Honoring Heroes: Semper Fi and America's Fund's Lifetime of Support

This week’s educational episode showcases the incredible work of Semper Fi and America's Fund, an organization that has been providing vital support to service members, veterans, and their families for over 20 years. At the heart of this organization is Sondria Saylor, the Executive Vice President, whose personal connection to the military community runs deep.

Sondria's connection to the military began in 1984 when she became an active-duty spouse. In 2003, she saw the challenges faced by wounded service members returning from Iraq and knew action was needed. Along with other military spouses, Sondria met medevacs at the hospital, providing essentials and comfort to these brave individuals. This grassroots effort grew into the Semper Fi and America's Fund, which has provided over $500 million in support and programs to 33,000 service members across all branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Sondria's dedication to the mission of Semper Fi and America's Fund is truly inspiring. Through comprehensive case management and lifetime support, she and her team ensure that service members, caregivers, and their families receive the care and resources needed to navigate recovery and reintegration. Semper Fi and America's Fund serves as a beacon of hope and community for those who have sacrificed for our country, offering caregiver retreats, sports programs, and holiday celebrations.

About Sondria:

Sondria is the Executive Vice President of Semper Fi & America’s Fund, where she oversees Case Management for the Western Region, Communications Operations, and the Apprenticeship, Jinx McCain Horsemanship, and Veteran to Veteran (V2V) Programs.

Before her current role, Sondria was Vice President of Case Management in the Western Region from 2014 to 2021, Senior Director of Case Management from 2005 to 2014, and Director of Donor Operations from 2004 to 2005.

Sondria’s connection to the military began in 1984 when she became an active-duty spouse. From its early years in the 1980s until 2004, she was involved in the evolution of Marine Corps Family Readiness, serving as Key Volunteer Advisor to the 1st Marine Division.

As Key Volunteer Advisor in 2003, she worked alongside Karen Guenther to support returning wounded at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton, which led to the creation of Semper Fi & America’s Fund.

Sondria’s contributions to Family Readiness earned her induction into the US Field Artillery Honorable Order of Molly Pitcher in 1993. In 2007, her work with Semper Fi & America’s Fund was recognized by Cookie Magazine with the 1st Annual Smart Cookie Award, honoring women making a difference.

Raised and educated in Fairfax, VA, Sondria has extensive experience in small business ownership and management. She has been married to her husband Ben, a retired Marine Colonel, for 38 years, and they have two adult sons.

Transcript

Natalie: 0:00

Hey guys, it's your favorite, sisters with the Confessions of a reluctant caregiver. Show. On the show, you'll hear caregivers confessing the good, the bad and the completely unexpected. You're guaranteed to relate, be inspired, leave with helpful tips and resources, and, of course, laugh. Today's episode is part of our special series, heroes caring for heroes. We're featuring organizations who offer services and support to our hero caregivers. Now let's listen in as we learn more about these amazing organizations. Hey,

Unknown: 0:33

Jay, hey, Natalie,

JJ: 0:35

how are you today? I

Natalie: 0:36

am swimming

Unknown: 0:37

right along like Nemo, kind of like NEMA, but probably a bit more like Dory. Oh, that's

Natalie: 0:43

a little wild. I'm

JJ: 0:43

more like a Nemo with like that little fin. I'm just kind of just kind of keep swimming, and you're like,

Natalie: 0:49

Yeah, I

JJ: 0:50

really feel like I am Dory. But Dory gets lost a lot. Do you get lost?

Natalie: 0:54

I think we both know I'm a little flighty.

JJ: 0:59

And you know what? We're off topic, because today is another educational episode for heroes. Caring for heroes, my favorite series.

Natalie: 1:06

I do love it. I mean, we love the caregiving youth series. We love all of our kids, right? We love our our hero series because it highlights our active duty members and veteran caregivers, yeah, and these are individuals who are really typically the behind the scenes. People don't see as much, although they are caring and supporting those individuals and to help them live back their best lives. And so we're super grateful. We've got some amazing spots

JJ: 1:37

we do not we've got CVS health this year. We have tena, they're the number one incontinence brand in the world. We also have summit behavioral healthcare. We have care forward and a huge list of other partners. Yeah, go to the website, because you've got to see this great list

Natalie: 1:53

well. And you know, I don't think there's any reason to delay now that we've identified who's Dory and his Nima Nemo. Yeah. So I think let's, we're here to talk about, you know, our today's educational episode is around Semper Fi and America's fun. And I had never heard of them before, and I had several people when we were kind of reaching out to folks saying, who would be a great organization to highlight, because these highlighting these organizations. There's so many out there. I think there's about 45,000 give or take nonprofit organizations who serve the military community and our veterans. And I'm pretty sure simplify and America's fund is one of the top rated. Yeah. So why don't you tell us a little bit about it, and then we'll get in with Sandra, because she's she's here to tell us all

JJ: 2:46

the D all about it. Well, I'm going to tell you we are excited to have with us, Sandra Saylor, and she is the Executive Vice President of Semper Fi and America's fund. Sandra's association with the military began in 1984 when she became an active duty spouse, and she enlisted at that time too. That's what we say, as the key volunteer advisor of the First Marine Division in 2003 she worked with and assisted Karen Gunther in support of returning wounded at the Naval Hospital at Camp Pendleton, which was the inception and origin of the Semper Fi and America's fund 2003 so the fund now provides a one on one case management connection and lifetime support for all branches of the US armed forces. Now it actually formed in 2004 and it has provided more than 500 million. That's an EM, yeah, million in financial support and programs, program services to are you ready? 33,000 service members. Wow,

Unknown: 3:49

yeah, okay, I can't wait to hear all right, so

Natalie: 3:52

excited to have you. It's time. I feel like we should say, Oh yeah, oh yeah. Is it? Is it? Say it. Please do it for us, because you're a marine wife.

Unknown: 4:03

Oh no, I'm not going to do it. So it is hard

JJ: 4:06

for us. You've got it, yeah? Well,

Natalie: 4:08

I know I have a friend of mine who I went to high school with, a lot of friends, actually, that were in the Marines, and so they near and dear to our heart, but we love all of our branches, Air Force, you know, Army, Navy, the new one, space, space force. I like that one. And then the Coast Guard, and then all the folks who are supporting, especially in North Carolina right now, who are the guard. And so really appreciate all of our service members do. Yeah, let's talk about simplify and America's fun

Unknown: 4:42

for sure. Well, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. I thought it'd be nice just to tell you a little bit about how we started. Yeah, that would be great. Okay, awesome. So it was 2003 and Karen Gunther was a nurse out here at Camp Pendleton in Southern California. Yeah. And she saw just service members coming back on the medevacs. And I think as a country, we were not prepared for that. Service members were coming back, a lot of women, the same uniforms they were injured in, and they just, they were arriving at the hospital. And she saw that there was just, they just needed basic needs. You know, we needed things like T shirts, and at that time, it was phone cards and things like that, just basic things that you need when you're in the hospital. So all of our husbands had deployed. They were in Iraq during the initial invasion, and she called a group of spouses together. We lived on base together. We were friends. We'd work together, and she called a group of us together, and we would go down to camp, pilching, to the hospital at all hours of the night, and we would meet the medevacs, and we would chip in money. And I just remember this one time we were trying to get 10 gift bags together. So we would go to Walmart and just, you know, stuff those gift bags with all the things that you may need while you're in the hospital. We would go down and meet the medevacs and and sometimes we would run out to McDonald's and, you know, get them cheeseburgers and things like that, just so that they had a nice meal when they arrived at the hospital. And that was really the beginning days of the fund. And then a year later, 2004 we became a nonprofit, and we've been helping for 20 years now. We just celebrated our 20 year anniversary in May. Wow,

Natalie: 6:32

that's that is so impressive. You know a friend of mine again, again. Know a lot of folks in the military, their Navy on the East Coast, here in Virginia, and you know, I think about the friendships that she has with the fellow spouses While their husbands are gone and have the support, and they're always what I've found is so many spouses are so committed to wanting to support one another while their their spouses may be on tour or out of area, doing training. But also, how do they help the community and those coming back? And, I mean, this is just a beautiful story, wonderful thing that you guys are doing, that you as spouses, said, let's get this started, having formed into a nonprofit, yeah. So you know, I know that one of the most, most unique aspects of the fund is that you can provide support, not only for the veterans, but for the whole family. So can you tell us more about the support you provide families and caregivers?

Unknown: 7:34

Sure, I think you know, there's so many. Of course, I love the fund because I've been with the Fund for so long, but one of the beautiful things about the fund is that from the time a service member arrives at the hospital, they're connected with one of our case managers. And our case managers are military spouses, and they're located across the country, and we even have them overseas, in Germany and in Japan and so forth. And those case managers are there to meet the service member, meet the family members and get connected. And the beautiful thing is, the service member family members stay connected with that case manager from the time they're in the hospital, but then throughout their recovery. So it's, you know, it's five, it's 10, it's 15. Years later, they're there to support them, and they meet, they listen to them, and they're there to meet their needs. And so whatever that may look like, we try to reach out and take care of them.

JJ: 8:33

Well, I am just I think it is amazing that you have been with the fund since inception. I mean, that is some, that is dedication. What are some of the main changes or challenges you have seen

Unknown: 8:48

caregivers? I would say, you know, what we're seeing with our caregivers is there's a lot of there's a lot of fatigue. For many of them. They've been doing it for years now. They're tired. We're seeing PTSD, not only for the caregivers, but also for the children. And what we try to do in the fund is, you know, we take care of the service member, we also take care of the caregivers and and the children too.

Natalie: 9:13

So, and I know that a recent RANS survey came out with connected to the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, I believe, in 2014 was the most recent survey that they reported about 5.5 million caregivers supporting our active duty and our veterans. The it literally came out like hot off the presses, I believe, a week ago, and that number has jumped up to 15 point 4 million caregivers. And so I think, you know, we know that in the follow up report to that was that there's close to 90 plus million caregivers in the US alone. And so I think about, you know, a lot of people, I think that number still. Still under, underscored or underrated, because most caregivers don't identify as caregivers, and so I don't know how much you guys are seeing that. If you're seeing care cover and caregivers self identifying more as they come up for support, or they are you guys seeing them still identifying as I'm a spouse, I am a I'm a child. I'm a child or adult child of this person, this loved one. Are you seeing a change in the way that people are self identifying and who they're supporting their loved ones?

Unknown: 10:33

I think what we do see so, you know, we see caregivers as spouses, children, and then, of course, there's a lot of parents that are caregivers. And you know, we not only help those that are combat injured training accidents, but we also help service members that have life threatening illnesses, such as ALS, Cancer, things like that. And yeah, they have a lot on them. Yeah, absolutely,

Natalie: 11:00

well. And I think the more support I know that benefits have been significantly increased with the caregiver support program. We just had the VA representative from the benefits administration on talking about a lot of different benefits. So I think, you know, I'm sure that you guys partner with the VA to try to provide as much kind of whole person support, which includes the family and the caregiver. I think that's again, such important work that you guys are doing. So what types of kind of getting back on questions here, what types of educational resources or training does the fund offer to caregivers and veterans to help them navigate their roles more effectively?

Unknown: 11:41

So when we bring we we love to do caregiver retreats. So we can do those across the country, and when we do them, we like to bring in guest speakers. We have presenters that talk about things such as stress management, nutrition, good gut health, how to get a good night's sleep, meal planning, you know anything that's going to help? We know that it's important for the caregivers to stay healthy so that they can take care of their loved ones. So we're always looking for good resources, good presenters to bring in and talk about those things.

Natalie: 12:16

And Jay, what other

JJ: 12:18

Well, that was, yeah, are there other programs I saw that you guys do educational resources as well, but other programs that you all

Unknown: 12:24

offer, we do. So we have lots of programs in the fun. One of them is we have team simplify, which is our sports program. And that's just, that's one of our wonderful programs that we love so much. And again, we are hosting events across the United States. So all year long, we have events that are in person, but we also have virtual events for those that are maybe in remote areas. We do lots of events for children. We have back to school events where in the summertime, where they get a backpack filled with goodies and things like that. And then we do holiday parties where we're taking care of our loved ones. So lots of events across the United States, and those are hosted by our case managers. And some of those might say, some of those two might even be things as simple as, you know, budgeting and things like that too. So we have educational events, but then we also have just events that are just for the families.

JJ: 13:28

You know, I've heard several times that you mentioned a lot of interaction with kids. Sandra, why do you feel like that's so important now? Like, what are you seeing with these kids?

Unknown: 13:39

Right? I think that, you know the children, the children go through a lot, and even the young, even when they're young, and I think that's a lot to take in. You know, when you you go and you meet your your mom or your dad, and they're at the hospital, initially injured, and there's a lot of internal stress, things that children are dealing with. And so we know that that there's, there's a need there too. So we try to make sure that we're given that whole circle of support to the family

Natalie: 14:12

well. And I think, you know, we know that caregiving youth at this point are, there's not a lot of programs for them. Rather, it's through the VA. I know that the VA doesn't recognize caregivers under 18. That was something we learned about with our youth caregiving series, and that's not a hit, because there's only one national organization, the American Association of caregiving youth, that supports that is specifically looking at children and adolescents as caregivers, and I think that you guys kind of stepping in to try to help fill that gap, to support those youth towards positive youth development. Helps them to have to it offers them normalcy. It offers them a sense of normalcy, especially for children. You know you you married into the. Greens as an adult, you knew what you were getting into in general. You knew that you might be traveling a touch. You might move a touch, but, you know, children growing into it, and you know, I'm sure how many times, if you don't mind me asking, have you guys moved?

Unknown: 15:17

So I think last time I asked my husband, we were trying to add it, because you have been at it. It was 28 Wow. And so

Natalie: 15:26

that's, that's what I mean. So it's, it's in and if you, if you have children, do you have children? If you don't mind me asking, we do? We had to. Okay, so if you have children, I'm sure that they were also like, they're, they're used to moving, whereas everybody else, the civilian children, stay the same, typically, for the most part, or they, or they might have a mover too. So Right? You know, I think that is what you guys stepping in to fill that gap for those youth are so important, and it offers them stability and give gives them a little bit more knowledge. Me too. Yeah, all right. And so let me ask you this, as we approach the holiday season, I do love the holiday. I

Unknown: 16:08

do too, but I play Halloween.

Natalie: 16:09

I know, um, we know, though, that this can sometimes be a stressful time for families. Lord, help us all. We all know the holidays are stressful. Are there any tips you would have for caregivers going into this season, or are there ways that the fund provides additional support, especially during the holidays? It's, it's hard.

Unknown: 16:30

It really is. And I think that, I mean, it is a stressful time, isn't it during the holidays. So what we our case managers, what they do is they, they stay very connected during the holidays. So really, starting about November through December, we are doing even more events. We do lots of holiday parties, and we find that when we bring our service members and family members together, that's just a great way for them to reconnect and to recharge. And then one of the beautiful things that happens at those holiday parties or any of our events, really, is they meet service members that are in their area and other family members, so that they make those connections. And we see these friendships form all the time, and that's just that's a beautiful thing, and that's just a great way, I think, just to stay connected, because that helps with stress, too, as we know. So those are, that's one of our I love that we do all these holiday parties, and when doing them, we even have virtual ones again, for those that are remote, and we make sure that we're spoiling them. You know, the children are all getting stockings filled with goodies, and we do door prizes all night long, and they get a wonderful dinner. So yeah, doing great

JJ: 17:44

sounds like respite. It does sound like respite. Well, you know, one of the other things that I love about all the interaction that you have is so many times for and I know it's the case with military, but it's also the case with justice. In civilian life, as a caregiver or having someone that's been injured, you can be so isolated. And to have that kind of friendship, fellowship is what I call it, but to be engaged with other people that may be going through the same thing that you are that's so important, and especially for the kids coming together with you know, their mom or dad may have been out of the country. They have that that sameness, got that same life experience. I think that's just fantastic. I love that so question, because we always we hear about these great organizations, and I'm like, okay, what can we do? Because we have a lot of people out there, so I know that we have caregivers and veterans that are listening and they would like to know more information, and as a civilian, tell me about how we can find out more or get involved.

Unknown: 18:47

I would say, if you go to our website, it's full of wonderful information. If you just go to the fund.org, there's a combination there on getting involved if you want to donate to the fund, that's always very appreciated. And then also just, you know, there's, there's ways that you can get involved even, you know, even people that have just a bake sale or a car wash or something like that, to raise money for the fund is, is just wonderful. And we see, we just see how the community, the different communities, come together to support us. And we're so appreciative.

Natalie: 19:21

Are there any specific kind of volunteer opportunities for individuals that that you've seen in the past? So like, you know, I have time. I may not have as much talent, but I listen. That's why we were out at renovation Alliance, where they were just putting in Windows for a military connected family, which was amazing. It was such a blessing. 33 windows into 1900s farmhouse to help support them. And also helped, I believe, with a generator. And they're connected to simplifying America's fund as well. They received case management support. And again, they. One of the people who had shared, you must talk to these people. Highlight these people. They're doing such amazing work. But you know any specific you know volunteer opportunities, because I like the idea that, like, if I wanted to do some kind of fundraiser myself and donate those funds towards simplifying America's fund, you could stuff

JJ: 20:21

a bag, but I could make have a bake sale. Yeah, you could, Maya not make any supplies.

Natalie: 20:26

She could not any. I am not good at making food, so any other types of activities, because I like where you could do your own little you don't have to wait for a simplifying America's fund endorsed event. But are there things, though, that you need volunteers for other types of activities. So, you

Unknown: 20:44

know, we love it again. We love it when people host events, when they just put on an event, and they're very creative with that, whether it's selling, you know, baking pies and selling pies for us, or maybe having a car wash or something like that. But then we also host events, and we're always looking for people to help us at those events. And again, you just go to our website and you can find that more information. And we will, if anybody wants to just they're not really sure where they can help, just fill out the form and we'll call you back and discuss it. Oh,

JJ: 21:14

there's always a place to help. There's a place to unplug that. There's always a place there's always room for everyone.

Natalie: 21:20

There nobody away. I love that. I do too. So is there anything else, um, you'd like to share, like, what else do we need to know? Um, that you'd say, if you walk away with nothing else, these are the things I really want you to know.

Unknown: 21:34

Yeah, I think you know one of the biggest things is here we are, all these years later, now down, you know, the war people saying, well, why is there still a need? And what we see in the fund is there is still a need. A lot of service members are catastrophic ones that are double triple amputees. You know, they're on their second and third cars and and we're there to help them to buy those adaptive vehicles. We know that caregivers like just like we discussed earlier, they're tired. You know, we want to keep our caregiver retreats going, taking care of the service members and the family members. So we want to be here for a lifetime for our service members. That's our commitment to them and to the family members. And we're just we're thankful. We're thankful for the donors out there. I think one of the beautiful things is, you know, we saw it at the beginning, when we started the fund. Is just how the American public got behind the fund and supported us, and we just continue to need that support.

Natalie: 22:34

And I love it how the fund has evolved, not only from a marine specific organization to now covering all branches and supporting those individuals. The evolution of, really, it is as inclusive as as you if you think about it's very inclusive, yeah. And so it doesn't matter what branch you are, you served, and so we want to serve you. And it just, I love that.

Unknown: 23:01

I love that too. And you know, when we started, of course, we were Marine Corps spouses, and so that's, that's how that was the beginning of the fun. But it wasn't long till we, you know, we're going to hospital, we're delivering a check to a Marine, and then right next to the Marine is a soldier, yeah. So we wanted to help all branches, and we're so thankful that we're able to do that. And we we love all branches. We support it. We really do. I

JJ: 23:29

like that. So no one being misled by Semper Fi. It is everyone. So that's in it, America's fund. So although they didn't say we had a first then why? We added

Natalie: 23:40

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, you know what? Sandra, thanks so much for being with us and answering these questions. And guys, please remember simplifying. America's Fund is a nonprofit. They will happily accept donations of your time, talent and probably resource, absolutely, and and so if you have dollars to donate, especially, consider doing this. And if you have talent and you want to do your own fundraiser on behalf especially, I'm thinking about our educators, our I'm thinking about Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and all the children's it's a great way to start teaching children how to serve is when they see the adults role model, absolutely.

JJ: 24:23

And again. Thank you for being with us, Sandra, well.

Natalie: 24:27

And thank you guys for listening to the heroes caring for heroes educational series featuring simplify in America that we want to thank our sponsors. And

JJ: 24:36

absolutely, that's CVS Health and 10 and brand, the number one incontinence brand in the world, in world and summit behavioral health care, Fisher House care forward and a huge list

Natalie: 24:49

of other there's a slew of partners. So make sure you go to our website, Confessions of a reluctant caregiver.com. To find out more. We have all the information about Semper Fi American. And America's fun, as well as all of our other organizations that we're featuring almost 20 in total. Learn about them and guys, until we confess again,

Unknown: 25:09

we will see you next time. Bye, bye.

Natalie: 25:14

Well, friends, that's a wrap for today's educational episode. Thank you for listening to our special series, heroes, caring for heroes. And don't forget to visit our website to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Sign up for the free sisterhood advantage discount club, and, of course, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tiktok, Twitter and Pinterest. You'll also find a video recording of all our episodes on the confessions website and our YouTube channel, we'll see you next time when we confess again. Till then, take care of you. Okay, let's talk disclaimers. We are not medical professionals and are not providing any medical advice. If you have medical questions, we recommend that you talk with a medical professional of your choice, as always, my sisters and I at confessions of our reluctant caregiver have taken care in selecting the speakers, but the opinions of our speakers are theirs alone. The views and opinions stated in this show are solely those of the contributors and not necessarily those of our distributors or hosting company, this podcast is copyrighted and no part can be reproduced without the express written consent of the sisterhood of care LLC, thank you for listening to The Confessions of a reluctant caregiver podcast.