NORFOLK, Va. - An organization that helps support education for the spouses and children of military members says the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting military families in countless ways.
ThanksUSA says their mission is to provide "need-based college, technical and vocational school scholarships and pathways to employment for children and spouses of our troops."
To that end, they've awarded more than $15 million in scholarships over the years.
The COVID-19 pandemic though is having an impact on those they serve.
Jon Rosa, President of ThanksUSA, says in a recent survey of scholarship recipients and their families, "the greatest concerns reported so far are financial uncertainty and impacts on the most basic needs."
To help, ThanksUSA has launched a Higher Education Resources for Military Families webpage to address educational concerns and continuity.
"If you’re the military spouse at home, that’s an added stress, when your spouse is thousands of miles – doing what they signed up to do – but it doesn’t make it any easier. I think it compounds your ability to be successful in the academic environment when you’ve got financial strain and you’ve got day to day strain," Rosa told News 3 anchor Todd Corillo on Tuesday.
"All of a sudden, we’re all becoming educators - and I know we’ll walk out of this with an incredibly great appreciation for those educators - so I think that’s one of the biggest things it’s just the pile gets bigger. I think for a military family dislocation, financial instabilities, and imbalance, that just compounds the problem," he added.
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ThanksUSA is continuing to accept applications for their 2020 scholarship season through April 15.
You can learn more about the organization and their efforts here.
