The Veterans & Family Support Program:

• Offers support for veterans, service members and their families. Our Veterans & Family Support includes a list of 20 organizations and agencies that offer support to veterans, service members and their families.
• Promotes Veteran and Military Suicide Awareness and Prevention
  Each day, an estimated 20 veterans commit suicide. You can help lower this number and make a difference in the life of a veteran or service member in crisis by educating yourself and others about the warning signs of suicide.
  • The Veteran & Military Suicide Awareness Blue Teardrop Sticker is the VFW Auxiliary’s symbol to give this issue the attention it so desperately needs. Wear the teardrop to open a conversation; when asked what the teardrop is, share that it’s to create awareness for veteran and military suicide.
  • The Veterans Crisis Line connects veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text. Veterans and their loved ones can call 988-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard of hearing individuals is available.

• The Veteran & Military Suicide Awareness Blue Teardrop Sticker is the VFW Auxiliary’s symbol to give this issue the attention it so desperately needs. Wear the teardrop to open a conversation; when asked what the teardrop is, share that it’s to create awareness for veteran and military suicide.
• The Veterans Crisis Line connects veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text. Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat online, or send a text message to 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Support for deaf and hard of hearing individuals is available.

• Promotes VFW’s National Veterans Service (NVS)
  VFW’s National Veterans Service (NVS) helps veterans, service members and their families obtain the benefits they deserve – free of charge. NVS provides a nationwide network of more than 2,000 VA-accredited VFW Service Officers across America and abroad who help hundreds of thousands of veterans navigate the Veterans Affairs system each year. In 2018, VFW’s service officers recovered more than $8.3 billion (yes, billion!) in earned benefits and compensation for veterans and their dependents, which includes $1.4 billion in new claims. Service officers assist all veterans, whether they are VFW members or not, in filing claims for:
  • Disability compensation
  • Rehabilitation and education Programs, including GI Bill benefits
  • Pension and death benefits
  • Employment and training Programs
• Promotes VFW’s Veterans & Military Support Programs
  The VFW’s Veteran & Military Support Programs serve active-duty and recently discharged members of the military.

• • VFW’s "Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” provides service members and veterans with scholarships of up to $5,000 to complete their educational goals without incurring excessive student load debt.
  • Financial Assistance for Service Members is there to help America’s service members who have run into unexpected financial difficulties. The Program provides financial aid of up to $2,500 to assist with basic life needs in the form of a grant – not a loan – so no repayment is required. To further ease the burden, the creditor is paid directly.
  • The Military Appreciation Program helps provide financial assistance to VFW Post and Auxiliaries to sponsor troop send-offs, homecomings and get-togethers. Posts and Auxiliaries participating in Adopt-A-Unit and Family Readiness Groups can also receive assistance.

Read more about the Veterans & Family Support Programs through the following reports from our 2026-27 WI Veterans & Family Support Chairman Jody McKinney.