Have you heard of the Semper Fi Fund? Their mission is to help injured and ill service members and their families through medical and emotional recovery. They can provide assistance during hospitalization, home visits, therapies, and caregiver support. The Semper Fi Fund may be able to help your family!
How does the Semper Fi Fund help veterans?
The Semper Fi Fund has many resources that may include financial support, housing and transportation assistance, adaptive equipment, visiting nurses, mentorship, education and apprenticeships, unit reunions, counseling, sports and horsemanship programs, canine companions, caregiver support, and even programs for kids!
Bedside financial support
The Semper Fi Fund can help with grants to provide financial help for family needs during hospitalizations or rehabilitation. These funds can be used for travel and lodging costs, or childcare and other expenses. The goal is to ease the financial burden to help families focus on recovery.
Housing assistance
The Semper Fi Fund can help veteran families who have been unable to pay housing expenses due to injury or recovery costs. They may also help with modifications to make homes accessible for wheelchairs or other mobility devices. This is another way the Semper Fi Fund walks beside wounded veterans to increase their quality of life!
Adaptive transportation
The Semper Fi Fund goal is to help in veteran recovery, and one of the most practical ways is to make sure they have accessible transportation! The Semper Fi Fund may help with gas cards for travel to medical appointments, all the way to adaptive technology for vehicles! These may include vehicles with lifts, specialty wheelchairs, modified vehicle controls and more!
Adaptive equipment
The Semper Fi Fund takes advantage of new technology every day! Their grants may cover specialized equipment for those who cannot type, visual enhancement devices, specialty wheelchairs, therapy mattresses for injuries and burns, and even four-wheeler snowplows! These grants can help veterans return to the workforce and accomplish day-to-day tasks.
Visiting nurses
The Visiting Nurse program with the Semper Fi Fund is meant to bridge the gap between facility care and in-home care. Their goal is to help assess physical and wellness needs, as well as to make accommodations and modifications that may help in recovery. They can provide emotional support to the entire family unit.
Mentorship
Veteran 2 Veteran (V2V) is the Semper Fi Fund‘s mentorship program. It partners injured or ill veterans with service members who have successfully transitioned from military to civilian life. This offers veterans a unique opportunity to work one-on-one with someone who understands the military experience.
Transitioning to civilian life can be intimidating – and the V2V program helps pair veterans with someone to help with Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and paperwork. They can help connect with other services available locally and with resources for amputation injuries, PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, and more!
Education and apprenticeships
The Semper Fi Fund may be able to help remove financial barriers to finding a new career path! Training programs and college courses often entail books, fees, and other expenses that may not be covered by other veteran benefits.
Additional resources the Semper Fi Fund can provide is assessing which fields may be a good fit for service members and locating apprenticeship opportunities. They may help develop a training plan for vocational programs, college, or workshops. The Semper Fi Fund may be able to help with those expenses so that our veterans can focus on thriving in a new career!
Unit reunions
The Semper Fi Fund recognizes the unique shared experience of military units in combat. As part of their emotional and peer support goals, they may offer resources for unit reunions. This support may include travel assistance, lodging, activities, and more. Accommodations may be provided to Gold Star Families as well. There is zero cost to members to participate in a unit reunion.
Counseling
Along with the V2V mentorship program and in-home nurse wellness visits, the Semper Fi Fund may also be able to help provide counseling that may not be covered by other veterans benefits. This includes support for PTSD and traumatic brain injuries as well as a neurofeedback program to help with heart rate, gut-health, and sleep. The Semper Fi Fund also offers a series of mental health videos that may help you support a veteran you care about!
Sports and horsemanship programs
Have you heard of Team Semper Fi? Members may be eligible to receive adaptive equipment and coaching and to participate in competitive sports at levels from hobbyists to professional athletes.
Team Semper Fi offers a physical outlet in a supportive and accessible environment for veterans with visible and invisible injuries. Activities may range from triathalons, water and snow sports, fishing, bicycling, and team sports.
The Semper Fi Fund partners with the Jinx McCain Horsemanship Program for a unique therapeutic experience for veterans. Members may travel to United States cattle ranches to participate in activities tailored to their physical and riding abilities. Working with horses can help heal invisible injuries and restore confidence. The clinics may also include “cowboy crafts” such as woodworking, metalsmithing, leather work, and other skills that may lead to apprenticeship opportunities! The Semper Fi Fund may be able to help veterans continue to take horsemanship lessons closer to home!
Canine companions
Many service members know the comfort of canine companions during combat missions. The Semper Fi Fund can help place service dogs with wounded veterans, as well as provide financial assistance for the dog’s care during transition to civilian life. The dogs can provide emotional support as well as perform tasks for injured service members. They can be an important part in coping with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, anxiety, depression, and more.
Caregiver support
According to a Rand study, there are nearly 17 million caregivers in the United States! The Semper Fi Fund strives to help set up a good support system for veterans that includes family and caregivers. The Caregiver Support program includes retreats and activities, education and wellness resources, and support groups. The Semper Fi Fund can provide financial assistance to allow these Hidden Heroes to have much needed self-care breaks.
Skip’s Kids Program
The Semper Fi Fund includes kids too! The Skip’s Kids Program provides support for children of service members who are dealing with injuries or illness. There can be many challenges for kids who witness the medical and emotional aspects of recovery, including “secondary PTSD”. The program also includes support and resources for veteran families with children who are dealing with serious injuries or illness.
How do I get help from the Semper Fi Fund?
In the past 17 years, the Semper Fi Fund has provided $260 million in help to 27,000 veterans. Volunteers will often reach out during injury recovery and in coordination with the VA and military medical facilities. If your family could use help from the Semper Fi Fund, you can contact them at 760-725-3680 or via the Semper Fi Fund contact page.
More veterans resources
We’ve covered all kinds of services provided by the Semper Fi Fund: financial support, housing and transportation assistance, adaptive equipment, visiting nurses, mentorship, education and apprenticeships, unit reunions, counseling, sports and horsemanship programs, canine companions, caregiver support, and even programs for kids!
It can be confusing identifying different benefits and how to apply. Let us help with more resources, benefits, and discounts at our veterans resources page!
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!