Connie Milstein and BSF Team Efforts

Blue Star Families – the organization that was set up to help the military by assisting their families – seeks to “connect the community of military families, both active duty and veterans, regardless of rank, and provide them with the support and empowerment they need to create the best personal and family life possible.” BSF Director Connie Milstein saw the need for this service, which really joins together the soldiers, their families and the community at large. The BSF posts blog spots for this aim, writing about topics that are of interest to everyone. Military families can receive advice and support on how to cope when their soldiers that are deployed and sorting out everyday life matters on their own during this time. Just recently, a chapter director of BSF from southern California, Reyna Reyna, commented on how their efforts were towards raising “awareness of BSF to military families who live off base….Often when families live in the civilian community they feel isolated, especially when their spouse deploys, she said. “They think they don’t have the same opportunities or benefits as if they lived on base.” There are so many ways that the community at large can get involved in helping the military and their families, and the BSF seeks to be a bridge between the two.

Blue Star Families Lifestyle Survey

Earlier this week Blue Star Families released its 2010 Military Family Lifestyle Survey, in an attempt to get an idea of the major issues encountered by these families. The results were: “pay and benefits, the current operational tempo, the effects of deployments on children, spouse employment, and childrens education.”

Some months after the original survey was conducted, these results were presented at a Senate and House Military Family Caucuses joint session. It was then cited by a White House Report, ‘Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America’s Commitment.’ This was the “culmination of a Presidential Directive and the findings of the Military Family Interagency Committee, created in 2010 to institutionalize support for military families as a national security priority.”

Thus the initiative undertaken by Blue Star Families has been successful. A commitment has been made by President Barack Obama and his wife, along with Jill Biden for “Federal agencies to establish a coordinated and comprehensive Federal approach to supporting military families.” The goal is to now address four main areas: a) enhance the military family’s physical and mental welfare; b) excellent education and development for military children; c) establish “career and educational opportunities for military spouses” and d) improved and increased child care options.
A big supporter of the work of BSF is Connie Milstein, who sits on the Board of Directors.