Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time once again for Miami Valley View. This is where
we talk about all kinds of great things happening in
the Miami Valley. And I'm here with my friend Jerry
from Blue Star Families. Jerry, nice to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, nice to see you. Thank you so much for
having me on this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
We are very very passionate about Blue Star Families. We're
very passionate about military families here in the Miami Valley,
and you guys just launched a survey this week that
is now out there and we are really really encouraging
if you're listening now and you're a military family or
you know somebody who's in an Ohio military family, that
(00:36):
you participate in this survey. It's very important.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, it's very very important. You know, as we were
talking earlier. It's been really the foundation of Blue Star
Families since we launch Blue Star Families in two thousand
and nine, which has a goal of connecting our military
families with their civilian neighbors, you know, because we believe
that strengthens our community. So it's really important that our
(01:01):
military and our veteran families tell us what their life
is like on an annual basis because that really is
the information that we can go out and share with
our community partners, our government and elected officials and other
folks to help garner that understanding of what their challenges are,
(01:22):
what's working, what's not well.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
You mentioned, as we've talked about this before, that there
might be food and security is going on, there might
be housing issues. And this is a survey that unfortunately
over the last several years because we launched this area
in twenty twenty, right, which of course was in general
a very difficult year, but that our area is kind
(01:45):
of underrepresented. So we're trying to really really get the
word out there to please encourage folks to fill out
this survey. So you guys at Bluestar families do have
real feedback on what's going on in their lives.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yes, yeah, So historically since twenty twenty, we've had a
roughly an estimated two hundred families who who have or
two hundred respondents. I guess I should say to the survey,
we definitely want to ramp that up. We know there's
other military families, veteran families out there. You know, Ohio
is I believe in the top five of veteran population
(02:22):
somewhere between seven hundred thousand maybe maybe more, and so
we we need to hear from those families. I always
say that Ohio's like the salad bowl of military families
because you know, we we have we have all the
all the all the mixings of a salad when it
comes to military families. I mentioned the the high population
(02:44):
and veteran families. I feel that is because we do
a really good job here of responding to our our
family's needs. And they just love Ohio in general, right,
so they so when they're done serving, they they they
come back and so so that probably we just do
things right here, I think, but we need to hear
(03:05):
from them. And then we have the Air Force Base,
which is the largest employer in Ohio, and you know,
obviously there's active duty families that are serving there. They're
here two three years and then they and then they
have to leave and go to another duty station. You know,
they're always arriving. Right now, we're in PCs season, so
(03:27):
that stands for permanent changes stations. We have new families
coming in, which is which is really important because we
we want to know, we want to capture you know,
what was that? What was that? Move, like, what challenges
did you have? Are you having housing issues like so
many things, military spouse unemployment, are you, you know, do
(03:47):
you have a transferable uh career that that's making that
you know, a smooth transition, or are you you know,
going to have to start all over and find and
find new employment. So that's really important because I was
just reading here and it's and last year our Ohio
families told us that seventy four percent of them responded.
(04:12):
The respondents seventy four percent of them have two incomes,
which is vital to their stability financially and financial structures
has always been at the top of our top five
concerns in the survey every year, So it's really important
that we know that so we can go out and
share that with our community partners.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So Blue Star Families to just kind of reset for
a second. Is all about connecting the military families with
the community and kind of making them feel a part
of the Dayton area. We don't want, right pat to
seem like just this oasis that is, you know, sheltered
off from everything else. We want them to feel like
(04:53):
they're a part of the community. And this survey will
help tell you how they're feeling about it and what
the challenges are.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yes, absolutely, I believe we I shared with you before
before we you know, started this conversation that fifty percent
of our military families in Ohio felt a sense of belonging.
We need to we need to make that higher, right.
We we need to get to one hundred percent. We
want them all to feel a sense of belonging. And I,
(05:22):
you know, I'm glad you mentioned that because I was
just talking with one of our military spouses UH a
couple of weeks ago. She she received word that her
and her family had to PCs to another location in Florida,
and there is no Blue Star Family chapter there. We
have two chapters in Florida, one in UH Tampa and
(05:44):
one in Jacksonville, but this particular part there isn't There
isn't a chapter there. And she told me, she said, Jerry,
I don't know what I would have done without Blue
Star Families, because you kept me from being isolated. Otherwise
I probably just would have, you know, if we and
had your programming and all your fun activities and your
support and all the things, I would have probably just
(06:05):
stayed at home. Yeah, and I'm happy to report that
once they're done there, they're going to come back. So
that's really important, right. We don't want our families to
not feel a sense of belonging. We want them to
be part of a community, a broader community. And you know,
our civilian neighbors are a vital piece of what we
(06:27):
do because you know, there are community partners, there are volunteers,
there's so many things that they are critical to helping
ease that feeling.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
So if somebody's listing right now and they're like, okay,
you guys are talking about this survey, I want to
fill it out right now, even though we're only part
way through our conversation here, let everybody know where they
need to go to fill that survey out.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
They need to go to blue starfam dot or I'm sorry,
blue starfam dot org slash survey and join the neighborhood
and take the survey and you know, become part of
our family, become part of our community.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
All right. So that's it's very easy to remember Blue
starfaan dot org slash survey and we are obviously encouraging
everybody to fill this out right now. You said it
might take between ten and twenty minutes, but then you're
really getting I like how you said the other day,
kind of a lens into their life and what stuff
(07:27):
they really need some assistance on.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yes, Yes, this survey does a really good job of
capturing a lot of things. And I should say too
that it's more than just questions. There's an opportunity towards
the end where you can share your other thoughts in
an open ended question. So those are really important because
maybe there's something in there that that or something in
(07:51):
the survey that didn't capture your true you know, you
can go more in depth. I guess this is what
I'm trying to say. Yeah, your your true experience, you
know what, maybe there's something else that it didn't capture
that you want to share with us that you feel
is important, and so those those are really great opportunity
for you to do that as well.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And the other thing we should mention too about Blue
Star Families, because I've been a part of it last
fall and we'll be doing it again this year is
something like the block party, because you guys, obviously this
survey is very very important. Right now, it stays open
till I think you said June eleventh. Yes, And so
you've got a couple of weeks to do it. But
obviously if you don't do it now, then you're going
to forget about it. So do it. I always say,
(08:33):
do it while you're thinking about it. But also you
do great events throughout the year to help bridge the community,
and you know, in the military, things like the block party.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yes, yes, we do. You know, we do a few things.
One that I will highlight that is tied to the
block Party is Blue Star Welcome Week. This year, it
runs the twenty seventh of September through October fifth, so
it always goes from Saturday to Sunday throughout that whole week.
Usually it's the last week of September, but this year
(09:05):
it's a little a little different, so we're going into October.
But it's dedicated to those families. Over the course of
a PCs season, when families are moving from one duty
station to another. It's an estimated six hundred thousand families
that are on the move nationwide. I actually I should
say globally, because we have we have bases across the country.
(09:28):
It's not unheard of for family to come all the
way from Japan to to Dayton. It's not unheard of
for a family to go from Dayton to Hawaii or
Dayton to you know, some other location overseas, so it's
there there. There are a lot of challenges with that, right, moving, employment, childcare, housing,
(09:51):
like all of the things. And so Blue Star Welcome
Week is dedicated to welcoming those families and the ones
that are already here to come together through variety activities,
whether it's the Black Party or some other activity, and
we get together with our community partners and they host activities. Uh,
(10:11):
last year we did with Franklin City Schools. We I
had a I write me a skit because I am
not I am not a playwright. Not I'm not a
play right, So thank goodness for for chat. GPT did
a good job. But but we literally had six hundred
(10:37):
plus kids grades three through six, and we we selected
a couple of brothers who were active children of active
duty family and a couple of their civilian classmates and
up on stage with some teachers and we did a
whole skit about why it's important to welcome them and
(10:57):
and befriend them and you know, really get to know
them and support them because their journey is different. Right,
they could have just moved here within the last few months,
and it could have been you know, by the time
they're in sixth grade, it could have been their fourth
or fifth school. So it's really important to welcome these
(11:17):
families and get them around their community that supports them,
lets them feel welcomed and all the things.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
We have about three minutes left is what is one
of the things that you've found, let's say, from last
year's survey that kind of surprised you. Is there anything
that kind of jumped out like, oh wow, how was
it expecting that?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's a really great question. I think the
best answer to that would be, you know, over the
last few several years, especially since we launched this chapter
in twenty twenty, one of the things that I've always
cared about is making sure that our families have enough
food on their table. Historically, these numbers have ranged, you know,
(12:05):
one in six, one in four military families are feeling
food insecure, and you know, I feel like we do
a really good job here in our community addressing that
we have our nurse the service initiative that we do
every year, and I think just looking at these numbers
from last year, you know, seventeen percent of our families
(12:28):
reported that they've used a food bank or some sort
of food distribution service, and and I really would love
to get get that number down. But then I also
wonder is there more families that we haven't heard from
that are experiencing this. It's really important to let us know,
(12:48):
and you can do that. This is your time to
be heard, share your voice. So if you are out
there and your military family or your veteran family and
you haven't you haven't heard of Blue Star families, or
maybe you have and you're just like, oh, you know,
I don't need to fill out that survey.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yes, please fill out the survey, please dose please.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yes, you do. Every voice counts and we need to
hear from you, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
So yeah, well, as we start to wrap up here,
so again, if you missed it earlier, you're just tuning
in now. This is a survey that will help Blue
Star families, you know, connect you more in not only
in the community, and also find out what your needs are.
So it's it's been sort of underrepresented the last couple
of years in this area, so we're really encouraging every
(13:39):
military family or if you know a military family, please
tell them to go fill out this survey. So in
the last sixty seconds or so here just give everybody
the quick rundown of what they got to do for
that survey.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yes, so you need to go to bluestarfam dot org
slash survey and you will just go. It'll take you
right to the survey and you'll complete that. And then
I encourage you to go to the neighborhood, the Blue
Star Family Neighborhood online and join and get involved. Join
our Daton in Southwest Ohio chapter and get involved.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
All right, Jerry, Well, thank you so much for doing
great work here in the community. And we really want
everybody to fill out this survey. And I understand that
if we hit the goal of three hundred, at least
three hundred families, that you are going to take a
pie in the face at the block party in September.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I am I am banana cream. But it has to
be banana cream.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
It has to be banana cream. Ye, not like what
about a good BlackBerry pie. It's like no, no, probably hurt.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
And all over you, yes, yes, yes, hard.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
To clean up. Well, that's well, I hope you know. Obviously,
we're hoping for three hundred. I'm hoping for five hundred.
So let's let's get it there once again. You could
fill out the survey. It's live now through June eleventh.
Blue starfam dot org slash survey Jerry, Thank you so
much for Blue Star Families.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Thank you, thank you so much
Time once again for Miami Valley View. This is where
we talk about all kinds of great things happening in
the Miami Valley. And I'm here with my friend Jerry
from Blue Star Families. Jerry, nice to see you again.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Yeah, nice to see you. Thank you so much for
having me on this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
We are very very passionate about Blue Star Families. We're
very passionate about military families here in the Miami Valley,
and you guys just launched a survey this week that
is now out there and we are really really encouraging
if you're listening now and you're a military family or
you know somebody who's in an Ohio military family, that
(00:36):
you participate in this survey. It's very important.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, it's very very important. You know, as we were
talking earlier. It's been really the foundation of Blue Star
Families since we launch Blue Star Families in two thousand
and nine, which has a goal of connecting our military
families with their civilian neighbors, you know, because we believe
that strengthens our community. So it's really important that our
(01:01):
military and our veteran families tell us what their life
is like on an annual basis because that really is
the information that we can go out and share with
our community partners, our government and elected officials and other
folks to help garner that understanding of what their challenges are,
(01:22):
what's working, what's not well.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
You mentioned, as we've talked about this before, that there
might be food and security is going on, there might
be housing issues. And this is a survey that unfortunately
over the last several years because we launched this area
in twenty twenty, right, which of course was in general
a very difficult year, but that our area is kind
(01:45):
of underrepresented. So we're trying to really really get the
word out there to please encourage folks to fill out
this survey. So you guys at Bluestar families do have
real feedback on what's going on in their lives.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yes, yeah, So historically since twenty twenty, we've had a
roughly an estimated two hundred families who who have or
two hundred respondents. I guess I should say to the survey,
we definitely want to ramp that up. We know there's
other military families, veteran families out there. You know, Ohio
is I believe in the top five of veteran population
(02:22):
somewhere between seven hundred thousand maybe maybe more, and so
we we need to hear from those families. I always
say that Ohio's like the salad bowl of military families
because you know, we we have we have all the
all the all the mixings of a salad when it
comes to military families. I mentioned the the high population
(02:44):
and veteran families. I feel that is because we do
a really good job here of responding to our our
family's needs. And they just love Ohio in general, right,
so they so when they're done serving, they they they
come back and so so that probably we just do
things right here, I think, but we need to hear
(03:05):
from them. And then we have the Air Force Base,
which is the largest employer in Ohio, and you know,
obviously there's active duty families that are serving there. They're
here two three years and then they and then they
have to leave and go to another duty station. You know,
they're always arriving. Right now, we're in PCs season, so
(03:27):
that stands for permanent changes stations. We have new families
coming in, which is which is really important because we
we want to know, we want to capture you know,
what was that? What was that? Move, like, what challenges
did you have? Are you having housing issues like so
many things, military spouse unemployment, are you, you know, do
(03:47):
you have a transferable uh career that that's making that
you know, a smooth transition, or are you you know,
going to have to start all over and find and
find new employment. So that's really important because I was
just reading here and it's and last year our Ohio
families told us that seventy four percent of them responded.
(04:12):
The respondents seventy four percent of them have two incomes,
which is vital to their stability financially and financial structures
has always been at the top of our top five
concerns in the survey every year, So it's really important
that we know that so we can go out and
share that with our community partners.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
So Blue Star Families to just kind of reset for
a second. Is all about connecting the military families with
the community and kind of making them feel a part
of the Dayton area. We don't want, right pat to
seem like just this oasis that is, you know, sheltered
off from everything else. We want them to feel like
(04:53):
they're a part of the community. And this survey will
help tell you how they're feeling about it and what
the challenges are.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yes, absolutely, I believe we I shared with you before
before we you know, started this conversation that fifty percent
of our military families in Ohio felt a sense of belonging.
We need to we need to make that higher, right.
We we need to get to one hundred percent. We
want them all to feel a sense of belonging. And I,
(05:22):
you know, I'm glad you mentioned that because I was
just talking with one of our military spouses UH a
couple of weeks ago. She she received word that her
and her family had to PCs to another location in Florida,
and there is no Blue Star Family chapter there. We
have two chapters in Florida, one in UH Tampa and
(05:44):
one in Jacksonville, but this particular part there isn't There
isn't a chapter there. And she told me, she said, Jerry,
I don't know what I would have done without Blue
Star Families, because you kept me from being isolated. Otherwise
I probably just would have, you know, if we and
had your programming and all your fun activities and your
support and all the things, I would have probably just
(06:05):
stayed at home. Yeah, and I'm happy to report that
once they're done there, they're going to come back. So
that's really important, right. We don't want our families to
not feel a sense of belonging. We want them to
be part of a community, a broader community. And you know,
our civilian neighbors are a vital piece of what we
(06:27):
do because you know, there are community partners, there are volunteers,
there's so many things that they are critical to helping
ease that feeling.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
So if somebody's listing right now and they're like, okay,
you guys are talking about this survey, I want to
fill it out right now, even though we're only part
way through our conversation here, let everybody know where they
need to go to fill that survey out.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
They need to go to blue starfam dot or I'm sorry,
blue starfam dot org slash survey and join the neighborhood
and take the survey and you know, become part of
our family, become part of our community.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
All right. So that's it's very easy to remember Blue
starfaan dot org slash survey and we are obviously encouraging
everybody to fill this out right now. You said it
might take between ten and twenty minutes, but then you're
really getting I like how you said the other day,
kind of a lens into their life and what stuff
(07:27):
they really need some assistance on.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Yes, Yes, this survey does a really good job of
capturing a lot of things. And I should say too
that it's more than just questions. There's an opportunity towards
the end where you can share your other thoughts in
an open ended question. So those are really important because
maybe there's something in there that that or something in
(07:51):
the survey that didn't capture your true you know, you
can go more in depth. I guess this is what
I'm trying to say. Yeah, your your true experience, you
know what, maybe there's something else that it didn't capture
that you want to share with us that you feel
is important, and so those those are really great opportunity
for you to do that as well.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
And the other thing we should mention too about Blue
Star Families, because I've been a part of it last
fall and we'll be doing it again this year is
something like the block party, because you guys, obviously this
survey is very very important. Right now, it stays open
till I think you said June eleventh. Yes, And so
you've got a couple of weeks to do it. But
obviously if you don't do it now, then you're going
to forget about it. So do it. I always say,
(08:33):
do it while you're thinking about it. But also you
do great events throughout the year to help bridge the community,
and you know, in the military, things like the block party.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Yes, yes, we do. You know, we do a few things.
One that I will highlight that is tied to the
block Party is Blue Star Welcome Week. This year, it
runs the twenty seventh of September through October fifth, so
it always goes from Saturday to Sunday throughout that whole week.
Usually it's the last week of September, but this year
(09:05):
it's a little a little different, so we're going into October.
But it's dedicated to those families. Over the course of
a PCs season, when families are moving from one duty
station to another. It's an estimated six hundred thousand families
that are on the move nationwide. I actually I should
say globally, because we have we have bases across the country.
(09:28):
It's not unheard of for family to come all the
way from Japan to to Dayton. It's not unheard of
for a family to go from Dayton to Hawaii or
Dayton to you know, some other location overseas, so it's
there there. There are a lot of challenges with that, right, moving, employment, childcare, housing,
(09:51):
like all of the things. And so Blue Star Welcome
Week is dedicated to welcoming those families and the ones
that are already here to come together through variety activities,
whether it's the Black Party or some other activity, and
we get together with our community partners and they host activities. Uh,
(10:11):
last year we did with Franklin City Schools. We I
had a I write me a skit because I am
not I am not a playwright. Not I'm not a
play right, So thank goodness for for chat. GPT did
a good job. But but we literally had six hundred
(10:37):
plus kids grades three through six, and we we selected
a couple of brothers who were active children of active
duty family and a couple of their civilian classmates and
up on stage with some teachers and we did a
whole skit about why it's important to welcome them and
(10:57):
and befriend them and you know, really get to know
them and support them because their journey is different. Right,
they could have just moved here within the last few months,
and it could have been you know, by the time
they're in sixth grade, it could have been their fourth
or fifth school. So it's really important to welcome these
(11:17):
families and get them around their community that supports them,
lets them feel welcomed and all the things.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
We have about three minutes left is what is one
of the things that you've found, let's say, from last
year's survey that kind of surprised you. Is there anything
that kind of jumped out like, oh wow, how was
it expecting that?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Yeah, yeah, that's a really great question. I think the
best answer to that would be, you know, over the
last few several years, especially since we launched this chapter
in twenty twenty, one of the things that I've always
cared about is making sure that our families have enough
food on their table. Historically, these numbers have ranged, you know,
(12:05):
one in six, one in four military families are feeling
food insecure, and you know, I feel like we do
a really good job here in our community addressing that
we have our nurse the service initiative that we do
every year, and I think just looking at these numbers
from last year, you know, seventeen percent of our families
(12:28):
reported that they've used a food bank or some sort
of food distribution service, and and I really would love
to get get that number down. But then I also
wonder is there more families that we haven't heard from
that are experiencing this. It's really important to let us know,
(12:48):
and you can do that. This is your time to
be heard, share your voice. So if you are out
there and your military family or your veteran family and
you haven't you haven't heard of Blue Star families, or
maybe you have and you're just like, oh, you know,
I don't need to fill out that survey.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Yes, please fill out the survey, please dose please.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Yes, you do. Every voice counts and we need to
hear from you, you know.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
So yeah, well, as we start to wrap up here,
so again, if you missed it earlier, you're just tuning
in now. This is a survey that will help Blue
Star families, you know, connect you more in not only
in the community, and also find out what your needs are.
So it's it's been sort of underrepresented the last couple
of years in this area, so we're really encouraging every
(13:39):
military family or if you know a military family, please
tell them to go fill out this survey. So in
the last sixty seconds or so here just give everybody
the quick rundown of what they got to do for
that survey.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Yes, so you need to go to bluestarfam dot org
slash survey and you will just go. It'll take you
right to the survey and you'll complete that. And then
I encourage you to go to the neighborhood, the Blue
Star Family Neighborhood online and join and get involved. Join
our Daton in Southwest Ohio chapter and get involved.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
All right, Jerry, Well, thank you so much for doing
great work here in the community. And we really want
everybody to fill out this survey. And I understand that
if we hit the goal of three hundred, at least
three hundred families, that you are going to take a
pie in the face at the block party in September.
Speaker 2 (14:28):
I am I am banana cream. But it has to
be banana cream.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
It has to be banana cream. Ye, not like what
about a good BlackBerry pie. It's like no, no, probably hurt.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
And all over you, yes, yes, yes, hard.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
To clean up. Well, that's well, I hope you know. Obviously,
we're hoping for three hundred. I'm hoping for five hundred.
So let's let's get it there once again. You could
fill out the survey. It's live now through June eleventh.
Blue starfam dot org slash survey Jerry, Thank you so
much for Blue Star Families.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Thank you, thank you so much
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.