![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Aservesmap-ARC.jpg.jpg\")
\u201cWe can get everything from, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m trying to sell my boat,\u2019 to \u2018Hey, I\u2019m homeless and living in my car,\u2019\u201d said Jennifer Watson, who processes inquiries as a peer navigator for ServingTogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through a shared software, AmericaServes networks make referrals, compare notes and are able to track veterans as they\u2019ve been helped, keeping each other accountable for the speed of delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From its launch in 2015 to 2017, AmericaServes networks helped nearly 13,000 veterans or military family members, including 550 service members in transition, according to a recent IVMF status report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The five most common areas of need during that time were housing, employment, individual and family support, money management and benefits. One-third of all clients had needs in more than one area, and the AmericaServes model offers them a \u201cone stop shop\u201d to get help, its leaders say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a recent Monday morning, Watson called someone with a service-connected disability who asked for help finding work. In addition to employment, the ex-Marine also struggled with housing, food insecurity and a criminal past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou start to get the picture of what\u2019s going on in somebody\u2019s life,\u201d said Watson, an Air Force veteran. \u201cIt sort of brings them from being just a phone call to this is an actual human being who really has been through it, and they need help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether a veteran retired from the military or was court-martialed doesn\u2019t matter for AmericaServes organizations, the majority of which are not specifically veteran-focused, McDonough said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStuff happens,\u201d he said, and this work is about recognizing a moral and ethical need to help fellow human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A system like AmericaServes makes it a lot easier to find that help, a process that can often be frustrating and confusing for people in need, said Niki Thrash, chief development officer at EveryMind, the mental health nonprofit that first developed the ServingTogether network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe veteran doesn\u2019t have to hear \u2018no\u2019 because some providers might only be able to provide a service to service-wounded, or post-9\/11 or Vietnam era or whatever,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen that referral goes into the system, they never hear \u2018no\u2019 because what they hear next is the person who\u2019s going to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caver, who once worked at the nonprofit Disabled American Veterans, said he knew of many veteran-serving organizations, but none of them had the resources to help him in the way he and his family needed at the time. Once he called WAServes, he was able to tap into a much bigger support system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re doing some crosstalk and you can bring everything into one place to get the help that you need \u2014 whether it\u2019s housing, whether it\u2019s food or whether it\u2019s just a little bit of financial assistance because of something that happened like my case and many other cases like it \u2014 that\u2019s great,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve needed an organization like WAServes or (AmericaServes).\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When a former National Guardsman needed financial help to save his house, he kept hitting dead ends. Then someone told him about AmericaServes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":61781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,25,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3382],"class_list":["post-63609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-newsletters","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"H7OWANRAGRHIDGK5ZHLQNKPC5E","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/transition\/2018\/06\/11\/out-of-work-wrongly-denied-benefits-these-organizations-can-help\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/DSC_0120.jpg.jpg\")