Charlotte White, Air Force
Transitioning out of the military is hard enough on its on own, but add in a global pandemic and things got even more difficult for Air Force veteran, Charlotte White.
“No one was hiring at the time,” Charlotte said. “People kept saying yes, we’d like to hire you, but they were on a hiring freeze or something like that.”
Charlotte had just finished her three-year enlistment when COVID-19 changed everything. Suddenly, the task of finding a civilian career seemed impossible. To make things worse, her service-related disability limited which jobs she was able to perform.
“I felt like I had this restricted skillset,” Charlotte
said. “I had an 80-percent VA rating, but it wasn’t enough to cover my bills.
So, I started paying for everything with my credit card.”
As the pandemic dragged on, Charlotte began looking for
financial assistance to help cover her bills. When she reached out to USA
Cares, her water was on the verge of being shut off and her car payment was two
months behind.
“I kept going to different organizations but for one reason
or another, I didn’t qualify,” Charlotte said.
After her case was approved, USA Cares provided the
much-needed assistance to Charlotte.
“I was so relieved,” she said. “I was, and am, so grateful.”
Charlotte finally found employment with help from another
Air Force veteran. She is still trying to pay off credit card debt incurred
during her unemployment, but said she feels hopeful.
“I want other veterans to know they’re not alone,” Charlotte
said. “I struggled and needed help. For a while, I felt alone. I want other
veterans to know there are organizations like USA Cares that are there to help.”