USA Cares

USA Cares is a non-profit organization (Tax ID/EIN: 05-0588761) founded in 2003 in Radcliff, Kentucky, whose mission is to provide post-9/11 military veterans, service members and their families with emergency financial assistance and post-service skills training that will create a foundation for long-term stability. Their services improve the quality of life for veterans and their families and reduce potential factors that contribute to veteran suicide. The non-profit organization receives hundreds of aid requests per week and assists these emergencies with thousands of dollars weekly. To date, USA Cares has responded to over 100,000 requests for financial help with millions of dollars in granted assistance. In addition to individual donations, USA Cares has received support from several major foundations and corporations worldwide. According to USA Cares' official website, "84.27% of every dollar contributed was applied directly to support veterans and their loved ones." [1]

Veteran and Military Family Assistance Programs: [2]

• Combat Injured Assistance: This program pays necessary expenses for veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and military sexual trauma (MST) while they receive treatment.
• Emergency Assistance: This program assists veterans, service members, and military families who are facing temporary financial hardship and unable to pay bills essential to their health and well-being. Clients receiving support in this program are required to participate in a Financial Planning Education Course.
• Housing Assistance: When bills are past due as a result of a military service-related incident, USA Cares directly pays the landlord or mortgage lender to reduce any extra financial burdens from the veteran, service member, or their family.
• Career Transition: This program provides service members, veterans, and their spouses with tools and resources to better prepare them for the hiring process and refers qualified candidates to corporate organizations with open positions of employment specific to their skill sets. Additionally, this program helps pay an individual’s essential expenses while they train for a new job or career.

Additional Programs:

• Senior Leaders Corporate Fellowship Program: In coordination with Fort Knox ACES, Fort Knox SFL-TAP, and USA Cares' Career Transition Program, this program provides skills development training for those preparing for the transition from military service into the civilian workforce. Through this program, each participant will have the opportunity to participate in a fellowship at a local organization within the Kentuckiana region.
• USA Cares Certified Military Housing Specialist Course: A nationally certified course designed to provide loan officers, realtors and housing professionals with a clear understanding of how to work with military borrowers, whether they’re using a VA loan or other type of financing. This course helps housing professionals make sense of the military language, rank and pay system, delivering the tools and knowledge necessary to provide prompt and competitive service to military borrowers in a timely and competitive manner, especially in a fast-paced market. It also includes advice regarding foreclosure prevention, with tips that loan officers and realtors can give their clients to help them avoid mortgage delinquencies in the future.
• Military Family Financial Education & Empowerment Program: As part of the application process, USA Cares incorporates a brief financial education course to provide support to military families who are facing a financial hardship to better to arm military families with the tools they need to be prepared when the unexpected or expected happens.

History: [3]

USA Cares is committed to its mission to provide financial and advocacy assistance to post-9/11 active duty U.S. military service personnel, veterans and their families.  USA Cares was launched through a grassroots partnership between WAVE-3 TV in Louisville, KY, the Mid-South Division of Kroger Food Stores, and the Association of the United States Army Fort Knox Chapter. The organization was dubbed Kentuckiana Cares, with a goal to raise funds to help military families in financial crisis through the sale of “Support Our Troops” yard signs. In October 2003, in response to the increasing number of requests for assistance, Kentuckiana Cares evolved into what is now USA Cares, a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that has assisted thousands of veterans and military families facing hardships related to service.

USA Cares' goal is to help restore financial stability and self-sufficiency to post-9/11 veterans and military families by giving them “a hand up.” The organization strives to reach families at the earliest stage of intervention to prevent further financial distress and suffering, especially for the combat injured and their families. USA Cares takes a “holistic” approach to helping active military service members, veterans and their families. All services are free and applications for assistance are accepted 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Immediacy is key; once an application for aid is processed and eligibility is determined, USA Cares is able to provide financial assistance within 48 hours.

All requests are verified through a thorough documentation process. Financial assistance is not given directly to service members or their families; instead, payments are made to mortgage lenders, utility companies, and other vendors. Each family approved for assistance is assigned an advocate from USA Cares' Family Resource Center who ensures that any assistance provided is timely and effective. These advocates often mobilize additional support for families from other military assistance organizations as well as those in the service member’s local community. When USA Cares receives a request for assistance, they respond to the applicant and can have a payment made within 48 hours. While many other military assistance programs provide loans which only compound a bad situation, USA Cares provides grants. The military family is never asked to pay the grant back.

Accreditations & Awards:

• 2019: Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance[4]

• 2019: Platinum Seal of Transparency, GuideStar[4]
• 2019: Best in America Seal of Approval, America's Best Charities[4]
• 2018: 3-Star Rated Charity, Charity Navigator[4]
• 2017: Top Rated Nonprofit, Independent Charities of America[4]

According to the Financials page of USA Cares official website, USA Cares "values transparency, ethical accounting, and donor stewardship. For 2019, we are proud to report that 84.27% of every dollar contributed was applied directly to support veterans and their loved ones." [1]

National Spokespeople:

U.S. Army veteran (Iraq war) and Purple Heart recipient Bryan Anderson is USA Cares' National Spokesman. Bryan is a triple amputee, actor, stuntman, and philanthropist. Bryan enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 2001 and deployed to the Middle East on September 11, 2001. He attained the rank of Sergeant in the Military Police (MP) and conducted police training courses in Baghdad, Iraq, where he served two tours. In October 2005, Bryan was injured by an IED explosion in Baghdad, which resulted in the loss of both legs and left hand. As a result of his injuries, he was awarded a Purple Heart. Bryan received rehabilitation for a period of 13 months at Walter Reed Army Hospital and is one of the few triple amputees to have survived his injuries in Iraq. After a painful and lengthy recovery, Bryan refused to let his physical limitations slow him down. Bryan is an accomplished author, actor, motivational speaker and athlete, and is committed to inspiring others to never give up, no matter the challenge. Bryan spends much of his time traveling the country, sharing his journey of overcoming mental and physical challenges with thousands of individuals, both military and non-military. When he isn’t traveling for speaking engagements, he spends his time participating in extreme sports and relaxing with his service dog, Mya.

Previous USA Cares spokespeople have included media persona Dennis Miller. In addition, on July 4, 2006, during a speech at Fort Bragg, President George W. Bush spoke of USA Cares' honorable work.[5] The VP of Program and Services position for the organization is Jennifer Robinson, MPA. USA Cares meets 20 of the 20 standards of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance. USA Cares has earned the GuideStar Exchange Seal, demonstrating its commitment to transparency of programs and finances in support of its mission. USA cares is dedicated towards completing its personal mission by helping U.S. service members and their families.