Often when veterans come home from serving overseas, they face many challenges including:

• where to live;
• where to work; and
• how to readjust to civilian life.

When people think of military service, they often think of the men in our armed forces, but what about the women serving? On this week’s episode of Family Comes First: Military Moms, airing Monday, November 30^th at 1:30 pm, we explore the complex and unique challenges that our female veterans face when they return home.

Joining us on this episode of Family Comes First, is veteran Denise Gause. Denise, a single mom of two when she decided to join the military, explains that she joined the military to provide a better life for her children. She also shares the difficulties faced when she returned home, and how she was able to overcome these obstacles with the love and support of her family.

Howard Duff, Director of Mental Health Services at Catholic Charities, also joins us to discuss services provided by Catholic Charities to aid veterans in the transition period after returning home. After a Veteran returns home, many times they deal with post-traumatic stress disorder and are homeless because they are jobless. Catholic Charities is able to provide housing for homeless veterans and their families as well as aid in stabilizing the veterans who are dealing with mental health issues.

During the show, we also meet with veteran Gustina Penna. Gustina was a Demo and Explosives Engineer stationed in Germany. She was the first female in an all-male combat engineer unit; She felt she needed to prove herself to the male engineers and make them trust her with their lives. Upon returning home, she found herself homeless with a young child. Gustina turned to the United Veterans Beacon House for aid and support.

Frank Amaltifano, CEO of United Veterans Beacon House, joins us to discuss how they were able to aid Gustina, and other veterans upon their arrival home. United Veterans Beacon House is a non-profit organization that aids in transitioning veterans back into the community. They are able to provide emergency, transitional and permanent housing, employment, and training to veterans.

Tune in to Telecare on Monday, November 30, 2015 at 1:30 pm to watch this brand new episode. In case you miss it, each episode also airs on Wednesdays at 9:30 am and Thursdays at 1:30 pm & 10:30 pm.

We invite you to watch and be inspired! Family Comes First™ airs exclusively on Telecare TV – Cablevision Channels 29 and 137; Time Warner Channels 106 (Manhattan) and 471 (Queens); or Verizon FiOS TV Channel 296.

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