Craig Newmark Philanthropies has announced a $2.95 million grant to the Bob Woodruff Foundation (BWF) to help strengthen its Got Your 6 Network of nonprofit organizations that provide services to veterans.

To date, Craig Newmark Philanthropies has contributed more than $18 million to the foundation to assist the military and veteran community. With the latest grant, BWF will find, fund, and shape programs to address veterans’ urgent and long-term concerns, including food insecurity, employment, mental health, and housing and homelessness. The grant also will help the foundation collect data and insights from the Got Your 6 Network to stay on the front lines of veteran needs.

Ongoing global crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, have exacerbated existing challenges and gaps in services for military and veterans’ families. According to Craig Newmark Philanthropies, the unemployment rate among veterans, which had been at a 20-year low of 3.1 percent in December 2019, surged to a high of 11.9 percent in April 2020. At the height of the pandemic, one in five military families faced food insecurity—nearly double pre-pandemic levels. As conflict erupts in Eastern Europe, the military and veteran community is bracing for a new wave of challenges, such as concerns about the health and well-being of veterans’ families, and the funding will enable the Got Your 6 Network to provide relief to veterans and their families.

“Our service members, veterans, and military families make serious sacrifices to defend democracy. It pisses me off that some have a hard time getting enough to eat or finding a safe place to sleep,” said Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist and Craig Newmark Philanthropies and a BWF board member. “I want to make sure that the Bob Woodruff Foundation and its Got Your 6 Network, who are actually really good at what they do, can do their work.”

“At the foundation, it is our enduring commitment to meet veterans where they are and ensure they have access to the resources and tools for success,” said BWF chief executive Anne Marie Dougherty. “With the visionary support and leadership of Craig Newmark Philanthropies during a critical time of world conflict, we’re not only helping veterans thrive, we’re strengthening American communities.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Mango Star Studio)