Recovery Resource Council is fervently working to provide temporary financial assistance to low-income veterans and their families affected by the recent pandemic through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. In addition to including rent and utilities, qualifying participants in SSVF may also receive case management services, assistance in obtaining VA benefits and public assistance, and referrals and connection to other community services. The SSVF serves individual qualifying Veterans and their families, Veterans who are literally homeless or imminently at risk of homelessness. The household income must not exceed Tarrant County Area Median Income of $26,600 for an individual, $30,400 for a family of 2, or $38,000 for a family of 4.

According to a recent report by the Bob Woodruff Foundation, the combination of job losses, social isolation, and mounting anxiety connected to the coronavirus pandemic has hit veterans especially hard. About one in every seven veterans employed in America today works in an industry considered high-risk for layoffs (Mining and oil/gas extraction, transportation, employment services, travel arrangements, and leisure and hospitality). Even before the current crisis, surveys showed that more than one-third of post-9/11 veterans had challenges paying their bills. Nearly 60 percent of in their 30s or 40s had significant credit card debt, compared to less than 50 percent for non-veteran households. In addition to the financial worries, veterans already facing mental health difficulties could see those problems aggravated by public health efforts to stop the outbreak.

Timothy Red, a Veteran Services Case Manager for Recovery Resource Council shared that he was recently assigned to aid a military family in need. Their family of eight (6 kids in school: 2 HS, 2 Middle, 2 Elem) had been living in one hotel room in NW Grand Prairie for the past year. The wife had lost her job because of the pandemic and the Veteran had taken out a loan to make up for the loss in her salary and to bury his father who had recently passed. Their air-conditioner had been out for over a week and the hotel kept making excuses about when it was going to get repaired. Using fund provided by the SSVF, Recovery Resource Council was able to put them in two adjoining rooms at a Comfort Suites that had sleeping accommodations for the entire family and provide them with emergency groceries. The Veteran told Red that it “was best they had slept in a long time.” This is just one example of what RRC sees daily in our DFW Veteran community. 

In the event that a Veteran does not qualify for the SSVF program, Recovery Resource Council will make every effort to connect them to any available resources. Interested Veterans should call 817-413-3921 or email ssvfvoicemail@recoverycouncil.org. For more information, visit https://recoverycouncil.org/.