Published: October 25, 2021
Paying it Forward: Connecting with Military Families One Starbucks Coffee at a Time
Did you participate in Blue Star Welcome Week? If you did, thank you! If you’re a military or Veteran family, hopefully you made a connection, started a friendship, learned something about your new home, or just took a moment to take a breath. If you’re a civilian supporter, know that you made a difference. You showed families who’ve been serving and sacrificing alongside their service members every single day that you care and you want to understand their sacrifice. Why does that matter? Because in response to the 2020 Military Family Lifestyle Survey, 79% of active-duty military families feel the general public is largely unaware of the daily challenges they face. By participating in Blue Star Welcome Week, you are part of the solution to change that statistic.
And your participation matters to families like Emily’s. She and her family are new to military life. After Emily’s husband finished EMT school, he found himself working two jobs, while also trying to achieve career advancement by becoming a paramedic firefighter. Times were tough, but when Emily got laid off from her job, they found themselves searching for better opportunities for their family to thrive.
“Our situation at the time felt like we were moving three steps forward and two steps back,” Emily shared. “While looking online at job postings, my husband saw an ad to be a paramedic for the Army, and he made a joke that maybe he should just do it. We laughed, but then had this moment of ‘What if you/I did?!’ It just kind of all fell into place. We figured Joe [my husband] would have an opportunity to get medical training and experience faster than trying to find space and funds for school on our already very slim budget and hectic schedule. It was definitely a wild card we hadn’t ever considered before, but we played it.”
And just like that, Emily found herself moving from their home in Texas to their first duty station in San Diego. They left family, friends, and the network of support she and her kids had always relied on. “I was a wreck honestly,” Emily recalled. “I had joined every informational group out there on Facebook for military families just trying to figure out what to expect. It was such a tidal wave of information, and it was a little overwhelming and intimidating. Learning where to grocery shop, where the grocery store even is, where the best restaurants are, how to avoid the interstate—all those little things that you take for granted were extremely difficult to figure out.”
Her search for information led her to Blue Star Families. At first, Emily saw and applied for a room makeover that Blue Star Families was offering in partnership with Macy’s. With most of their furniture being “well loved” and the family living on a newly enlisted service member’s salary in a very expensive part of the country, Emily took a chance and entered. Out of thousands of entries, her family was randomly selected as a winner and received a dining room and living room overhaul in July. Since then, Emily has stayed connected with Blue Star Families’ San Diego Chapter and has looked for ways to pay the support forward.
“When we won the makeover and the camera crew and amazing team from Blue Star Families and Macy’s arrived, our neighbors were very curious as to what was going on,” Emily shared. “When I explained that we had won a room makeover with Blue Star Families, not only were they shocked, but immediately wanted to know how I had won it, and how they could get information about Blue Star Families. It felt like a wonderful opportunity for me to get involved and volunteer. Not only to have the chance to give back and repay the kindness, but also to connect with other families who do not yet know of the amazing resources Blue Star Families has to offer. It is wonderful that I won this awesome gift, but there are so many more resources available to military families to help with the day to day struggles. Blue Star Families has this incredible network with amazing partners ready to help. As a new military spouse myself, I was surprised how many people didn’t know or understand where to find these resources. I thought helping to raise awareness for these resources would be the best way for me to give another family the welcome and support I received. It was a great opportunity for me to help them on their military journey.”
Emily didn’t waste any time. She connected with Blue Star Families’ San Diego Chapter Director, Maggie, and started planning her first event: a Coffee Connect at her local Starbucks as part of Blue Star Welcome Week. Starbucks has been an important partner of Blue Star Families, going above and beyond to support military families like Emily’s all year round by joining forces on programs, resources, and events. Through this partnership, we’ve hosted more than 1,500 events (like this one). Those events have helped us reach 1.5M military- and Veteran-connected individuals, providing necessary resources and support. And, therefore, we can continue our mission to empower families like Emily’s by building strong communities of support around them, improving mission readiness and enhancing their sense of “belonging” to where they live.
“I wanted to host an event with Starbucks to give new spouses in the area an opportunity to meet, chat, connect, and learn about everything Blue Star Families has to offer,” Emily said. “Moving to a new community can be very intimidating to break out of your shell and really jump in and get to know the neighbors that surround you. Being a military spouse is not always easy. Finding a support system to help you during those not-so-easy times is such a blessing and much-needed tool. It really helps to have someone that not only understands, but can help give you advice when trying to figure out and navigate military life. If you are not brave enough to take those first steps to build that network on your own, having a resource like a coffee meet-up at your local Starbucks to connect with other military spouses and civilian supporters is a godsend.”
But Blue Star Welcome Week was just the start for Emily. The reality is, military-connected families continue to make sacrifices and face challenges on a daily basis, all year long. They are always on duty, so we are, too. We hope this initiative introduced you to families you’ve never met before, opened your eyes and hearts to the unique experiences military and Veteran families face, and inspired you to continue to connect with your neighbors all year long. That’s exactly what Emily plans to do. She’s already gearing up for her next Starbucks Coffee Connect and can’t wait to welcome military and Veteran families to the community. She also hosts a free community fitness group for military spouses, Curvy Girl Fitness.
Learn how you, too, can continue to support our military and Veteran community at www.bluestarwelcomeweek.org.
Posted In: Blue Star Welcome Week