Operation Homefront Offers Military Families a Helping Hand

Operation Homefront Offers Military Families a Helping Hand

By Joe Motheral

Operation Homefront (OH) serves military families nationwide dealing with some sort of emergency in their lives.

Consider the case of Loudoun County resident Heather Derenberg, who served 18 months in Iraq and is still dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“The roof on our garage was collapsing,” she said. “I don’t know what we would have done without Operation Homefront. They replaced the roof. Without them we would have been homeless.”

Vivian Dietrich is president of the OH Mid- Atlantic Region now based at the Dulles Two Center in Loudoun County. The non-profit has its headquarters in San Antonio, Texas and opened a local office near Leesburg in 2007.

“Our mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so they can thrive – not simply struggle to get by – in the communities that they’ve worked so hard to protect,” she said.

Vivian Dietrich

Photo by Joe Motheral

Since its founding, OH has provided programs offering relief through critical financial assistance and transitional housing programs. In the Mid- Atlantic, the housing in located in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and counseling is provided there, as well.

The longer term goal is to provide permanent housing, and OH also offers programs and services to offer programs and services available throughout the year.

“We believe it’s a national tragedy when our military families face short-term financial hardships that often turn into a longterm struggle that derails any hopes of a brighter future,” Dietrich said. “While we serve tens of thousands of military families each year, it’s our goal to grow our outreach and continue serving those who have worked tirelessly to protect our freedoms.”

The process for a military family to seek help for an emergency situation involves initially submitting an application between the first and 10th of any given month. That allows them to have those applications approved within one month.

“It’s a grant, not a loan,” Dietrch said. “And we pay it directly to the vendor.”

Programs vary from one-time relief to recurring assistance. Those emergencies run the gamut, large and small, from fixing a kitchen appliance, providing auto repair, helping with payments for rent, mortgage and utilities, eliminating food insecurity and more.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Operation Homefront and Dietrich said the organization has “fulfilled over 50,000 requests for assistance and we have provided nearly $35 million in critical financial assistance to military families.”

In keeping with its mission, OH also provides school supplies and Christmas gifts each year. They recently delivered their 500,000th backpack filled with school supplies that Dietrich said “saved military families over $55 million.”

The Dollar Tree company, among others, donates school supplies and toys at Christmas. And over the years, countless volunteers have done the collecting and distributing.

“Our biggest hurdle at Operation Homefront is reach,” Dietrich said. “We know the need is great and while many Americans struggle, our nations’ military families often have additional burdens not faced by other segments of society. While we help tens of thousands military families each year we miss opportunities to help many more with limited resources.”