San Diego’s Support the Enlisted Project Expands Beyond the West Coast, Serving More Families Across the U.S.

Over the last year, Support the Enlisted Project (STEP) has expanded into two new states, purchased a new national headquarters building in San Diego, and secured partnerships with multiple mental health agencies to expand their services, but they’re not done yet. The nonprofit’s vision is to grow to have their Financial Wellness Counseling program available to all young military and veteran families across America over the next decade.

“For the past 13 years, we’ve had the privilege of helping more than 9,500 military families regain financial independence, rebuilding their confidence and giving them the skills they need to find stability,” says Tony Teravainen, CEO and co-founder of STEP. “Every time I hear stories of families who have been able to pull themselves out of financial despair permanently with the help of STEP’s program, I feel more inspired to continue our mission and keep growing so we can help even more families.”

For veterans like Jaquette Edwards, STEP has been a safety net for her family. “I had reached a point where, if I didn’t scrounge up the money to pay my bills, I’d be out on the street. I’ve got too many kids to be homeless,” says Edwards, who served as a Petty Officer 2nd Class in the U.S. Navy and was a newly minted veteran for about a year before contacting STEP. “STEP didn’t just keep me and my kids from being homeless; they gave me hope. For the first time since I got out of the military, it felt like I could breathe easy, like finally my finances were stable.”

Jaquette’s story is one shared by thousands of STEP clients. Every day, enlisted servicemembers, veterans, and their spouses representing all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, come to STEP seeking a financial lifeline, one that STEP is happy to extend. The nonprofit organization provides financial social work services to these families in financial crisis. They receive one-on-one financial counseling from social workers with financial credentials to improve their financial wellness through counseling, education and, if needed, financial support to restore or retain basic necessities.

Through STEP’s services, families receive support during their crisis in a process designed to make this their last. The counseling restores their hope that they can take control of their financial situation, and are coached to modify behaviors and build a financial plan to achieve a future they desire. Financial coaching lasts for a year as clients grow and institutionalize their new behaviors.

Since its inception in 2012, STEP has helped 9,500 military families and distributed more than $3.2 million in grants to active-duty servicemembers and veterans through its Financial Wellness Counseling program, which maintains a 90% success rate at improving financial wellness, and only 3% of STEP’s clients have needed to return requesting additional financial support for a subsequent crisis.

Looking Toward the Future, Bringing More Services to More Families
This fall, STEP will move into its new national headquarters, purchased as part of their Capacity Building Campaign. Located in Carol Canyon Business Park (8320 Juniper Creek Ln., San Diego, CA 92126), the new space secures their long-term occupancy costs and houses their growing team here in San Diego. The official ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 4.

The expansion of STEP’s service area was made possible by the private funding support received during its recent Capacity Building Campaign, which has raised $5.85 million to date. Over the past year, the organization has grown sufficiently to extend its Financial Wellness Counseling program to all of California, Oregon, Washington, and, as of this month, Hawaii. This increases their client base by 40% this year alone, from 181,334 to 256,545 military families, with similar growth for its veteran client base.

The expansion into Hawaii is a progression of STEP’s strategic plan and was welcomed by the military leadership and families in the state. With the clear demand signal, the expansion was made possible through financial support granted by Hawaii’s Nakupuna Foundation and USAA.

With services across its current four-state region stabilizing, STEP will next focus on securing the funding needed to expand its proven Financial Wellness Counseling program remotely into the seven additional western states, with the exception of Colorado. This state will be targeted to have a physical presence by STEP in or around 2028. The current expansion model will also put a physical presence by STEP in Texas in 2030, and then continuing a mix of remote and physical services across the nation.

In addition to the service area expansion across the west coast, STEP has national partnerships with suicide prevention agencies, including Stop Soldier Suicide, PsychArmor, and Face The Fight, to offer its financial social work in parallel with their clinician’s suicide prevention programs. This is a natural partnership as the high stress brought on by financial insecurity and chronic financial stress are the leading contributors to suicide. With these partnerships, STEP is able to employ its Financial Wellness Counseling in tandem with mental health clinicians as the programs complement each other to increase successful outcomes for all parties.

Additionally, STEP will continue working to strengthen its relationships with existing and complementary military and veteran service providers that could realize benefits from STEP’s Financial Wellness Counseling program. These partnerships will allow STEP to expand its impact beyond its own physical growth to other parts of the nation, while bringing increased value to the families served by the partnering agencies.

“STEP was founded on the core value, to ‘Do What is Right.’ So, while we only guarantee our counseling services in California, Washington, Oregon, and now Hawaii, we regularly receive requests for service from outside these areas, and I just hate to say ‘no’ when I can find a way to ‘yes,'" says Teravainen. Over the past four years, STEP has served more than 900 families across 45 other states with the same 90% success rate. “We want to continue to serve all families who need us, and with support from our growing communities, we can guarantee our services to meet this demand.”

Supporters can help STEP by donating directly to its Capacity Building Campaign, which directly funds expanding the geography that STEP serves. Community members can also volunteer at STEP’s San Diego or Tacoma warehouses or at one of their monthly warehouse distributions, where they distribute food, diapers, clothes, toys, and more to military families in need. The warehouse is always accepting donations, particularly everyday household goods like canned food, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and other daily necessities. To learn more about STEP or get involved, visit teamstepusa.org.

ABOUT SUPPORT THE ENLISTED PROJECT (STEP)
Support The Enlisted Project (STEP) is in its 13th year serving young military and Veteran families facing financial crisis. As a nonprofit, community-funded agency, STEP has positively touched more than 290,000 military lives and boasts a 90% success rate at permanently changing financial behaviors among the 9,500 families served through its Financial Wellness Counseling Program. The organization’s future 10-year strategy is to expand and serve more families across the United States.

Follow STEP on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and visit TeamSTEPUSA.org for more information on how to support and get involved with the organization.