Iraq Soldier Triumphs Over
Physical And Financial Wounds
Community Empower And VFW Foundation
Roll-Out Initiative To Provide
Financial Education
To Current And Retired US Servicemembers And Their Families
El Mirage, Arizona - After returning
from Iraq, life seemed bleak for a soldier we’ll call
“John” in order to respect his privacy. He returned
home in August 2003 due to his injuries. For the next several
months, he focused on healing himself. John is permanently
disabled but is still trying to return to the workforce
to provide for his family. After 19 years of service, he
is about to be discharged from the service.
John’s service to
his country left him in financial crisis. Then he heard
about an online system called Community Empower that is
offered to active-duty Servicemembers. The website for Community
Empower promised to help soldiers like himself work to improve
their credit, so he decided to give it a try. After completing
a 10-minute online enrollment, John instantly received a
comprehensive analysis and credit improvement action plan.
The initial analysis was
not pretty. John’s time in Iraq, and his subsequent
unemployment, left him with 12 collections totaling almost
$20,000.
At first John felt overwhelmed
by his predicament. But the Community Empower system explained
the process of addressing his collections. Four were student
loans that were in default due to his deployment. The defaulted
student loans are now in the process of being forgiven due
to his injuries and disability. Using the CE system, he
generated dispute documentation to remove a collection that
had already been paid and one that was a duplicate. After
his first online session, 6 of the 12 collections were in
process to being removed. This all occurred in the first
hour after John’s enrollment.
Being injured in the line
of duty has proven difficult for John to find a job but
he’s not giving up hope on working in the computer
field. In less than 24 hours, a huge burden was lifted from
John’s shoulders after the Community Empower system
helped him make great strides regarding his credit. John
will continue to receive guidance from Community Empower's
ScoreManager program over the coming months as he works
toward his goal of buying a home in North Carolina for his
family.
Hundreds of US Servicemembers
will benefit from Community Empower’s assistance thanks
to the VFW Foundation and a grant from Vermont American’s
Unmet Needs program. If you or someone you know is a servicemember
in financial crises, enroll online at www.communityempower.com/guard
or call 800-816-2586.
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