are committed to continuing to meet the needs of our military and veterans community as we begin the second 100,” said David Coker, president of the foundation.

“We recognize that we are but one of many organizations that have the privilege of serving our military and veteran communities, and we’ve found that we’re more effective if we work with other organizations in the spirit of collaboration, not competition. The organizations we’ve supported through this program and the lives they’ve touched has been the real payoff,” he said.

The Fisher House Foundation and the Military Times Foundation have been partners in sponsoring the awards since the program began. The Fisher Service Award winners “demonstrate how collaboration can drive a lasting impact,” said Kelly Facer, senior vice president of Military Times. “As is the case every year, our honorees exemplify the power of community, cooperation, and innovation in tackling the most important issues facing our nation’s heroes.”

The four remaining winners each received a $75,000 award. They are:

Exceptional Families Matter Grant Program, part of Exceptional Families of the Military, of Marana, Arizona. The organization provides peer connections and case assistance. Its grant program provides immediate relief for families with special needs. They also advocate for systemic reforms to help families.

Wounded Warrior Umpire Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida. The organization trains veterans as baseball umpires, providing mentorship and peer support and helping veterans rebuild confidence, purpose and camaraderie. The academy, founded by veterans, creates a lifelong network.

Diné Naazbaa Partnership, a program of America’s Warrior Partnership of Augusta, Georgia. It’s the first community-based initiative supporting Navajo Nation veterans, connecting them to resources in housing, health, education, employment and more.

Operation Rebound, a program of Challenged Athletes, Inc., in San Diego, California. By providing grants for adaptive equipment and access to supportive athletic communities, Operation Rebound removes barriers to participation in sports for veterans and first responders nationwide.

All five award winners also receive an advertising package from Military Times valued at $50,000. Ten additional organizations will receive a $35,000 advertising package from Military Times to support awareness of their work.

Two months after an IT hiccup at the Department of Veterans Affairs left a significant portion of GI Bill recipients without their anticipated payments for school and housing, some advocates have a message for the VA: Turn the GI Bill hotline back on.

Those missing payments in the wake of the rollout of a new processing system are spouses or children of veterans who have died, are missing, or have a permanent and total service-connected disability — grouped together under the VA’s Chapter 35. Up to 75,000 of these claims may be unpaid, according to Ashlynne Haycock-Lohmann, director of Government and Legislative Affairs for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.

And while VA officials lay the blame for the protracted payments delay largely with congressional Democrats, whom the administration holds responsible for the government shutdown that began Oct. 1, multiple groups are expressing frustration with the department’s own actions and failure to find a solution.

“VA deployed a new benefit delivery system in August and anticipated having the ability to pay staff overtime and deploy automation solutions as needed to ensure a smooth transition and process fall enrollments on a timely basis,” Peter Kasperowicz, a VA spokesman, told Military Times in an emailed statement. “When the Democrats’ shutdown hit, VA was deprived of these resources.”

He added that federal law required the GI Bill hotline, which is typically used to identify and address payment issues, to be turned off during the shutdown. VA anticipates the pay issue won’t be fully resolved until late November or early December, Kasperowicz said.

That’s not satisfactory to Haycock-Lohmann.

“The shutdown is not the cause of this, and it needs to be very clear that the reason that this happened is because VA’s infrastructure failed, and they chose not to tell us until after the shutdown started,” she said. “VA could have told us in August.”

She added that affected veterans never got clear communication about what was happening due to a communications plan that was upended after VA staff got furloughed in October.

An Oct. 9 letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins from Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, and Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the ranking members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, expressed “serious concern” at the missed payments and gave the VA an Oct. 13 deadline to provide an explanation, outline the scope of the problem and explain its communications plan.

“These payments are essential, mandatory funds that veterans and their families rely on for food, rent or mortgage payments, immediate needs, and financial stability,” the lawmakers wrote.

A staff member with Blumenthal’s office said VA had not yet sent a response to the letter. They added that VA had told congressional staff in August about a glitch that would affect 900 Chapter 35 students, saying the students had been contacted and the issue remediated. But no further information had been forthcoming even as the issue appears to be much larger, and they believed VA has not done any outreach about the matter.

Will Hubbard, the vice president for Veterans and Military Policy at the organization Veterans Education Success and an architect of the current “Forever GI Bill,” has been tracking the nonpayment issue closely since he was alerted to the problem by congressional staff.

“There’s been no mass communications plan; there’s no press release; there’s no public anything,” Hubbard said. “And that’s really been a fundamental issue.”

For Hubbard, the problem also fit a pattern of major VA platform or tech rollouts affecting GI Bill beneficiaries that took place right before the start of the fall semester, when enrollments were surging and tuition payments were coming due.

Hubbard wants assurances from VA that the rollout timing issue will be addressed for the future. He’s also concerned that the VA’s projected timeline for fixing the current problem is optimistic, and expressed concern about the “destabilizing” impacts of missing payments that roll into next semester.

“What I’m most worried about are the housing payment elements of this issue,” he said. “Because, you know, a school might be flexible, and I applaud that, but I suspect that landlords, their patience is going to run thin eventually. It’s bad, obviously, to get dropped from school, but it’s life changing if you’re put out on the street.”

TAPS, meanwhile, is calling for the restoration of the GI Bill hotline and a surge in claims processors to accelerate resolution.

“What they should be doing is bringing back the call center, finding a way to fund the call center. Bring those employees back,” Haycock-Lohmann said. “In future shutdown plans, make it very clear that the GI Bill hotline needs to be considered an essential program, and they need to bring back every processor right now.”

TAPS staff said they had seen success in “back channel” communication with congressional officials and VA Education Services over specific hardship cases to restore payments. Haycock-Lohmann said all affected students should know that schools are legally prohibited from dropping them over missed GI Bill payments. And, she said, survivors facing issues can reach TAPS for help with their case at casework@taps.org.