Rick* is a Navy veteran who was honorably discharged in 2021 after four years of service. He continued to serve his country by joining the reserves shortly after his discharge. Rick's career after service was going well until his employer started to reduce his hours. This put a severe strain on his finances, eventually resulting in his car being repossessed.
The Navy veteran was able to switch jobs and was hired as a full-time lab assistant at a hospital, but the hospital was 45 minutes away from where he lived. With only two weeks to find transportation before his new job started, he began asking veteran-serving organizations. After learning of the challenge he faced, a national partner quickly referred him to America's Warrior Partnership (AWP). After assessing the situation, our program, The Network, sprang into action and advocated on his behalf to another national partner. The partner attempted to work with the repossession company, but the company put several payment obstacles in the way. This prevented the partner from being able to pay the company directly for the money that veteran owed.
Rick was able to work with his family to obtain a temporary loan and the national partner agreed to reimburse the family member. Rick now has his car back and reports that he is very grateful for the assistance. He is now able to pay his car payment on his own and says the new job is going well and he is happy.
His local community now benefits from his lab work and a crisis was avoided thanks to our upstream approach. This quality of life improvement wouldn't have been possible without the collaboration of our extraordinary partners and The Network Advocates who worked diligently to assist this Navy veteran.
*Rick is an alias created to protect the identity of the individual.
With support from caring and passionate donors, America's Warrior Partnership (AWP) continues to lead the work to end veteran suicide. Please consider making a donation today to AWP. Your generous, tax-deductible contribution will connect local veteran-serving organizations with the appropriate resources, services, and partners that they need to support veterans, their families, and caregivers at every stage of veterans’ lives.