Coalition to Support America’s Heroes

You may have heard of the Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes – their logo recently hung over the head of former Golden Knight, Special Forces soldier, and first double amputee to re-enlist in the Army Dana Bowman as he parachuted into the 2013 Military Bowl and the Sun Bowl. Or, you may have heard of them from all the bad press they got in 2008, when the founder, Roger Chapin, was called in front of Congress to explain some very naughty accounting procedures and Gen Tommy Franks was getting smacked by the media for getting a $100,000 payout to let the charity use his name and likeness in their marketing materials. So, which are they – trustworthy or a fraud? Well, let’s find out.

Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes was started in 2004 and is designated as a non-profit whose mission is to provide emergency financial support and other services to servicemembers injured in Iraq or Afghanistan and their caregivers. It has since expanded to include several programs, though monetary support, including coverage of mortgages, utilities, car payments, medical bills, and other necessities, is still their primary.

According to the testimonials on their site and their newsletters, their financial support is pretty generous (anywhere from $160 to $4,500 from what I saw) and their most recent, January 2014, newsletter states they haven’t had to turn anyone away yet. They do mention, though, that there has been a recent uptick in financial assistance requests, which could mean they may have to turn away individuals in the future.

These services are offered to individuals who received a combat injury in OEF/OIF/OND or in support of those efforts while in a designated hostile environment. To qualify, an individual must have a minimum 30% rating for a single illness/injury and a demonstrated financial hardship. The application for financial assistance is fairly detailed, primarily in the area of income/outstanding bill information and extent of injuries, but easy to complete, with a lot of “yes/no” questions.

In addition to the emergency financial assistance program, the Coalition also hosts a “Road to Recovery Conference and Tribute” each year. This is a four-day event where wounded veterans and their families get together and attend workshops, educational seminars, and a job fair, receive counseling, discuss issues that may not be able to be discussed elsewhere (such as, according to one testimonial, the difficult issue of how to be romantic with your spouse in spite of your injuries), and generally benefit from being around other individuals facing the same challenges. This event is at no cost to the veterans or their families.

They also offer the “Heroes Thanking Heroes” program, which offers part-time employment to wounded veterans or their primary caregivers. These individuals make calls – from their own homes or, they say, even their hospital beds – on behalf of the organization for $15 an hour. The specific requirements to qualify for this program and contact details for its administrator can be found here.

Other programs include online education and training through a partnership with SkillSoft. Available topics cover everything from IT to legal to business. They also have a database where veterans and their caregivers can put their information to hunt for jobs with AlliedBarton, a security personnel firm. They also provide $500 holiday gift checks to veterans and their families, deliver Get Well and Thank You cards to servicemembers and veterans still recovering in the hospital, and sponsor veterans and their families to attend such events as the 7^th Annual Wounded Warriors Ski Week.

So, that’s all the good stuff, what’s the bad stuff? Well, as I mentioned, in 2008, the organization was in bad shape. It was labeled a “fraud” by Forbes magazine and was given an “F” on financial guru Clark Howard’s list of good and bad charities. So, what about now? That’s a little stickier. The Better Business Bureau is currently reviewing it but hasn’t published anything yet. Meanwhile, CharityNavigator has given this organization abysmal ratings – two stars for transparency and zero stars for financials. This is primarily because CharityNavigator says they don’t have their financials audited by an outside agency and their financials show that 63% of the company’s budget goes to advertising, while only about 29% goes to the programs and services it offers.

I took a look at the financials they posted on their own webpage. According to those, which state they were audited by an outside agency (I confirmed the existence of the agency), in 2012, they spent $4,562,950 on fundraising, $7,520,952 on promoting public awareness of veterans’ needs, and $1,093,991 on “management and general,” but only $2,361,480 on veterans’ emergency financial aid and $768,410 on veterans’ recovery activities (such as the Road-to-Recovery Conference). So, compared to say, Operation Homefront, they aren’t doing so good on the services versus fundraising budget ratio.

However, they had a leadership change in July 2012 and there are some indications the new crew is turning things around. I can’t confirm the financials, since the 2013 ones haven’t posted yet, but I can see a significant change in their newsletters. Prior to the change, they carried a tone that verged on hysteria and only seemed to talk about how much money they still needed. The 2013 and 2014 newsletter appear a little more fact based and transparent, listing, as I mentioned earlier, exact amounts given out, with individual recipient names attached. And their name has been popping up with a lot more credible sources lately.

Additionally, and I think this carries the most weight, they added Rob Jones to their staff in March 2013 as the President’s Special Assistant. Jones, if you haven’t heard of him, is a former Marine combat engineer who lost both his legs above the knee in an IED blast, won a bronze medal in Paralympic Rowing at the 2012 London Olympics, and is currently riding his bike across the country to raise money for organizations that helped him in his recovery, the Coalition to Salute America’s Veterans among them. Now, I’m not saying having a good vet at an organization makes the organization good – personal experience has told me that isn’t true – but I watched the documentary on Rob (called Survive. Recover. Live.) and I’ve researched him and I can’t imagine that a man who had a goal of getting a job so he can give away his VA check every month or who is spoken of so highly by so many of his fellow Marines could support an organization that was ripping off vets.

So, ultimately, I say give them a try. If you really need the financial assistance, call them. If they ask you for a donation, I might hesitate. And if they offer to pay you $150 to let them use your story in future marketing campaigns, well, then, I’d be a little suspicious.

To learn more about the Coalition to Salute America’s Veterans or to get or give help, you can go to: https://saluteheroes.org/

And to learn more about Rob Jones, you can watch the documentary here or check out his cross-country journey here or you can read this pretty incredible article about Rob and his Paralympic rowing partner, Oksana Masters, here.

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