Military Women In Need

At Foundation for Women Warriors, we believe in honoring the service of our women veterans by empowering their future. Our mission is to serve women veterans and their children so that their next mission is clear and continues to impact the world. Our services are hand ups, empowering women warriors to navigate life's obstacles and make successful transitions from service to civilian life.

Despite the significant achievements and accomplishments of servicewomen, women veterans are a historically underserved population. This community continues to face significant transition challenges that impact their long-term financial stability and wellbeing. Foundation for Women Warriors is a 102-year-old nonprofit organization that prevents homelessness and enhances the personal and economic wellbeing of women veterans and their families. For over a century, we have been responsive to the changing needs of our women veteran community and have innovated real solutions to empower their futures.
• 1921-2004: Military Women In Need's (MWIN) Housing Subsidies Program operated under the umbrella of a private foundation. MWIN originally served women veterans and survivors, 55 years and older, in danger of homelessness. 
• 2005: MWIN became a separate public charity and expanded its core programs (see programs).
• 2010: In anticipation of women veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, MWIN dropped its age requirement and served women veterans, survivors and their dependent children.
• 2016: We launched our childcare program to support working women veterans and hired our first full-time CEO, Marine veteran Jodie Grenier. We changed our name and re-branded to more uplifting language that better encompassed our mission and vision (From Military Women In Need to Foundation for Women Warriors).
• 2021: We launched two warehouse locations to distribute necessities such as new and unused baby supplies, clothing, and other critical household items to reduce costs and ensure our women veterans and their children have their most basic of needs met.

We holistically address the key obstacles women veterans face upon transitioning from the service and enhance their personal and economic wellbeing by:
• Providing emergency financial stipends to cover rent, utilities, and basic needs assistance.
• Providing childcare assistance to veteran mothers who are returning to work, currently employed, or pursuing degrees.
• Helping women veterans set SMART goals, create a working budget, and locate affordable childcare/housing.
• Delivering financial literacy and professional development education, employment opportunities, internship, and professional mentorship opportunities.
• Distributing critical cost-reducing baby supplies and essential household goods.
• Connecting women veterans to mental health, legal, and employment resources needed to maintain personal and fiscal stability.

In the last three years, we have served 4,400 unduplicated women and children through all of our programs and have witnessed the lasting positive impact on the lives of the women veterans and their families. Through our emergency financial assistance and childcare assistance specifically, we have served 401 women and children in Southern California. 95.5% of these clients have reported remaining in their home for at least 1-year following intervention, 93% maintained or advanced their employment and 99% of those enrolled in school remained in or completed their degree programs.

Today, women are serving in record numbers, representing more than 16% of active-duty military and 11% of veterans. While strides are being made to increase the representation of women in the military, the support services tailored to address the unique challenges faced by women veterans during their transition to civilian life still lag significantly behind. The needs within our women veteran community continue to increase simultaneously with the number of women serving in our military. As a result, we have experienced substantial programmatic growth and are aggressively seeking new partners to invest in our mission so that we may build capacity and continue to grow at pace with the needs of our women veteran community and their families.

Foundation for Women Warriors primarily serves women veterans who live in California or Virginia, with some services available to the national community of women veterans.