Most veterans are eligible for enrollment in Veterans Health Administration (VA) benefits, however access to care and benefit amounts are determined by the government’s assessment of numerous factors including severity of service-related health issues and length of service. Historically the VA healthcare system was provided exclusively to veterans with service-connected disabilities, but as of 1996 the VA extended services to all veterans and has become an important “safety net” for many veterans who would otherwise be uninsured.

Unfortunately, even with this expanded scope, not all veterans are covered. A research team at Harvard Medical School found that over 1 million veterans between the ages of 18 and 64 were uninsured in 2008.  About half of uninsured veterans are classified in the lowest priority group, and are not currently eligible for VA healthcare, while others may be eligible, but live too far from VA facilities to access services.

“Like other uninsured Americans, most uninsured vets are working people – too poor to afford private coverage but not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or means-tested VA care,” said Dr. Steffie Woolhandler, a Harvard professor on behalf of the Physicians for a National Health Program.

Uninsured Americans have trouble accessing medical care, and veterans are no exception.  The study found that in 2008 approximately 25% failed to get necessary care due to costs and 44.1% were not able to see a doctor or nurse at all.

Injuries sustained in combat and ongoing health issues from service-related injuries, sickness or environmental exposure can be detrimental for a military family’s finances.  When a road-side bomb went off near Private Doug Rachowicz’s vehicle in Afghanistan, it killed four of his fellow service members.  Pvt. Rachowicz survived but with serious injuries.

His family, including his mother, father and sister rushed to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to be at his side, despite the fact that some of them are ineligible for the benefits of the Family and Medical Leave Act.  As the cost of travel and lodging for the Rachowicz family pile up, friends and family have started a fundraising page on GiveForward to help.

The Rachowicz’s situation is indicative of the challenges faced by many military families. Military service exacts a heavy toll on soldiers and their families. According to a recent report by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, the unemployment rate among veterans is 13.1% and many more are underemployed. 21.3% of veterans between the ages of 18 and 24 fall below the national poverty level. Even if their basic health needs are met, service members often have expenses that exceed their income. Bills accumulate while they are deployed and time spent job searching after returning home can cripple their finances.

So far the Rachowicz family has raised $435 towards their goal of $5,000.  Their family and friends have offered an outpouring of support on their GiveForward page.  All Americans deserve access to high quality, affordable health care.  It is especially devastating that the men and women who have sacrificed for their country, often placing themselves in harms way, face difficulties accessing and paying for health care when they return home.  If you know a  military family in need of financial and emotional support, consider starting a GiveForward page for them.

But at that moment, Tara, who lost her own home to a fire in January 2011, happened to be driving  by Ron’s home.  She happened to be in the right place at the right time and stopped to give Ron a tote of essentials to help him take care of himself and alleviate the stress of losing his home.

The tote that Tara gave to Ron actually came from Tara’s Totes, a site she created after losing her own home to a fire. Now Tara is dedicated to creating totes of essentials to help people like Ron.

Before the fire, Ron was unable to afford to make necessary repairs to his house to qualify for insurance, so rebuilding is going to be much harder than typical families who are in the same unfortunate situation.

Tara felt that there was more she could do to help out Ron, so she looked to GiveForward.com to create a fundraising page as a place where others in the community can contribute to Ron’s expenses.  Ron’s Fire Fund has created a way for members of their Wisconsin community to show their financial support as Ron rebuilds his home, and their emotional support as Ron mourns the loss of his canine companion, Klutz, who unfortunately did not survive the tragic fire.

Take a moment to check out their page and send some support their way.

On Miss Patti’s fundraising page, her community describes her as “personally and professionally [...] the continual supply of loving and level-headed advice, tutelage, and guidance for decades.” Whether they’re challenging stubborn mindsets or fostering suppressed talents, the work of our teachers is never easy.

Based on the outpouring of support on Patti Preston’s page, it’s obvious that she’s positively influenced numerous lives in her profession. Her community in Princeton is currently rallying around her to reciprocate the encouragement she gives their children.

Our GiveForward Team is inspired by both Miss Patti’s commitment to education and her community’s response during this difficult time. Take a moment to visit Patti’s page to leave a hug or donation in honor of a teacher who’s touched your life.

In 2004, Lilia was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Even after extensive radiation and surgeries, the cancer spread to her lungs and bones. A mere 5 years later in 2009, her brother, Marco, was diagnosed with Lymphoma of the throat. Marco is selflessly volunteering as a cancer research patient at M.D. Anderson Cancer Treatment Center in Houston in hopes that he can contribute to finding a cure for this terrible disease. Living through this is the matriarch of the Castillo family, Beatriz. Unfortunately, Beatriz was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. A fundraiser has been created in hopes of alleviating some of the debt that each Castillo family member faces as a result of their illnesses. Like so many cancer patients, their surgeries, treatments, doctor’s visits, and medications make it difficult for each person to stay afloat. Lilia, Marco, and Beatriz struggle to pay for their daily living expenses that are now coupled with their amounting medical bills. Throughout their family ordeals, every member of the Castillo family remains optimistic and embraces every new day with rejuvenated morale and hope.

Everyone at GiveForward is sending the entire Castillo family lots of love and positive vibes, and we encourage you to check out their GiveForward page and show your support!

This month why not take a little time to show some recognition to the caregivers in your life?  If they need extra support, start a GiveForward page to help gather financial and emotional support.

Often family caregivers take on the role with little or no caregiving background.  If your favorite caregiver needs to find resources that are dedicated to guiding them through the caregiving process we highly recommend checking out our friends at Aging Info USA.  They provide a great resource network full of experts in the caregiving field.

Another great way for friends and family to coordinate ways they can help their loved ones is through the site Lotsa Helping Hands.  Our friends at LHH provide a free community website where friends and family can get organized on the group calendar and share tasks like cooking dinner or giving a loved one a ride to the doctors.  This site is a great way for friends and family to give caregivers a respite from the tasks at hand.

Beyond just the site, Lotsa Helping Hands provides great resources and insights into the live of caregiver.  This month they are teaming up with UnitedHealthcare to provide a Webinar for caregivers and those wishing to support them. During this month’s webinar, you can learn about the most common challenges that family caregivers experience and solutions for caregivers including financial, legal, and advanced planning tips. Register today at www.lotsahelpinghands.com/webinar.

Want the caregiver in your life to know they aren’t alone?  Why not share The Working Caregiver with them?  Written by Susan Avello the blog covers every angle of the life of a working caregiver.  Whether tackling tough topics like coping with Alzheimers or preventing elder abuse or common issues like how someone can balance their work life with their caregiver life, Susan covers the broad spectrum of issues.

These are just a few ways that you can support a family caregiver, but we’d love to hear from caregivers and the people who love them. This month, how are you planning on showing your appreciation to the caregiver in your life?  Or if you’re a caregiver, what is the best way for someone to recognize your dedication?

Covering the cost of an unexpected death can be a scary prospect for a family already coping with a grievous situation. But this week’s staff pick fundraiser is an example of how friends and family can rally around a family to allow them to focus on what’s most important during their time of distress. Julianna was out with her grandmother and brother, returning home from a fun day dirt biking. As they were crossing the street in a crosswalk, a driver ran a red light and struck Julianna. Julianna was immediately flown to U.C. Davis. Tragically the amount of trauma little Julianna suffered from and several failed attempts at a blood transfusion, her body was too weak to recover and she passed away. Family and friends are showing their love and support by setting up a GiveForward fundraiser to help alleviate some of the funeral costs.

Everyone here at GiveForward is sending the Radilla family positive vibes during their time of need. We ask you to keep the Radilla family in your thoughts and take a moment to appreciate your loved ones. Please take a minute to read Julianna’s story and send some love and support to the Radilla family.

Whether within our own thoughts, spoken or written, words have the powerful potential to transform the world we live in. I’ve experienced firsthand  how words have an amazing power to heal, improve, and change another person’s reality:

A few years ago I got a job working in a drapery store. On my first day, my boss led me to a giant fabric-rolling table and explained in a mind-numbing series of steps and procedures how it all worked. He rolled through a bolt of fabric and said, “It’s tricky, but you get it, right?” Before I had a chance to say, “No, not at all,” he was gone…back into his office to shuffle papers around and comb his mustache.  To say I struggled through that first hour in that cold concrete warehouse would be the understatement of the century. I ripped expensive fabric to shreds, jammed the machine twice, and nearly took my hand off with the enormous razor-blade.  I was a blunder away from heading back to the front office and telling my boss that I was not “cut out” to be a fabric-cutter. As I turned off the machine to give up, another employee walked through the door to start his shift. He introduced himself; he was a veteran, a real-life fabric-rolling professional. He saw the shredded fabric splayed about the floor and asked, “Don’t quite have it down yet?” I nodded. He told me, “It’s much easier than you’d think. Everybody struggles the first hour or so, but by the end of the day, you’ll feel like you’ve been cutting fabric your entire life. It’s really not all that hard.” He left, telling me he had some work to do, but that he would be back in a half-hour to check up on me.

Within a few minutes, something had changed. I was starting to get the hang of it; I was a fabric-rolling monster. You’ve got fabric, I’ll cut  it, i’ll cut the heck out of it, I’m the best fabric cutter this side of Mississippi. It wasn’t that any of the physical work had changed, or that the procedure was any less complicated. What had changed was the way I perceived the work. I trusted my co-worker when he told me it was, “easy…not that hard at all.”  Really, all I needed was someone to tell me it that it was possible. By implying that the job was easy, he made it so. Sometimes, especially when we are going through something for the first time, we need someone to tell us “it’s going to be okay.” I realized that day how a simple phrase, a few words, can inspire us to achieve goals or they can hold us back from even trying. One simple sentence can make a huge difference in the way we perceive the world.

As an English major at the University of Illinois the power of words were never lost on me.  Reading poets like Rudyard Kipling, Walt Whitman, and Saul Williams, I was forced to confront the meaning behind words. What is our unending desire to communicate?

I discovered: not only do we create the words we use, but the words we use also create us.

The Latin transcription of the word “person” translates directly to “beings of sound.” Meaning, our lives as human beings are literally defined by our words and our ability to communicate through sound with each other and the greater universe.  The power that words have on us can be observed every day. Whether it be that Ipad commercial that convinced you that ‘just had to have it,’ or the political speech that made you grind your teeth, or the comedian who’s story made you laugh until your sides hurt. Words are intimately entwined with our emotions and thus, our reality. The words we speak are every bit as alive and tangible as the people we communicate with.

If you need further proof of the power that words have in creating the world around us, look no further than the world’s most printed book: the Bible. In the first verse, it reveals, “God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” God said, and then there was. The words came first, creating reality around us. If our world was literally created from words, then imagine the limitless power your own words possess. What you say matters- almost as much as what you do…and isn’t just Christianity that recognizes the power of speech: virtually every religion in the world, at one time or another, has focused on the power of sound vibration. Whether through the chanting of “ohm,” Buddhist and Hindu chants, Islamic prayers and calls to worship, or reciting “Hail Mary” and the Lord’s Prayer, the common thread has been the investment in the belief that change will come about through voicing these sacred words, aloud.

There is no doubt that words have a tremendous effect on the outside world but also on the way in which we think. I had a coach once that liked to say, “Think of your brain like a computer… put good things in, good things print out.” The more we hear words of encouragement, the more encouraging as people we become. Take the phrase, ”When you say you can’t, it means that you won’t.” That statement is profound in its simplicity and its meaning is clear: If you think you can’t, chances are good that you won’t. The power of our words have compelling psychological implications. Even our thoughts are constructed from words. The more affirming the words we choose to use, the more positive we become as people. Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on our health. The health benefits that positive thinking have been linked such qualities as: increased life span, lower rates of depression, greater resistance to the common cold,  reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and better coping skills during hardships and times of stress.

This is why on the GiveForward site we allow people to send out virtual hugs to family and friends in need. Although many of the fundraisers on the site are in need of funds to help cover medical expenses, words of encouragement are often equally as important to their recovery. As Kristen Houghton writes, “We have at our disposal a power that can change lives, make the sick healthy, encourage success, guide those who need it, and create a lasting impression of us as people.” So, this week while considering donating to a fundraiser, please don’t forget to leave some support by writing a few kind words in addition to your donation. One of the most powerful healing tools we have can be utilizing the words we use every day. As English poet Rudyard Kipling once said, “Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.”

Use them well.

We are excited to announce that as of today, organizers have the option of activating PayPal on their fundraisers.  When donors visit the checkout page of a fundraiser with PayPal activated they will be given the option of donating via our standard credit card payment processing or via their PayPal account.

What does this new addition to the GiveForward checkout page mean?  A few things:

• PayPal allows for quicker payment after a fundraiser closes.
• When GiveForward fundraisers activate PayPal as a payment option, they tend to see a 20% increase in donations (though results will vary).
• The simplified check-out process allows users to donate on their mobile devices, which means they can donate anytime, anywhere!

As always, we’re excited to offer another way to simplify the process of giving support to a loved one in need.  Happy fundraising from the whole GiveForward Team!

Covering the cost of an unexpected injury can be a scary prospect for a family already coping with a difficult situation. But this week’s Staff Pick fundraiser is an amazing example of how the local community can rally together to show their support and help a family heal. Matt was returning home from a night out and was randomly attacked, beaten with a metal pipe, and knocked out by three individuals who broke his nose, cheek, and jaw, in addition to stealing his belongings. Matt’s friends and family are raising money to help alleviate some of the financial burden of medical costs and to offset the time away from work Matt will take to focus on his recovery. In a little over one week they have been able to raise over $6,000 on Matt’s GiveForward page.

Everyone here at GiveForward is sending Matt positive vibes for a speedy recovery. We hope the outpouring of love and support for Matt inspires you as much as it inspires us! Please take a minute to check out Matt’s story and send some love his way.