Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) held an informational event in Coronado on April 23 to announce plans for its Capacity Building Campaign that will help fund expansion of their Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA) program for enlisted military members. One of a number of small social events, this gathering offered STEP staff the opportunity to share their story and present interested community members a pathway to join the cause through financial support, mission growth and various other means. Attendees included local representatives from the Coronado Chapter of the Navy League, two City Council Members, a number of retired military, local STEP board members and others interested in hearing about ways to support military families in need.
STEP was founded in 2012 to assist military families in crisis. CEO and Co-Founder Tony Teravainen, a former Navy submariner who spent 18 years in the civilian workforce as a strategy planner and process improvement expert, spoke to the crowd, sharing his story and the mission of STEP. Teravainen recounted his experience of reconnecting with military families through a volunteer organization that provided food and supplies to families in need. He wanted to do more than just assist families with quick fixes of food and monetary assistance, and really change the lives of families by helping them become self-sufficient and make behavioral changes to build financial independence.
“STEP wants to tackle the hard problems head-on, we want to help people in crisis get through the immediate crisis, but also change their behavior and build skills to make this their last crisis,” said Teravainen. “We don’t want repeat customers, rather we want them to be inspired to change behaviors to help themselves. Our team of social workers are all certified financial counselors and all have a military background, understanding the challenges of military life. These social workers are experts in helping people change their behaviors and guide them on a path to financial stability through goal setting, debt reduction plans and budget building tools.” Teravainen shared that STEP has had great success in helping families make changes and shared that only 3% of the families served have had to come back for financial support.
According to their mission statement, STEP builds financial self-sufficiency among junior active duty enlisted members, recently discharged enlisted Veterans and their families facing financial crisis through counseling, education, and emergency grants. Teravainen shared that “STEP is now delivering Emergency Financial Assistance in SoCal and Washington State, along with 36 other states on a space available basis. Military families, Veterans groups, and military leadership are asking us to serve more families. To manage this expansion, STEP will need to expand its cadre of professional social workers, as well as the associated operations and administration required to support them. We will also need to build the funding pipeline, and find suitable office space, to be able to support this larger, and growing, agency. To do this, we are entering a Capacity Building Campaign.”
Funds raised through the campaign will be used to grow the social worker staffing as they expand the program across the United States. To meet demand, Teravainen said that STEP needs to double their staff over the next three years. What started as an operation run by four employees at launch is now at 20 employees.
With core values of building relationships and respect, honoring patriotism and service to country and delivering results with excellence, STEP has had a meaningful impact on thousands of military families. STEP has been recognized locally and nationally for its success — being named the Nonprofit of the Year in 2022 by the San Diego Business Journal and ranked #30 nationally among charities that support military, Veterans and their families.
Former F/A 18 pilot and Commanding Officer of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, John Farnum, Col. USMC (ret), is a current member of STEP’s Board of Directors and gave compelling remarks during the event. Recently recognized as one of the Top 50 Nonprofit Board Leaders of Influence by San Diego Business Journal, Farnum is now the Chair of STEP’s capacity building campaign. He shared stories of his time in leadership in the Marine Corps and how important it is to make sure people are able to completely focus on their job.
“When service members are thinking about feeding their kids, or losing their home, or troubles at home, they can’t focus on their job and that is when accidents happen, and in the military that is when people die.” He joined the board because he wanted the opportunity to “help make strong, ready Marines and Sailors that can deploy and get the job done. At the end of the day that is what STEP does.”
At the conclusion of the event, details were provided on the campaign and how people can get involved. STEP’s goal is to raise $6.5M and they have successfully raised more than half of that money so far. One major donor, the Walter J. and Betty C. Zable Foundation has offered to match donations up to one million dollars as STEP works to reach their goal. To learn more, visit the website for information on supporting their efforts.
There are a number of programs STEP manages to support service members in immediate need. Each month, STEP hosts a distribution event where essential items such as food, diapers, hygiene items and more are made available to military personnel, veterans, reservists, members of the National Guard, and their families. This month the inflation response warehouse distribution event was held at MCAS Miramar on Thursday, April 25. For future events visit TEAMSTEPUSA.org.
