New Web site links military families with communities

A Virginia-based organization headed by a military wife is seeking a way to connect military families to communities across the country.

The Military Family Network has launched its "One Million Community Connections" campaign as a way of providing a sense of community for military families, and a way of encouraging communities to reach out to military families.

"Military families face a lot of unknowns," said Carolyn Peabody of Hampton, Va., whose husband is in the Army. "Community doesn't have to be one of them."

Peabody and her Military Family Network have launched a Web site, eMilitary.org, that she hopes will provide the connection between the families and communities across the country. It is intended to go beyond the family support groups and provide information families need from sources who want to be of help.

Troop support

"Any American who wants to offer some support for troops, any organization or church who wants to extend themselves and offer whatever resources they have, should contact us directly or go on the Web site," Peabody said.

By linking with the network, Peabody said, military families can be made aware of what is out there for them.

John Miller, a family support coordinator with the 35th Engineer Brigade of the Missouri National Guard in Cape Girardeau, said he is aware of the network, but said that it works only for those families who have computer access. He said he has found that only a third of the personnel he works with has a computer.

Miller said he thinks the project may be an ambitious one.

"There are a lot of us out there trying to find a way to stay in contact," he said.

Peabody said there is a group in Pennsylvania that raised money to buy underwear for soldiers stationed in Iraq. There are organizations that help military families find day care or find sources to help pay for day care so the spouse at home can go to work. Other organizations provide foster homes for military personnel's pets. The Military Family Network serves as a clearinghouse to get the availability of such resources out to as many people as possible. It also makes it possible for relationships to build between the families and the communities they might otherwise not get to know.

Provided at no cost

All this is done at no cost to the volunteers or to the families. Peabody said financial support comes from donations and from commercial sponsors who are military and family friendly. Military legal officers have assisted in approving funding from appropriate sources. Sources that Military Family Network would not accept money from, Peabody said, are those that make short-term small loans at rates that quickly escalate. Cash-strapped military families often gravitate to those, she said.

"There are no laws against them," Peabody said, "but we try not to encourage that. We tell the families of support services that are available to them."

Peabody said she has spent the last 15 years volunteering with family support services and has studied military families while working toward her bachelor's and master's degrees.

"Through volunteer work and through my own research I've discovered there is a gap between the civilian community and the military community not sharing information," she said. "With our network, we don't have to worry about whether or not we can print something in a post newspaper, we don't have to go through levels of miscommunication, we don't have to go through the chain of command."

"There's no reason why anybody who reads about this can't do it," Peabody said. "It's a wonderful communication network building. Anybody not being served by a family support group can get information. Our goal is to network programs together and get that information to military families."

Interested persons can link to eMilitary.org or contact Peabody at 1-866-205-2850.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

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