Meredith Lozar
Freedom isn’t free, and military families often pay part of the bill through housing. In honor of Veterans Day and Military Families Month, Katie Goar talks with Meredith Lozar, Chief Impact Officer at Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that has helped military families and veterans for more than two decades and has given over 700 families mortgage-free homes.
Meredith grew up as an Air Force kid and spent 20 years as a Marine Corps spouse. In that time she moved 14 times and lost her job 7 times. She explains the financial pressures that most Americans never see:
She also walks through Operation Homefront’s four housing programs, which include rent-free apartments near major medical centers and mortgage-free homes that families can own after two years. The housing program has a 90% graduation rate and runs with zero government funding.
Meredith also shares how the Critical Financial Assistance program helps keep veterans in their homes, tells the story of a mom and her two boys who went from living in their car to owning a home, and explains how builders, banks and companies can help clear wait lists that are hundreds of families deep.
What You’ll Learn
Meredith grew up as an Air Force kid and spent 20 years as a Marine Corps spouse. In that time she moved 14 times and lost her job 7 times. She explains the financial pressures that most Americans never see:
- 31% of military spouses are unemployed.
- 41% of military families live paycheck to paycheck.
- Nearly 80% live outside their assigned ZIP code so their kids can attend safe schools that have the programs they need.
She also walks through Operation Homefront’s four housing programs, which include rent-free apartments near major medical centers and mortgage-free homes that families can own after two years. The housing program has a 90% graduation rate and runs with zero government funding.
Meredith also shares how the Critical Financial Assistance program helps keep veterans in their homes, tells the story of a mom and her two boys who went from living in their car to owning a home, and explains how builders, banks and companies can help clear wait lists that are hundreds of families deep.
🔗 Learn more or get involved: https://operationhomefront.org
📲 Follow @OperationHomefront on Instagram and LinkedIn
🎙️ Changemakers with Katie Goar: finding the right solutions for the affordable housing community. Learn more at https://quadel.com
What You’ll Learn
- Why the belief that the government takes care of military families is mostly a myth
- How frequent moves, spouse unemployment and deployments affect a family’s finances
- The “ZIP code problem”: why housing allowances fall short and families pay more to live somewhere safe
- What happens financially when a service member leaves active duty and loses the housing allowance
- Operation Homefront’s 4 housing programs and how families graduate to homeownership
- How families go from $500 in emergency savings to “a comma in their savings”
- How housing stability connects to mental health and preventing veteran suicide
- Concrete ways companies, builders, banks and neighbors can help
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