Operation Homefront

Military Child of the Year Awards

Now in its 14th year, the Military Child of the Year® Award reflects the positive impact that these impressive young people have made on their military families, their schools, and their communities.

Operation Homefront has named the eight recipients of the esteemed 2022 Military Child of the Year® Award, the nation’s premier recognition of the outstanding achievements of our military children. Congratulations to all of the amazing winners of the 2022 Military Child of the Year® Award.

About the Awards

The annual awards recognize eight outstanding young people ages 13 to 18. Of those, seven will represent a branch of the armed forces — the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard, and Space Force — for their scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, extracurricular involvement, and other criteria while facing the challenges of military family life. The eighth award is the Military Child of the Year Award for Innovation presented by Booz Allen Hamilton. This award goes to a military child who has designed a bold and creative solution to address a local, regional or global challenge.

All eight Military Child of the Year® Award recipients will be flown with a parent or guardian to Washington, D.C., to be recognized at the April 2022 gala, during which senior leaders of each branch of service will present the awards. They also will receive $10,000 each, a laptop computer, and other donated gifts.

Learn more about Military Child of the Year | Download the pdf

Programs

Relief, Resiliency, and Recurring Family Support

Through Operation Homefront’s programs, military families can access crisis and transitional housing relief, regain resiliency and receive recurring family support, which works together to help them become stronger, stable, and more secure.

Learn more about their programs

Relief Programs

Critical Financial Assistance

Service members deserve the peace of mind that comes with knowing their family will not have to weather an urgent financial crisis alone. Operation Homefront’s Critical Financial Assistance program helps military families address critical financial shortfalls.

Learn more about Critical Financial Assistance | Download the Critical Financial Assistance pdf

Transitional Housing (Villages)

Operation Homefront’s Transitional Housing (Villages) are designed to enable families to heal together while bridging what can be a lengthy gap between military pay ending and veteran benefits beginning, or when veterans’ disability claims are reviewed and received.

Learn more about Transitional Housing

Transitional Homes for Veterans Program

For many veterans and their families, the transition to civilian life can be a challenge. Some do not have the funds for the down payment on a home or they are unable to sustain home ownership.

In 2018, Operation Homefront launched the Transitional Homes for Veterans program, which offers families the opportunity to live in a rent-free, single-family home for a period of two to three years while receiving financial counseling and community support.

Learn more about Transitional Homes for Veterans | Download the Transitional Homes for Veterans pdf

Resiliency Programs

Permanent Homes for Veterans

The Permanent Homes for Veterans program prepares veterans and their families for homeownership by providing a mortgage-free home and the opportunity to work directly with Operation Homefront caseworkers and financial counselors and learn how to prepare for homeownership.

Since the program began in 2012, more than 700 families have entered the PHV program. Of that group, 650 families have graduated from the program and have been deeded their homes, mortgage-free.

Learn more about Permanent Homes for Veterans

Veteran Caregiver Support

Operation Homefront’s Veteran Caregiver Support program has more than 75 support groups nationwide and provides vital peer-to-peer support for caregivers of our wounded warriors. Since the 9/11 terror attacks, more than two million Americans have served in overseas combat zones. Tens of thousands have returned home with severe physical injuries and devastating psychological wounds, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Learn more about Veteran Caregiver Support

Recurring Family Support Programs

Homefront Celebrations

Homefront Celebrations are a special night out, just for military spouses, hosted by Operation Homefront at various locations throughout the U.S. each year.

Join us as we eat, laugh, share stories about life and gain new insight and perspective. Make new friends over a fabulous catered dinner, hear from a motivating guest speaker, and have a fun and relaxing evening.

Learn more about Homefront Celebrations

Star-Spangled Babies

Homefront Celebrations are a special night out, just for military spouses, hosted by Operation Homefront at various locations throughout the U.S. each year.

Since 2008, Operation Homefront has provided critical baby supplies to more than 19,000 military new and expecting moms! In most locations, the families who participate have deployed service members, wounded service members, and other junior and mid-grade service members and their families.

Learn more about Star-Spangled Babies | Download the Star-Spangled Babies pdf

Back-to-School Brigade®

Back-to-School Brigade® is Operation Homefront’s annual nationwide school supply collection and distribution campaign. Since its inception, Operation Homefront has distributed over 465,000 backpacks to military children saving military families nearly $50M in school expenses. Operation Homefront and Dollar Tree Inc. have joined forces for 13 consecutive years to collect and distribute school supplies for military children.

Learn more about Back-to-School Brigade | Download the Back-to-School Brigade® pdf

Holiday Meals for Military

The added expense of the holiday season can be challenging for military families. Operation Homefront recognizes that many military families are separated during this time due to deployments and others travel long distances to be together. Holiday Meals for Military is Operation Homefront’s way of saying thank you for the service and sacrifices that you have made for our country! To date, through our great partnerships with Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., Food Lion, Procter & Gamble, and others, our Holiday Meals for Military program served 600,000 individual family members.

Learn more about Holiday Meals for Military | Download the Holiday Meals for Military pdf

Holiday Toy Drive

Operation Homefront’s Holiday Toy Drive helps bring holiday cheer to military families! We have partnered with Dollar Tree for more than a decade in order to provide military families with recurring support during the holidays.

Learn more about Holiday Toy Drive

Start Strong, Stay Strong Program

Our nation’s military families deserve every opportunity for a bright future and to know that all are grateful for their dedicated service to our country.

Start Strong Stay Strong is designed to bring much-needed attention to the challenges that military families face throughout their service to our country and to provide tangible ways for Americans to support them.

We are proud to launch this initiative with P&G. Our aim is to change the lives of those who serve our nation and their families.

Join us in creating impact.

Together we will help create the stability, connections and comfort that our military families deserve to start strong in their community and stay strong for their family in the process.

Learn more about Start Strong, Stay Strong

Video

Hear from military families that have been helped by Operation Homefront's programs and services.

Watch the Video

Impact Report

For twenty years, Operation Homefront has provided programs that offer relief, resiliency, and recurring family support, with programs and services throughout the year.

Read the report