June 09, 2009
HAMPTON ROADS, VA – Today CinCHouse launched and announced the Movers & Shakers Awards to recognize those individuals who work tirelessly to support military family issues, often behind the scenes. The following five women get this year's 'Shout Out'!
Joanna Williamson
Co-founder
Military Spouse Business Association
Joanna’s current project is working with MSBA co-founder Rebecca Poynter, Congressman Carter and Senator Burr to get HR1182 and S475 that contains The Military Spouse Residency Relief Act passed through Congress. The Act would amend the Service members Civil Relief Act to include military spouses regarding the issues regarding residency. Currently, service members receive residency relief when moved on government orders and may claim a permanent state of residency regardless of the state in which they physically reside. This alleviates many ancillary burdens for the service member. Military spouses are not currently protected by the SCRA and must change their state of residency with each military move. Driver’s licenses, vehicle registrations and titles as well as voter registration must be changed. Joanna feels strongly that the current lack of protection represents a failure to protect women’s rights as a majority of military spouses are female and many end up titling their vehicles and property in the husband’s name to avoid the inordinate hassle of re-registration at every new location. She looks forward to seeing the measure passed in the near future. Don't we all!
Kathy Roth-Douquet
Founder
Blue Star Families
A founder of Blue Star Families, Kathy is a fresh voice for military families and has taken a leading role in bridging the gap between civilian and military families and in working with officials to effectively bring about change. We greatly look forward to seeing what new accomplishments Kathy will bring to the table (literally) for military families.
Sylvia Kidd
Director of Family Programs
Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA)
When Sylvia Kidd's husband (Sergeant Major of the Army Richard A. Kidd) was still active duty, Sylvia help design and start up the Army Family Team Building Program. She has since played a major role in improving all Army family programs from the Pentagon to the pavement level. In the process, she has helped Army leaders to see the value that families bring to the Army, and now the other services are implementing her ideas. If you haven't attended her family programs and FRG training at the annual AUSA conference, or at Army installations worldwide, then take time out of your schedule to be amazed.
Joyce Wessel Raezer
Executive Director
National Military Family Association
Joyce is a tireless advocate of military families and often does not get credit for her work on the less sexy but deeply critical issues affecting us. Terms like 'Survivor Benefits' and 'Tricare for Life' may sound boring now, but Joyce helps makes sure that military families and wounded warriors are not living in stark poverty when the worst crises occur.
CDR René Campos, USN (Ret.)
Deputy Director, Government Affairs
Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)
René is the lead advocate for wounded warriors for the Military Officers Association of America -- and that's saying something since MOAA is one of the leading voices on the subject. In that role, René delves into addressing every law, rule and regulation that might present any obstacle to wounded warriors and their families. Yet she also takes the time to help individual families and coordinate with nonprofit agencies who assist them. Indeed, her military service never stopped when she retired.
Congratulations to these five outstanding individuals who will be featured on CinCHouse.com in video and a more detailed article.