HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – One group of essential federal workers received paychecks on day 15 of the U.S. government shutdown.
Nearly 50,000 active-duty service members and reservists in Hawaii and their families got some relief, after the Trump administration reshuffled about $8 billion in unspent Pentagon funds to pay troops and National Guard members.
“We got paid today. I saw it hit the account and it was a good feeling. It’s not something that I ever thought I would have to have a sigh of relief for, but it was a big sigh of relief,“ said Michelle Bowler, who lives on Oahu with her military service husband and 5 children.
Spouses say they dodged a bullet this time, but know the war on Capitol Hill is far from over. They plan to hunker down and lean on each other to get through the uncertainty.
“A lot of my friends and I have been talking about how we’re kind of gearing up for the long haul. And, and we’ve been talking and sharing budgeting tips and who has what in their freezer,” Bowler said.
Bowler found some much-needed support at a MilSpouseFest conference at Schofield Barracks today, where more than 200 military spouses, many with keiki in tow, connected with each other and learned about free resources.
“Our service members were paid today and that’s wonderful. We also know that this could continue. What does that look like, you know, as we approach the 1st?” said military spouse Jessica Manfre.
She is military events manager of Recurrent Ventures, which organizes a series of free events on bases across the world that offers resources, workshops, diaper and supply giveaways, and in-person connections.
“That’s what this kind of community does for each other. They always show up,“ said Recurrent Ventures’ director of partnerships Tessa Robinson. ”It’s so daunting, especially for our introverts out there, to show up to an event where you don’t know someone and to come and to say, I want to meet somebody, I need an emergency contact for school, or I need a battle buddy, or I just need a neighbor and a friend, it’s so powerful.”
The mission is to build resilience, through friendship, career development, mental health and financial tools. One in 5 military families struggle with food insecurity.
“Encouraging people to know what your resources are. That includes every relief society for every branch, where are your food pantries, Stronghold Food Pantry is a national organization that will connect you with ambassadors or other local food pantries,“ Manfre said.
As the spending bill stalemate drags on, Bowler has this message to lawmakers, “Please stop using us as a political tool. It happens every few years no matter who’s in charge, and these are very real people who are already sacrificing a lot for our country, and it just is insulting, it’s insulting to be used this way.”
“These men and women who hold down the home front, a lot of times, far from family, far from friends, especially on an island, it can feel a little bit lonely so making sure that they have that in-person connection is really, really important and the resources to support them,” Robinson said.
Here are some resources:
- Hawaii Food Bank works with a network of more than 225 agency partners on Oahu and Kauai.
- Military Family Advisory Network delivers active duty military families a free bag of groceries and commissary gift card.
- Stronghold Food Pantry connects families to ambassadors and other local food pantries.
- USAA offers financial Support including no-interest loans.
- Military STAR card holders can purchase groceries at the commissary until October 31 with no payment and no interest for three months.
- The National Diaper Bank Network connects and supports more than 240 community-based diaper banks across the U.S. that collect, store, and distribute free diapers to struggling families.
- Military OneSource offers confidential non-medical counseling, financial coaching, tax services (MilTax) and other family support.
- Military and Family Life Counseling (MFLC) offers mental health support
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