Editor's Note: This article by MOAA's staff is part of the MOAA Charities 2020 Impact Report, a version of which first appeared in the November 2020 issue of Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA Premium and Life members. Learn more about the magazine here; learn more about joining MOAA here.

MOAA’s Military Spouse Programs are designed to educate, train, and empower military spouses to establish and sustain a successful career while meeting the challenges of a modern military family lifestyle. The award-winning “Keeping a Career on the Move” Military Spouse Symposia series has expanded globally, in partnership with Hiring Our Heroes, with events conducted from Bavaria, Germany, to Okinawa, Japan, and at a number of military installations throughout the U.S.

Nearly 2,500 military spouses have benefitted from these in-person events, with additional spouses tuning in to live presentations hosted on our social media channel. MOAA Spouse Programs provide further support through free access to the Military Spouse Employment Guide, a publication featuring employment tools, federal resources, and worksheets to enhance career pursuits.

With support from Microsoft, The MOAA Foundation and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes Program also launched a pilot program in 2019 to help military spouses maintain their employment during and after a permanent change of duty station. This unique opportunity has provided spouses and their small business employer with tools necessary to successfully work from a remote location, allowing the small business to retain the spouse on staff.

[APPLY NOW: MilSpouse Remote Telework Grant Program]

Participants receive hardware, software, contract templates, and technical training tutorials to support remote work.

Current economic conditions brought about by COVID-19 in 2020 have further increased the difficulties military spouses face when it comes to finding and maintaining employment. As more people find themselves working from home, and with many children unlikely to return to in-person school in the near future, greater demand has been placed on electronic resources such as computers, laptops, and tablets. This program seeks to alleviate some of the burdens facing military families by providing a new workstation solely for remote-working military spouses.