Have you heard of the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund? Do you know of any Arizona families who might benefit from assistance? We’ve highlighted several ways that the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund may help qualified applicants!
What is the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund?
The Arizona Military Family Relief Fund is a resource to help service members and veterans who are facing financial hardships caused by military service. These include active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. The charity was established by the Arizona Legislature in 2007.
What can the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund help with?
The Arizona Military Family Relief Fund can help cover basic living expenses that may include housing and utilities assistance, furnishings, vehicle payments, insurance, childcare, and more. For military members facing long-term medical care, the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund can help with travel, lodging, and household expenses for families.
What expenses are not eligible?
Expenses that are not covered by the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund include: education, credit debts, personal loans, down payments, child support, legal fees, etc.
Requirements to receive Arizona Military Family Relief Fund assistance
There are some basic requirements to qualify for benefits through the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund. Additional eligibility requirements may apply.
- Service member must have deployed outside of the United States
- Service member must have Arizona residency
- Service member or family must be able to show financial hardship due to military service
- Veterans must have discharged under honorable conditions
What qualifies as Arizona residency?
- Service member claims Arizona as home of record
- Service member deployed from an Arizona military installation
- Service member is a member of the Arizona National Guard at time of deployment
- Service member is able to provide proof of established residency for at least 12 months
How do I prove 12 months of continuous physical presence in Arizona?
Documentation of continuous physical presence is required for a period of at least 12 months prior to application of assistance from the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund. This includes either a documented place of residence or a community service organization’s verification of homeless status.
Documents the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund accepts to verify residency:
- Lease or mortgage statements
- Property titles
- Utility bills
- Employment history documents
- Arizona state income tax returns
- College enrollment verification
- Department of Employment Security benefit summary
- Motor vehicle fee records
- VA blue button appointment report
- Medical records showing consistent appointments
- Community service organization verification letter
Financial hardship demonstration
Service members and veterans must demonstrate that current or past military service caused current financial hardship.
Family members may demonstrate that financial hardship is due to the service member’s current service.
Surviving families may request assistance if the service member died in the line of duty in a combat zone or a hazardous duty zone.
If financial hardship is due to injuries received in combat, medical documentation will help provide the information needed for the assistance application.
How much financial assistance is available?
Assistance requests are received by Military family Relief Fund committees. There are separate committees for service members who served prior to 9/11, and for those who served after 9/11. Single-use emergency assistance limited to $3,000 may be available from the emergency committee. There is a lifetime limit of $20,000 in assistance available to each family.
Military Family Relief Fund Emergency Committee
The Military Family Relief Fund Emergency Committee exists to quickly respond to emergency financial need requests. These requests are voted on within five business days and checks are typically issued within 5-10 business days for approved applications. The payments are made directly to vendors on behalf of applicants.
How do I apply for Arizona Military Family Relief Fund assistance?
The Arizona Military Family Relief Fund application is online and contains 28 questions. The form is able to be electronically submitted as well as attaching required documents online. The Military Family Relief Fund committee typically meets the third Tuesday of the month, with applications due a few days prior.
What documents are required to be submitted with my application?
In order to prevent any delay in processing your application for Arizona Military Family Relief Fund assistance, the following documents must be submitted:
- DD214 form (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty)
- Two months of bank statements
- Two months of employment pay stubs
- Bills that you are requesting help for
- Veterans Affairs decision letter and ratings
Other documents may also be required depending on why the financial assistance is being requested and for whom. This may include:
- Birth certificates
- Death certificates
- Marriage license
- Divorce decree
- Child support order
What if I’d like to donate to the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund?
The Arizona Military Family Relief Fund is unusual in that your donations may count dollar-for-dollar for tax credit. The charity fund has a $1,000,000 cap though, so only the first $1,000,000 in donations are able to receive this tax credit. Once the charity receives $1,000,000 in donations, the rest must be returned.
Get in touch with the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund
You may contact the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund at 602-255-3373, or email [email protected].
Their physical address is:
Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services
3839 N 3rd St. Suite 209
Phoenix, AZ 85012
You can find more information about the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund online.
We’ve covered several ways that the Arizona Military Family Relief Fund may be able to help you! Please check out our other military family resources for more!
Rachel Grayless
After 27 years in law enforcement and state Veterans Affairs agencies, I found myself working from home and looking for dollar-stretching resources. Government programs can be notoriously difficult to navigate and I'm happy to lend my experiences to make this easier for others!