Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) Few other jobs, if any, require greater risk, personal sacrifice, family disruption, emotional distress, time demands, and psychological impact than the job of a Coast Guardsman, Marine, a Sailor, an Airman, or a Soldier in today’s military. In 2012, Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) started as an organization that wanted to support the most vulnerable in the military – young, junior enlisted service members who are asked to do dangerous, important jobs, with some of the lowest incomes in the country. They wanted to ensure everyone had their basic needs met in order to always be mission-ready. Since then, STEP has evolved from supporting basic, urgent needs, to include working one-on-one with families to find their own path to financial selfsufficiency. They help navigate an imminent financial crisis, ensure no basic need is lost, while simultaneously work on an individualized plan for their overall financial well-being. Founded by Veterans, STEP understands the demands of the job both on the service member, and their family. They know many getting into the military do not have financial literacy skills to navigate the low-pay and financial demands of the job: frequent moves without
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100% reimbursements, high-cost-of-living areas, lack of childcare options, low spousal employment or under employed. The program is designed to set up these families for success, even when living paycheckto-paycheck. For the service member and Veteran to succeed, they must be ready for change and willing to make the sacrifices needed to prepare for the future, even when circumstances are outside their control. In April, as the pandemic continued to shut down much of our world, a Marine family was struggling to pay rent when his wife was let go from her $15.50 hour job. Now rent was not the biggest concern but ensuring food on the table was. They came to STEP for help and a social worker, certified in financial counseling, worked with them to develop a plan they could survive on until she was able to find work again. “We were pretty good with money. There wasn’t a lot of it, so we lived month-to-month with a small savings. When my wife lost her job that all changed, and I went to STEP for help. After paying two months of our rent and getting us groceries, we were able to breath and focus on what came next. And by February 2021 we’ll be able to start saving money again, even with my wife’s new part-time job. It’s a good feeling to be back in control.” – Marco, E4
