The MOAA Foundation Crisis Relief Program
Thank you for your interest in applying for a Crisis Relief grant from The MOAA Foundation. Please review the following information carefully, as it pertains to your eligibility and responsibilities for grant award consideration. If you are eligible based on these criteria, you may apply for a Crisis Relief Grant here.
Please note: Due to increased demand and an influx in applications, application processing will be delayed. We are working as quickly as possible to review and judge all eligible applications.
To access the application
Who is Eligible?
The Crisis Relief Program offers financial assistance to those falling under one or more of the below categories: Currently serving (including National Guard and Reserve), spouses of currently serving, veterans (with an honorable discharge), surviving spouses (whose spouse held an honorable discharge), and caregivers of the same who are experiencing financial setback due to an unexpected current crisis. Open to all ranks and U.S. uniformed services.
Due to extremely limited funding, we will only accept applications from veterans, surviving spouses of veterans, and caregivers of veterans whose discharge is either Honorable or General Discharge Under Honorable Conditions. We cannot accept the following discharge statuses:
What We Help With?
Applicants experiencing a crisis by natural disaster deemed a national emergency by their local City or State and are experiencing extreme financial hardship as a result of this crisis. We welcome those experiencing any unique crisis situations so long as specific information is provided when applying. The crisis in which an applicant is submitting an application for must have occurred no more than 6 months prior to the date of the application submission.
*We will not assist with legal fees or child support payments.
Additional Information
Ensure you have thoroughly read through these instructions and all points within the application. Failure to provide necessary information and complete responses in your application will result in your application being incomplete and it will not be considered.
If it is determined that your application is incomplete, you may submit a new and complete application. You will be alerted of your application’s outcome via email once it is reviewed.
If awarded, these grant funds can only be provided to one individual per household. Applications submitted multiple times if already awarded funds will be disqualified. Once a decision has been made regarding an application, The MOAA Charities Team will send you an email via SurveyMonkey to confirm the decision.
For auditing purposes, if you are awarded a grant, you MUST upload into your applicant portal, a copy or copies of any bills you have paid as a result of receiving grant funds from The MOAA Foundation’s Crisis Relief Program in the entirety of the grant you were given. This proof must include what was purchased/paid for, the date the item(s) were paid for, name of the applicant, the company in which the purchase or bill is for, and the amount paid (Ex: If you are awarded $500, we require proof that you used this $500 to pay for what you noted needing assistance with in your application). This proof of use of funds must be uploaded in SurveyMonkey within 30 days of receiving grant funds.
Note: that processing and response times may vary depending on demand, but our team is working hard to process requests.
Grant Disbursement
Once awarded a grant, applicants will be required to set up a separate account with our disbursement platform, Tipalti, in order to receive grants.
REMINDER: MOAA will NOT ask you to provide your Social Security number or bank information over the phone or in response to an email. DO NOT provide this information unless asked for through a secure link or via SurveyMonkey. A MOAA staff member will only ask for this information and provide you a secure link to send if you are being awarded a grant, and the request will come directly from relief@moaa.org.
Please email relief@moaa.org or call the MOAA Member Service Center at (800) 234-6622 if you feel uncomfortable about a request and would like to verify authenticity, or if you have any questions about the program.
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MOAA cares! A professional organization that knows how to respond to the immediate and caring needs for its members and nonmembers, especially faced with the challenges of Covid-19. A great team of professionals that are friendly and ready to assist. No other organizations are as responsive.
Crisis Relief Program
When the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, countless individuals found themselves in unimaginable situations. Individuals across the nation required assistance accessing healthcare, maintaining secure housing, paying for their utilities, providing childcare, and much more.
While relief organizations quickly stepped up to assist those impacted by the pandemic, The MOAA Foundation followed suit and established a temporary COVID-19 relief fund. From March 2020 to October 2021 TMF distributed emergency financial relief grants to help people in the uniformed services community pay their rent/mortgage, secure food, seek healthcare, attend critical job training and much more.
The pandemic opened our eyes to how vulnerable members of our community are when any type of disaster strikes. While other veteran service organizations strive to provide meaningful assistance, the red tape requirements and lengthy process often leave many vulnerable members of our community in need. Thankfully, post-pandemic employment opportunities are abundant, but homeless or at-risk veterans who were previously unemployed need financial assistance with down payments for apartments, utilities, and car repairs to be employable.
In addition, unpredictable natural disasters like wildfires, earthquakes, and winter freezes generate many requests for help from those who find themselves with no power, broken water heaters, frozen pipes, and more. The need for assistance was even more acute in these instances.
There is a gap in this type of support for over 83% of veterans. In many cases, support for military spouses, caregivers, or surviving spouses is not available from military service relief societies. Active duty servicemembers often are reluctant to ask for help from military service relief societies and often don’t qualify for certain relief. More than 12 million veterans without a disability rating have virtually no support.
The MOAA Foundation Crisis Relief Program will assist uniformed services personnel, veterans, and their families in crisis – in the wake of natural disasters, catastrophic events, and other emergency situations. Areas where a state of emergency has been declared will receive funding priority and additional circumstances will be judged on a case-by-case basis.
Priority will be given to those not eligible for support from military service relief societies: veterans who didn’t serve a full career, those without a VA disability rating, caregivers, and surviving spouses.
Similar to the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Grants, The MOAA Foundation will provide grants to those deemed eligible for assistance for support in the following categories:
