Bob Woodruff Foundation Releases New Data That Shows Many Veterans Across the Country Aren’t Receiving the Services They Need

The Foundation surveyed 130 veteran serving organizations nationwide to understand critical gaps in care

2023 Survey Key Findings:

• Only about 30% of the organizations surveyed said they can meet the need for mental health services their clients require
• Only about 15% of organizations surveyed say they can satisfy the need for emergency financial assistance
• Only 27% of organizations surveyed said their community can fully address their clients’ need for food and nutrition assistance
• Only 18% of partners said they can meet the transportation needs of their military and veteran population

The Bob Woodruff Foundation has released their latest publication The Got Your 6 Network:  Quantifying and Addressing Veterans’ Needs in 2023. The Report confirms that, for many communities, the urgent needs of the military and veteran community exceed the services available. This is especially true for services addressing mental healthcare, physical healthcare, housing, emergency financial assistance, food, and transportation.

The findings are collected from 130 Got Your 6 Network partners nationwide. The goal is to identify key needs among the local service members, veterans, their families and caregivers, and the extent to which the community-based organizations are able to meet these needs. The responses reflect the needs of service members and veterans who seek assistance from local organizations.

Needs have increased since 2021, and the capacity of service providers is generally not keeping pace with those needs. For example, compared to 2021 results, the 2023 results showed that:

• more organizations indicated that many or almost all their clients presented with basic needs and communities’ capabilities to address those needs stayed roughly the same
• more organizations are reporting that many or almost all of their clients face health-related needs, and the percentage of communities unable to satisfy those needs has increased significantly.
• the percentage of communities that do not have a partner that can address veterans’ legal needs has not improved.

“Our survey results revealed that many of our nation’s veterans and service members have significant challenges that aren’t being addressed,” explained Anne Marie Dougherty, CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation. “With this information, we can identify trends and pinpoint ongoing and evolving needs. Ultimately, we use this information to prioritize our focus. We invest where the needs are greatest and where we can make the most significant impact in our veterans’ lives.”

The Got Your 6 Community Survey is a biennial assessment for partner organizations. The Survey aims to identify strengths and areas for improvement in the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s extensive community-based partner network. The Got Your 6 Community Survey asks about the extent to which community-based organizations receive requests for specific services. It also looks at the extent to which communities can address those needs. The 2023 survey received a 94 percent response rate. The the 2021 and 2019 surveys received a respective 91 percent and 81 percent response rate.

The 2023 Got Your 6 Community Survey was made possible from the generous support of the Craig Newmark Philanthropies. 

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About the Bob Woodruff Foundation
The Bob Woodruff Foundation was founded in 2006 after reporter Bob Woodruff was wounded by a roadside bomb while covering the war in Iraq. Since then, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has raised awareness about the tough challenges veterans and military families are facing, and invested in solutions to help support them in the next chapter of their lives. To date, the Bob Woodruff Foundation has invested over $159 million to ensure that our nation’s veterans, service members, and their families — those who stood for us — have stable and successful futures. Visit www.BobWoodruffFoundation.org for more information.

About Craig Newmark Philanthropies
Craig Newmark is a Web pioneer and philanthropist, best known for creating the online classified ads service craigslist. Craig’s full-time philanthropic work focuses on organizations on the frontlines of protecting America’s security and democracy. He has given more than $300 million in support of veterans and military families, trustworthy journalism and civic engagement campaigns, cyber security education programs, hunger relief, and pigeon rescue. Craig was influenced by his Sunday School teachers who escaped the Holocaust, set his moral compass, and taught him to treat people like you want to be treated – and how to know when enough is enough. He stepped away from the day-to-running of craigslist almost two decades ago, but he still occasionally volunteers as a customer service representa