Military Families

May 1, 2017

One of the greatest struggles that I’ve had as a military spouse, harder than the separations, more trying than the unknowns, has been the act of leaving. Leaving family, leaving friends, leaving a home. For someone like myself who already struggles with opening up and allowing people to get to...

Jennifer Novak

Breastfeeding Childcare & Early Education Immigration Military Families Paid Family Leave

April 25, 2017

Me llamo Brishithe Tovar y nací en Guatemala. Mi familia y yo emigramos a California cuando tenía 9 años después de que mi madre fuera asaltada a mano armada cuando tenía 6 meses de embarazo. El trauma y el estrés fueron tan severos que mi mamá desarrolló presión arterial peligrosamente alta y...

Brishithe Tovar

Breastfeeding Childcare & Early Education Immigration Military Families Paid Family Leave

April 24, 2017

My name is Brishithe Tovar and I was born in Guatemala. My family and I migrated to California when I was 9 years old after my mother got robbed at gunpoint when she was 6 months pregnant. The shock and stress was so severe, my mom developed dangerously high blood pressure and temporary blindness,...

Brishithe Tovar

Family Economic Security Military Families Open Flexible Work

April 17, 2017

Since 9/11, a new generation of military spouses has emerged; women and men married to service members who want to maintain a career or business as they follow their spouse where the military demands. The military lifestyle requires out-of-the-box thinking to create a transportable career and, with...

Erica McMannes

Military Families Realistic & Fair Wages

April 4, 2017

It's #EqualPayDay again , and as I started the morning catching up on the news, I noticed several references on social media about the "myth" of the pay gap. I get it, we all have different points of view. I share a view based on facts, research, and actual experience. However, I am optimistic that...

Sarah Howard

Food! Military Families

April 3, 2017

Tips on how to stay healthy while shopping at the commissary (or off base!).

Rebecca Alwine

Family Economic Security Food! Military Families

March 27, 2017

This op-ed originally appeared in t he San Diego Union-Tribune and was authored by Representative Susan Davis and Abby Leibman Imagine serving your country, but needing help to feed your family — and because of a quirk in the law, you don’t qualify for food stamps. This is the harsh, underreported...

Abby Leibman

Breastfeeding Military Families Paid Family Leave

March 27, 2017

Paid Family Leave for military families has rapidly changed in the past two years, and the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act brings even more changes. While some of these changes appear to be improvements for military parental leave, several points of the new law have left us with some...

Amy Barron Smolinski, MA, ALC, CLC

Health Care Military Families

March 6, 2017

"If you’re going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy; God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won’t." ― Hyman Rickover, Admiral, USN, (1900-1986) Admiral Rickover is considered the father of the Nuclear Navy, a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines and ships he helped create. Rickover is...