Nonprofit coordinates services for military families

TIERRASANTA ? Joe Buehrle likes to compare the fledgling San Diego Military Family Collaborative to an old lady who lives down the street.

She?s seemingly been around forever, she knows the lay of the land, and she can tell everyone where they should go to get exactly what they need.

And she has an uncanny ability to assist newcomers.

Based in Tierrasanta, the San Diego Military Family Collaborative started three years ago when six people representing six agencies met at Serra High School. The founding six represented providers that served military families but didn?t have a history of working together.

What has evolved is a coordinated organization that meets monthly, sends out important information via email to about 300 people and works with local schools.

?Military families frequently don?t know about services available to them when they come to a new community,? said Buehrle, the group?s collaboration coordinator. ?If we as service providers don?t know what each other is doing, how much further disconnected are families??

San Diego, and in particular the Tierrasanta neighborhood, has one of the most transient populations in the country.

Sailors and Marines are frequently moving into the area with little to no knowledge of where to go or how to obtain basic needs.

Before 2010, organizations that wanted to help worked individually, frequently stepping on each other?s toes and not knowing where to send people they couldn?t help.

The collaborative, which meets the fourth Friday of every month at the United Way of San Diego, has brought these agencies together so they can coordinate their services more effectively, Buehrle said.

As a result, the nonprofit organization is receiving substantial donations. The United Way of San Diego recently gave $45,000, and the UPS Foundation has given $10,000, Buehrle said.

?I feel we?ve come a long way in building interagency trust and awareness,? Buehrle said. ?I think we?re at a very exciting tipping point in that there are now some local foundations and corporations who have stepped up to forward the collaborative?s work.?

The organization has grown quickly through word-of-mouth. Although it doesn?t yet have a website, up to 50 people attend the monthly meetings, Buehrle said.

?We?ve realized there is a lot of energy in San Diego in wanting to do justice to this unique subculture that is here,? Buehrle said. ?These are our neighbors, our friends, our family. It?s not a political thing. We have a personal call to support military families.?

At Jean Farb Middle School, where last year 53 percent of the student population came from military families, Principal Susan Levy is working with a collaborative-sponsored parent engagement committee that focuses on drug and alcohol awareness and prevention programs.

Levy called the collaborative?s initiatives, ?very, very positive.?

?They?re doing a lot of good work to support parents and students,? Levy said. ?They?re coming up with a lot of new ideas for parent workshops and student support.?

Founding Agencies

Six founding agencies of the San Diego Military Family Collaborative

? Armed Forces YMCA

? Mental Health Systems

? San Diego Unified School District

? Social Advocates for Youth, San Diego

? U.S. Marine Corps School Liaison Program

? U.S. Navy School Liaison Program

More information: Contact Joe Buehrle at (858) 496-0044 or jbuehrle@saysandiego.org.

Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/16/San-Diego-Military-Family-Collaborative-evolves/

ipad 3 release date apple store down apple live blog ohio primary cell phone jammer g8 summit netanyahu