Support The Enlisted Project Inc

Improving financial wellness to combat food insecurity, homelessness, mental health conditions, suicide and other crises through counseling, education, and financial support for enlisted service members, Veterans, and their families.

In 2012, a group of board members, committed to doing the right thing for our young military families, disaffiliated from a national organization. This freed them to adjust their program to best fit our local Southern California community. The new organization became STEP.

We decided to serve our military’s lowest paid population of the first six pay grades (E1-E6 ranks) of all branches of service, expand our client base to include transitioning Veterans, and work to guide our military and Veteran families to a lifetime of financial self-sufficiency.  We also recently added the new service region of the state of Washington.

With this shift in focus, STEP developed our main Financial Wellness Counseling (FWC) Program [formerly the Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA) Program] to meet the needs of our military families.

Since STEP’s inception in 2012, we have assisted nearly 10,000 service members, Veterans, and their families through our Financial Wellness Counseling (FWC) Program. 87% of our clients report they are on-track with their financial goals and 85% of our clients increase their financial well-being, based on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s scale. To date, we have provided $3+ million in financial assistance to stop the loss of critical basic needs. We have stopped 715 home evictions, halted 583 utility shut offs, ceased 649 auto repossessions, provided more than 1,000 families with emergency food; and so much more.

In 2019, STEP launched a new initiative under our FWC Program - Eliminating Military Food Insecurity (EMFI). This initiative is designed to addresses the food crisis among our community’s young military families. We hired a new Social Worker to manage the initiative, work with our food distribution partners, and counsel service members, Veterans, and their families one-on-one who are struggling with food insecurity.

STEP serves regions in the United States with high concentrations of military families. There are more than 125,000 active duty service members stationed in Southern California and more than 62,000 stationed in the state of Washington. Far too many of our brave service members and their families are struggling financially.

STEP’s top five pressing needs reflect the urgent challenges facing the military and Veteran communities we serve:
- Increased demand for our Financial Wellness Counseling Program - $75,000 annually to meet the rising requests for counseling and emergency support.
- Additional Social Worker - $85,000 to add an additional social worker to our team, expanding capacity and reducing caseloads.
- General Operating Support - unrestricted funds to maintain infrastructure, cover rising costs, and ensure consistent delivery of life-changing programs. These needs directly address food insecurity, housing stability, and financial wellness for service members, Veterans, and their families.
- Capacity Building Funds - to close the gap and pay off our loan for the purchase of our new building. We are working to raise the remaining $2.5M which will enable us to successfully reach our goal and remove expenses from our budget, allowing these funds to directly benefit the clients we serve.

STEP provides our services throughout California, Oregon, and Washington state.

I became involved with this organization in 2009 as a volunteer to lead the long-term strategy development initiative with the Board of Directors. I worked with the board for five years, including a term as Chairman before changing my career path and becoming President & CEO in 2014.

I have dedicated myself to this cause because I know the hardships that exist within our military community. I grew up in a military family, which included moving 11 times and attending eight different schools. This is where my full understanding for military life comes from. I joined the Navy Submarine Force and served 8 ½ years before I was given an abrupt medical retirement, closing the door to the only life I had ever known. Now, when I see a young child in our office, when I look into the face of a military spouse, when I hear a service member or Veteran tell me, “It’s hard, but I’m trying,” I know exactly what they mean. I see my parents, my siblings, my former shipmates, and my kids in their eyes. I want to help them get through their financial hardship, lead them to a life of financial well-being, and take all that I have learned to make the life of those around me better.

At STEP, we believe financial hardship does not need to exist within our military community. We can provide the financial literacy, counseling, and support to make the low-income wages of service members work in high-cost regions. We are a safety net for the young military and veteran families residing in the region who fall through the cracks of the military and government systems. STEP's services are unique and unduplicated. We are here every day to help our young military families when they face an unexpected financial crisis. We intervene, stop the loss of critical basic needs, and provide professional financial counseling to help them get on a path to financial well-being.

STEP is also dedicated to serving our veterans who are transitioning out of the military. We ensure they are financially supported during the critical first 18 months as they transition back to civilian life. It takes new veterans 30 to 45 days to receive their last military paycheck, six to eight weeks to receive unemployment compensation, six to 12 months to get VA support, and four months minimum to get their Gl Bill. The number one need for veterans is housing. STEP has stopped more than 715 home evictions for service members and veterans. More than 85% of the individuals we serve increase their financial well-being. I am proud of the work we do, in partnership with our generous community.

- Tony Teravainen, USN (ret)