This quarter, we are delighted to recognize Foundation for Women Warriors volunteer Cynthia Trevino! Cynthia learned about FFWW as a member of the San Diego chapter of Connected Women of Influence, a B2B women’s professional organization and network of professional support, advocacy, partnership, and alliances. Cynthia, a published author, speaker, marketing content mentor, and entrepreneur, has offered her many talents to Foundation for Women Warriors to help us empower the lives of women veterans. You can learn more about how she works with women entrepreneurs here. https://shemarketsmentor.com/blog/
Cynthia began volunteering as a mentor during our Connect with Community workshops, lending her expertise and experience to transitioning active duty and veteran women. Her unique outlook as a civilian in the marketing industry and professional coaching experience made her a popular and successful mentor among our women veteran workshop attendees.
Military Family Roots
Cynthia feels right at home with our veterans because she grew up in a military family. Her late dad served in the US Navy for 27 years including deployments in WWII, Korea, and in an aviation ordnance role aboard ship during Vietnam. Cynthia’s mom, Hope, had a driver’s license as a 19-year old, unusual for women at the time, so she was thrilled to be accepted into the Women’s Army Corp. Assigned to a base in Montana, Hope drove flight crews to and from their planes for combat operations during the last two years of WWII. A huge benefit for Hope, who hadn’t been able to complete school, was that thanks to the GI Bill, she attended a vocational school, and became a bookkeeper. Cynthia’s husband served in the USMC for four years, including a combat tour in Vietnam.
As you can see, Cynthia was drawn to our mission of serving women veterans and their children for solid reasons. She learned that women veterans are the fastest growing segment of the military veteran population. Historically, women veterans have had a tougher time accessing traditional military veteran benefits than have their male counterparts.
Childcare Challenge
The reality is, many women veterans are also single moms. That means they must maintain a stable home for their kids, while balancing the demands of starting and finishing a college education or finding and completing career training.
Add to that, the challenge of locating, being accepted into, and then paying for affordable, quality childcare. While childcare costs are skyrocketing across the US, California’s are among the most expensive. Single parents in our state use about 60 percent of their income to pay infant care costs, according to a recent article from CNBC. The reporting also shows that the annual cost to place a four-year-old in a reliable childcare center is $11,202.
Because the need for childcare is so crucial as women veterans balance roles of student, employee with that of single moms, FFWW provides a Childcare Assistance program. FFWW ensures that women veterans don’t have to choose between paying for childcare and rent or leaving work or school for extended periods to care for children during school breaks. You can find more about how we assist women veterans with childcare financial support here, https://foundationforwomenwarriors.org/childcare-assistance/
Like our sponsors, donors, and volunteers, Cynthia realized the need to support women veterans as they build lives after military service, is great and growing. She knew she had to contribute her time and talents. Since then, Cynthia has continued to help Foundation for Women Warriors by lending her talents to our marketing and social media efforts. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Cynthia for her hard work!
Are you interested in becoming a mentor to women veterans or lending your talents to support our organization? Please contact us to learn more about volunteer opportunities with Foundation for Women Warriors!
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Source linked above at CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/16/these-are-the-10-most-expensive-us-states-for-childcare.html
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