Arizona Coalition for Military Families

The following program was awarded grants as part of the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s second 2020 Expedited Grants Portfolio, addressing urgent needs related to COVID-19.

Be Connected

Service Area: Flagstaff, Arizona

Arizona is home to over half a million veterans, service members, and their families. With 27.5 percent of the workforce employed in five key industries likely to be most affected by COVID-19, BWF recently highlighted Flagstaff as one of 15 communities facing significant economic impact due to the pandemic. From March 15 to June 2, 2020, over 600,000 new unemployment claims were filed across the state. The Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona has been hit especially hard by COVID-19, and by the end of May had the highest infection rate per capita in the United States, surpassing New York and New Jersey. The Arizona Coalition for Military Families is a collective impact initiative, and a BWF Local Partner, working to build Arizona’s capacity to support veterans, service members, and their families statewide. The Be Connected program uses an upstream approach to address social determinants of health to prevent crisis and suicide. This NFL-BWF Healthy Lifestyle and Creating Community (HLCC) grant will provide financial relief to 100 veterans living in Flagstaff, the Navajo Nation, and the surrounding communities, ensuring that they sustain housing and access to basic needs such as food, firewood, transportation, and medicine.