Helping out our country and the veterans that have served it, lending a hand to our community, assisting those in need is important to who we are and who the PayCheck family is. We may not be able to provide a direct solution but we might be able to help find the right organization that can give the help needed.
Domestic & Family Organizations
National Domestic Violence Hotline - 1-800-799-7233 - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, the National Domestic Violence Hotline provides essential tools and support to help survivors of domestic violence so they can live their lives free of abuse. Contacts to The Hotline can expect highly-trained, expert advocates to offer free, confidential, and compassionate support, crisis intervention information, education, and referral services in over 200 languages.
Women's Shelters - A list of women's shelters sorted by region and by need.
Natioanl Domestic Violence Hotline - The Hotline can also use your support through donations, volunteering and other methods of support. Check out their website for more information.
Futures Without Violence - For more than 30 years, FUTURES has been providing groundbreaking programs, policies, and campaigns that empower individuals and organizations working to end violence against women and children around the world. Providing leadership from offices in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Boston, we’ve established a state-of-the-art Center for Leadership and Action in the Presidio of San Francisco to foster ongoing dialogue about gender-based violence and child abuse. Striving to reach new audiences and transform social norms, we train professionals such as doctors, nurses, judges, and athletic coaches on improving responses to violence and abuse. We also work with advocates, policymakers, and others to build sustainable community leadership and educate people everywhere about the importance of respect and healthy relationships. Our vision is a future without violence that provides education, safety, justice, and hope.
National Sexual Violence Resource Center - The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) is the leading nonprofit in providing information and tools to prevent and respond to sexual violence. NSVRC translates research and trends into best practices that help individuals, communities and service providers achieve real and lasting change. NSVRC also works with the media to promote informed reporting. Every April, NSVRC leads Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), a campaign to educate and engage the public in addressing this widespread issue. NSVRC is also one of the three founding organizations of RALIANCE, a national, collaborative initiative dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation.
House of Ruth - House of Ruth offers comprehensive support for women, children and families. Our continuum of services encompasses enriched housing for families and single women, trauma-informed daycare for children, and free counseling to empower anyone, regardless of gender, who is a survivor of trauma and abuse. Our programs provide individualized support to rebuild safe, independent, and sustainable lives. Primarily in the Washington DC region.
Agricultural and Western
Farm Aid - Since 1985, Farm Aid has answered 1-800-FARM-AID to provide immediate and effective support services to farm families in crisis. Now Farm Aid’s online Farmer Resource Network connects farmers to an extensive network of organizations across the country that help farmers find the resources they need to access new markets, transition to more sustainable and profitable farming practices, and survive natural disasters.
Freedom Hills Horse Rescue - Freedom Hill Horse Rescue is a public non-profit 501(c)(3) organization committed to saving neglected, abused and unwanted horses that are typically difficult to adopt. These horses are often older, sustained injuries, or developed chronic disease. Because most cannot be ridden or medical treatment is beyond the reach of many people, these gentle souls often find themselves at auction or on a trailer to the slaughterhouse. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Future Farmers of America - FFA is a dynamic youth organization that changes lives and prepares members for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. FFA develops members’ potential and helps them discover their talent through hands-on experiences, which give members the tools to achieve real-world success. Members are future chemists, veterinarians, government officials, entrepreneurs, bankers, international business leaders, teachers and premier professionals in many career fields. FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those interested in agriculture and leadership. It is one of the three components of agricultural education. The official name of the organization is the National FFA Organization. The letters “FFA” stand for Future Farmers of America. These letters are a part of our history and our heritage that will never change.
Working Ranch Cowboy's Association -To provide financial assistance to working ranch cowboys and their family members. “A Hand Up, Not A Hand Out”
Veterans
Veteran Crisis Line - 1-800-273-8255 - Veteran suicide is something I sadly know about. I have lost friends due to PTSD and depression. When we return from deployment it can be extremely difficult, especially when we are alone. I have experienced that emptiness first hand. Help is available. Please call 1-800-273-8255 if you need help, need a friend, need to help bring some more light into your darkness. One phone call could relieve the pain and help make things seem hopeful, it could set things on a track to making the world brighter and worth living for again. Just having someone on the phone who cares, who will listen and that can even remotely identify with you and your pain is a huge step in a better direction. Please call if you are in need.
Fisher House - Started in 1990, this organization is best known for its network of comfort homes where military and veterans’ families can stay at no cost, while a loved one is receiving treatment. The homes are at major military and VA medical centers nationwide, close to the medical center or hospital they serve. The foundation has served over 220,000 families since it started, and can accommodate a total of 832 families a day nationwide.
Thanks USA - This organization, started in 2006 by sisters Kelsi and Rachel Okun when they were mere children, distributes need-based college, technical, and vocational school scholarships to the children and spouses of active duty U.S. military members. Since it was founded the organization has awarded 3,500 scholarships totaling almost $10 million.
DAV Charitable Service Trust - This group supports physical and psychological rehabilitation programs that provide direct service to ill, injured, or wounded veterans. The programs support everything from driver’s rehabilitation services for veterans with traumatic brain injuries, to treatment for post-service mental health services. The Trust also helps to fund programs that provide food, shelter, and other necessary items to homeless or at-risk veterans and their families.
Homes For Our Veterans - Helping severely injured veterans returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan is the mission of Homes for Our Troops. Started in 2004, the organization builds mortgage-free and specially adapted houses for multiple amputees and veterans with traumatic brain injuries. It also adapts existing homes for handicap accessibility. Home for Our Troops has built nearly 170 homes since its founding, with another 50 currently underway.
Puppies Behind Bars - PBB) trains prison inmates to raise service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, as well as explosive-detection canines for law enforcement. Puppies enter prison at the age of 8 weeks and live with their inmate puppy-raisers for approximately 24 months. As the puppies mature into well-loved, well-behaved dogs, their raisers learn what it means to contribute to society rather than take from it.
Wounded Warriors Family Support - This organization, started by retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel John Folsom in 2003, helps the families of those men and women who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat operations. It provides, free of charge, family-friendly retreats where wounded veterans, spouses, and children can reconnect with each other in a low-stress setting that they would otherwise not be able to afford. The goal is to offer these families a way to bond again and help heal the emotional and psychological trauma inflicted by war.
Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society - For over a century, this organization has provided financial assistance and education to members of the United States Navy and Marine Corps and eligible family members, widows, and survivors. The group operates nearly 250 offices ashore and afloat at Navy and Marine Corps bases throughout the world and has provided more than $48 million in interest-free loans and grants to over 100,000 sailors, marines and their families around the world.
USO - The USO (United Service Organizations) is a nonprofit organization chartered by Congress, but is not a part of the federal government. Since 1941, it has provided care packages, entertainment, and recreation-type services to military members and their families. It operates more than 135 centers worldwide, including 10 mobile canteens in the U.S. and overseas. Services include free Internet and email access, libraries and reading rooms, housing assistance, family crisis counseling, support groups, game rooms and nursery facilities.
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America fights to improve the lives of post-9/11 veterans. This 10-year-old organization serves the 2.4 million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan from their first day home through the rest of their lives. Founded by an Iraq veteran, the group’s mission is to provide new veterans with health, education, and employment support. IAVA also encourages ways for them to connect with other veterans in their area.
Hope For The Warriors - Military wives founded this organization in 2006 as they witnessed, first-hand, the effects of war on spouses and their families. The group’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for post-9/11 service members who have sustained physical and psychological wounds in the line of duty. Services include career transition and education programs, health and wellness counseling, and community building initiatives for military families as they transition into civilian life.
Gary Sinise Foundation - "Serving honor and need" The Gary Sinise Foundation was established under the philanthropic direction of Gary Sinise, an actor and forty-year advocate for the nation's military and defenders. The Foundation's outreach supported those who sacrifice to defend the United States: active duty, veterans, first responders, and their families. The Foundation achieves its mission through a number of programs designed to show gratitude for these American heroes through entertainment, family support, and acts of appreciation. The Foundation builds specially adapted homes of severely wounded veterans, hosting daylong morale-boosting celebrations at military medical centers across the country, and providing meals to veterans and their families across the country. The Foundation is committed to ensuring veterans' sacrifices are never forgotten.
Semper Fi Fund - "Serving those who preserve our freedom”. The Semper Fi Fund was founded by a dedicated group of military spouses at Camp Pendleton in 2003. The Fund provides direct financial assistance and vital programming for combat wounded, critically ill and catastrophically injured service members and their families during hospitalization and recovery. The Fund also helps to provide housing assistance to injured soldiers and their families, opportunities for children of wounded warriors to attend summer camp, canine assistance, and ongoing transportation assistance, along with several other unique programs aimed at easing the transition for wounded soldiers and their families.
Special Operations Warrior Foundation - "Providing support and assistance to the U.S. military's special operations community" Special Operations Warrior Foundation was founded in 1980, after the daring attempt to rescue 53 American hostages in Iran, which ended in the tragic loss of 8 servicemen who left behind 17 children. A promise to take care of those 17 children has become the noble mission of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation to educate over 1,200 children and support families of injured service men and women with medical bills. The Foundation provides immediate financial grants to severely combat-wounded and hospitalized Special Operations personnel and their families. It also ensures full financial assistance for post-secondary education to children of Special Operations personnel who lose their lives in the line of duty.
Freedom Service Dogs of America - "Free a hero to save a hero!" Freedom Service Dogs of America (FSD) unleashes the potential of shelter dogs by transforming them into custom-trained, life-changing assistance dogs for people in need, including injured servicemembers and veterans. These service dogs are taught to open doors, pick up items, turn on lights, pull wheelchairs, go for help, and a number of other actions. FSD is donor-funded and doesn't charge its clients for any of its services. They also provide lifetime support for service dogs and their owners.
Air Warrior Courage Foundation - "Where camaraderie and caring continue" The Air Warrior Courage Foundation aka Wounded Warrior Emergency Support Fund was formed by military aviators to "care for their own." They work closely with the Red River Valley Fight Pilots Association in Virginia to do so. They provide active duty, guard, reserve, retired military personnel and their families with financial assistance for medical, educational, other extraordinary expenses not covered by current military support systems.
Operation Second Chance - "Providing support for the soldiers at Walter Reed National Medical Military Center" Operation Second Chance provides support for soldiers and Marines while they are being treated for injuries at Walter Reed National Medical Military Center in Bethesda, Maryland. After service members have been released, the organization helps them with their transition back into active duty or civilian life. The Operation aims to aid in the recovery and rehabilitation of service men and women, assist in the modification of housing to accommodate disabled veterans, assist families of wounded service members, and facilitate the transition of wounded service members back into society.
Operation Homefront - "Building strong, stable and secure military families" Operation Homefront's mission is to build strong, stable, and secure military families so they can thrive -- not simply struggle to get by -- in the communities they have worked so hard to protect. Their programs offer relief by providing critical financial assistance and transitional housing programs, resiliency through permanent housing and caregiver support, and recurring family support to help military families overcome the short-term "bumps in the road" so they don't become long-term, chronic problems. Over the last 15 years, the Operation has helped more than 3,500 caregivers who provide care and support to injured or disabled service members and veterans.
K9s For Warriors - K9s For Warriors is ending veteran suicide and returning our Warriors to a life of dignity and independence. We rescue and train shelter dogs to be paired as Service Dogs for Warriors with service-connected Post-Traumatic Stress, Traumatic Brain Injury and/or Military Sexual Trauma. We are the nation's largest provider of Service Dogs for disabled American veterans.
TAPS - TAPS provides comfort, care and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. Since 1994, TAPS has provided comfort and hope 24/7 through a national peer support network and connection to grief resources, all at no cost to surviving families and loved ones.
Bob Woodruff Foundation - BWF partners with community and national programs, organizations and the military community, and advocates like you, to create healthy, positive futures for our service members, veterans and their families. Join us in taking a #Stand4Heroes.
The Mission Continues - The Mission Continues’ vision is for all veterans with a desire to continue their service to be part of a nationwide movement to transform communities.
The Armed Services YMCA - The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) is the constant in a military family’s life: on the home front and during deployment, when transitioning between bases, and in times of conflict and peace. The ASYMCA is an Association of the YMCA of the USA, specifically dedicated to serving active duty junior enlisted military service members and their families of all five armed services: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. The oldest military support organization in the U.S., the ASYMCA has been “Strengthening Our Military Family®” since 1861 through its 12 branches and 24 affiliate partners, serving 87 military installations and facilities nationwide. Our nationally and locally tailored programs and services for our nation’s troops and their families are offered at no or low cost and require no dues or membership fees.
National Military Family Association - NMFA is the voice of military families because, for 50 years, we have proven that we stand behind service members, their spouses, and their children. Our Association is the “go to” source for Administration Officials, Members of Congress, and key decision makers when they want to understand the issues facing our families. They know we have “boots on the ground” with military families and understand better than anyone that “military families serve, too.” Through the support and programs we provide, and our respected voice on Capitol Hill and with the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, our Association always looks out for the families who stand behind the uniform and for those who serve.