By now I’m fairly certain you’ve heard the tragic news of the Kim family who, while on travel in Oregon, became stranded in the snow on an unused logging road. Although James Kim died while trying to get help for his family, his wife and two children survived.

Without their husband and father, the Kims’ will need help getting through the coming months and years. They’ll need somewhere to turn. Where do you turn? People and families have countless needs. 

It doesn’t take a death in the family to need resources. It doesn’t even take a tight budget or a problem within the family. Sometimes you just have a question; sometimes you’re the new person on the block; and sometimes you just want to know.

Where can you turn? Of many, there are two great resources available. One is Military OneSource; the other is the Fleet and Family Service Center.

Military OneSource is there for military personnel and their families 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year with advice and help about child care, personal finances, emotional support during deployments, relocation information, or resources for special circumstances.

The service is available by phone, online and face-to-face through private counseling sessions in the local community. 

Highly qualified, master’s-prepared consultants provide the service. They offer customized research detailing community resources and appropriate military referrals. Clients can even get help with simultaneous language interpretation and document translation. 

The Web site, at http://www.militaryonesource.com, includes locators for education, child and elder care, online articles, referrals to military and community resources, and financial calculators.  The last piece of great news: Military OneSource is provided by the Department of Defense at no cost to active duty, Guard and Reserve (regardless of activation status) and their families.

The Fleet and Family Service Centers around the region offer, at no charge, a wide range of support services to active duty members and their families. Let me outline just a few of the many outstanding services offered that focus on the unique challenges inherent to military life.

Babies don’t come with manuals or guarantees. However, the FFSC’s New Parent Support Program exists to help service members and spouses adjust to parenthood’s demands; the program includes home visits, training parents, and prenatal and postnatal care.

The FFSC is staffed with highly qualified, licensed counselors who know how to help increase problem-solving skills, reduce stress, and focus on lifetime solutions. Services include individual, marriage and family counseling; child counseling; therapeutic group counseling; and education and training programs.

Whether you are settling in to or departing from Navy Region Northwest, the following relocation services can help ease the associated stress:  relocation workshops, welcome aboard information, hospitality kits and loaner items, individual or family consultation, and exceptional family member resources.

Maintaining family readiness means having a solid financial plan. FFSC’s highly qualified financial counselors can help you do that; they offer personal financial management workshops as well as individual financial counseling.

Deployments are a fact of life for military members and families. Whether single or married, there are effective ways of meeting the unique challenges and achieve continuous personal and family readiness. Among other services, FFSC provides training and Education Programs, individual and family consultations, return and reunion outreach, information and training on combat stress awareness, and customized programs for IAs and their families.

Fifty-five percent of today’s military spouses work.  FFSC’s Family Employment Readiness Program is a valuable resource. The Career Resource Center assists spouses and family members find employment through employment and career workshops, local and national employment information, individual career counseling and resume assistance, federal employment application information.

Contact Whidbey’s FFSC at (360) 257-NAVY (6289) and Whidbey’s Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC) at (360) 257-8893; Naval Station Everett’s FFSC (425) 304-3367, the NSE SARC at (425) 304-3712; Naval Base Kitsap’s FFSC at (360) 396-4115 or 1-800-562-3301 and the NBK SARC at (360) 315-3075.  Counseling appointments are available by calling (866) 854-0638

Though hopefully you’ll never be in the Kims’ situation, you may one day have need of one of the resources offered by FFSC or Military OneSource.

As always, take care and be safe.