Semper Fi & America's Fund

The ideal that drives Semper Fi & America's Fund's efforts is simple: for as much our heroes and their families have sacrificed, they deserve the best care and support in their time of need. We are committed to serving this community at the time of their injury or illness, during recovery and transition back to their communities.

We recognize that, for many service members, “recovery" is not a destination, but rather a continuous journey as they work to recover, adjust and transition to civilian life and live fulfilling lives. We have pledged our support to be there when they need us, for a lifetime if needed.

To fulfill our mission, we have set a number of specific goals, as follows.

(1) identify service members who meet our criteria for assistance through multiple outlets including military and Veterans Administration Hospital liaisons, military units, other non-profit agencies, and family members or self-referral.

(2) Provide financial assistance to qualified service members through every stage of recovery, beginning at initial hospitalization and continuing through rehabilitation and transition back into the community or military unit.

(3) Help restore the highest quality of life possible to those who are injured or critically ill.

(4) Ensure the quality of life of the families supporting our service members does not diminish due to financial burdens incurred during the recovery and rehabilitation of their loved ones.

(5) Operate in a fiscally responsible manner to focus as much as possible on program delivery while also maintaining adequate levels of fundraising and administrative activities to provide the funds needed to deliver our programs and to provide prudent oversight of operations.

We understand that flexibility is important as our service members strive to find the path in life that best suits them. The programs and individualized support offered by the Semper Fi & America's Fund provide service members and their families with the equipment, tools, skills, and resources they need to live their lives to the fullest.

The Fund is people-centered and our approach is needs-based – every service member who comes to the Fund works directly with one of our Case Managers, and each grant is tailored to the specific needs of the service member and family members. Our personalized and ongoing support is the cornerstone to our approach to providing assistance to our service members and their families, and it is what sets us apart from other organizations offering similar services. Not only does this personal relationship between our Case Managers and service members allow the Fund to provide exceptional long-term support, it gives the service member and his or her family direct access to someone they know and trust.

We address the multitude of assistance areas required to fully meet our mission under three primary programs.

(1) Family Support Program:
Our Service Member and Family Support Program provides direct financial assistance for expenses incurred during hospitalization, assisting our nation’s heroes with their most pressing needs at bedside and ensuring they have specialized support throughout the duration of their recovery. Ongoing assistance includes adaptive housing, transportation, and equipment; targeted support for caregivers, children, and Vietnam veterans; and relief in times of crisis, disaster, and emergency — including the COVID-19 pandemic.

(2)Transition Program:
Our Transition Program helps veterans thrive beyond their injury and connect with their communities through a wide range of education support and career assistance, including one-on-one mentorships and opportunities to engage with fellow veterans. This program provides our nation’s heroes with the skills and resources needed to succeed in the next phases of their lives.

(3) Integrative Wellness Program:
Our Integrative Wellness Program applies a holistic approach to long-term health, providing wellness tools to improve body, mind, and spirit. We foster healing in a powerful and sustaining way, using innovative technologies and high-tech wellness devices, as well as sports, art, and animal therapy.

The primary capabilities are threefold – (1) maintaining a dedicated, expert staff, (2) working with our service members to identify evolving needs and (3) managing our finances to both provide assistance now and also sustain the organization for the long-term so we can always be here for our service members.

Personnel - Most of our employees are military spouses and veterans who are intimately familiar with the stresses and challenges faced by those we serve. Throughout the years, we have built connections with military facilities, VA hospitals and other veteran organizations that allow us to provide critical resources to our service members and their families. Our staff members stay up-to-date on new therapies, holistic treatments, and innovative devices. Because we have personal relationships with many of our providers, our support is constantly evolving to reflect new knowledge.

Identifying Needs- Our Case Managers and management team listen closely to service members, family members and caregivers to identify evolving needs. The needs at the time service members are initially injured are not the same as when they go home or when they look to their future goals. Similarly, injuries such as PTSD and TBI have begun to manifest over time and have become an increasing source of assistance needs. As one example, when we learned that caregivers who had attended our Caregiver Retreats were looking for ways to keep in touch beyond the Retreat weekend, we created Neighborhood Get-Togethers. These monthly gatherings bring local caregivers together to continue their camaraderie, discuss important topics, and create a network of support in their community. We also recently added Veteran Workshops that allow veterans to connect with each other, and include presentations on relevant topics such as building a resume, navigating VA benefits and providing information to those who wish to go back to school.

Financial Management - Our mission includes providing assistance every day to meet current needs, but also making sure we can continue that assistance for the long term, because many of our most severely injured service members will need lifetime assistance. To make sure we can achieve these two goals, each year we have increased the amount of assistance we provide while at the same time adding modest amounts to our longer term funds. By creating this balance, we meet the critically important goal of responding to the immediate needs of our service members with the equally important goal of ensuring we can continue to provide support for the long term.

Semper Fi & America's Fund has a proven history of fiscal responsibility, with the highest ratings from watchdog groups: an A+ from CharityWatch – one of only two veteran nonprofits to receive this rating last year – and 10 consecutive “4-Star" ratings from Charity Navigator, an achievement attained by only 2% of rated charities.

Since establishing the Semper Fi Fund in 2004, we have assisted 28,000 of our nation's heroes and their families by providing $273 million in grants – and there is still much work to do.

While combat operations have declined in volume, there are still thousands of service members serving overseas fighting the enemy every day – and some will be wounded. Training accidents will occur. The number of service members diagnosed with PTSD and TBI continues to increase as symptoms are recognized and social stigma surrounding these injuries is reduced. All these will require substantial, sustained support.

Those with catastrophic injuries, such as paralysis, multiple amputations and severe burns require continued – sometimes lifetime - support. As just one example, we may have issued a grant years ago for an adaptive vehicle, but as the years pass, vehicles need to be replaced. The cost for a highly specialized adaptive vehicle can be $50,000, and we need to provide that kind of ongoing support.

As one other example of the numerous areas of assistance we provide, many service members have service dogs that significantly improve their quality of life. Acquiring and training a good service dog is expensive, and then there are medical bills and, of course, the need to get a new dog when their first dog passes.

Additionally, we have expanded our programming and shifted our funding over the years to meet evolving needs. In 2015, we began holding unit reunions to allow service members to reconnect face to face with those they served with to help address the impact that isolation from comrades can have on PTSD, addiction and suicides. In 2015 we established caregiver retreats to provide these unsung heroes with tools to take care of themselves while they take care of their loved one. In 2016 we started an apprenticeship program that helps veterans find meaningful trades, careers and small business opportunities through short-term vocational education and apprenticeships with trade experts. None of those were programs that were even needed in 2004 or 2005, but they are critically needed now. And as each year passes, new needs will emerge, and we will be there to meet them.

In 2018, we expanded assistance to Vietnam veterans, including those catastrophically wounded in combat and critically ill due to exposure to Agent Orange.

In 2019 we added a Visiting Nurses program to expand the breadth and scope of services we are able to provide our service members, veterans and their families.

In 2020, in response to COVID, we held hundreds of virtual events to replace the many in-person events we held that allowed military members and families to stay connected.