Navy Community, Navy Spouse and Family Resources - Navy Times

OneSource a great place to get info

We hope you've heard about Military OneSource by now. But have you taken advantage of it?

We've been telling spouses about this resource for some time, especially how you can get six free, confidential, face-to-face counseling sessions through the service. We've been impressed by the information and resources available on the Web site, such as online self-assessments and free audiotapes on stress, free TurboTax software and free home baby-proofing kits.

But we didn't grasp the overarching help that this service can provide.

What led us to check it out further was a comment by a Marine spouse at a recent workshop. As we brainstormed her dream of pursuing a degree, ideas flew, including how to research grants and scholarships.

"Well, that's great," she said, "but that in itself can be a full-time job, doing that kind of research, and I'm fully loaded with work as it is during this deployment."

At that, another woman piped up. "Call Military OneSource, and they'll do the research for you," she said.

We were incredulous, but she said that's what she had been told at a briefing the previous week -- that Military OneSource "will research grants and scholarships based on your specific situation."

It's true, according to the Defense Department, which gave us examples of other kinds of information individuals have asked Military OneSource to provide.

Here's a sample:

• Child-care availability in a particular area. Counselors can supply a list of providers on and off base.

• Reports that provide teacher/student ratios and SAT scores of schools near a particular base.

• Exceptional family member services available in an area.

The list goes on: where to go for car repairs; information on parenting issues; advice on landlord/tenant disputes; relationship problem-solving; tips for dealing with relocation stress; adoption assistance; help for gambling addiction or eating disorders; and availability of pet care, to name a few.

Families also can get a ZIP code-based report with information about the community they are in or moving to.

This service is available online or by phone 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It solves the problem of family members who work and can't access 9-to-5 services available on base. The consultants who answer phones all have master's degrees, and the service can be used anonymously.

Military OneSource is available to active-duty, National Guard and reserve members (regardless of status), their family members and installation helping agencies, as well as Defense Department civilians based overseas.

In the U.S., call (800) 342-9647; overseas, (800) 3429-6477; overseas collect, (484) 530-5908. Overseas access codes are online at www.militaryonesource.com.

This is a wonderful gift available to those of us married to the military. Be sure to use it -- often!

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Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer are military spouses who have written articles and presented workshops based on their research and experiences for more than 10 years. Send your questions and suggestions to marriedtomilitary@atpco.com.