Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) has a mission to assist junior enlisted and recently discharged veteran families facing financial crisis. We accomplish this through hands-on financial counseling and budgeting provided by social workers and social work interns/volunteers and, when necessary, financial grants are included to ensure their basic needs are met while they are working to achieve financial self-sufficiency.
There are approximately 85,000 junior enlisted service members stationed in Southern California, and their salaries are below or just above the Low Income level established by HUD. With this, there are also about 30,000 military families that regularly relay on food assistance.
When you place these low-income families into the nation's 4th most expensive city to live in, and that there are many other hardships and uncertainties lurking for these 20-24 year old family leaders, we find that families get themselves inadvertently into a financial crisis. STEP is here for these families to help them recover with dignity before being engulfed in the downward spiral of financial ruin.
Support the Enlisted Project (STEP) relies completely on privately donated funds to execute its mission – last year STEP spent over $1m to assist 941 young, Southern California military families out of a verifiable financial crisis and onto a path of financial self-sufficiency. We did this through emergency financial counseling, financial education and when necessary, financial grants. Our grants ensure that our military families do not have to go without a basic need while they are getting their financial situation back on track.
To this end, last year we granted $408,180 to put food in 256 military family's empty cupboards, to reconnect or stop the disconnection of 113 family's utilities, to stop the eviction of 94 military families, to stop the repossession of 86 primary automobiles, and others for auto insurance, auto repair, critical baby items, bereavement travel to name a few.
All of STEP's services are complementary family support programs designed to educate, uplift, and inspire during times of financial crisis and emotional distress, but more importantly, offset family costs to improve their ability to stay on their family budget. One of the keys to STEP's success is in our using trained social workers and associated theory to conduct our financial planning and counseling and with that, 92% of the families we serve do not come back for additional guaranteed support. Our social workers with the families in a way, and derive results in ways, no typical financial counselor can by assisting each family on a one on one basis, meeting each one where they are in their financial education and culture, to form a custom built budget which is personalized for each family and bridges the knowledge gap to help them get themselves to self-sufficiency.
Our vision is for all military and veteran families who need STEP's services to know that we are here to help them. It is estimated that over the next 5 years, 1 million in service will be discharged throughout the military which will affect thousands in San Diego. STEP cannot lower their cost of living or raise military income, but STEP can provide emergency financial counseling and grants to help them through their crisis and equip the families with the necessary skills to become financially self-sufficient while they volunteer to protect us. While this seems like a daunting undertaking we are sure that with assistance and collaboration together we can get STEP and our young military families on sustainable paths to self-sufficiency.
