RADCLIFF, KY. - August 25, 2008 - USA Cares Inc., the nation's leading non-profit organization providing post-9/11 veterans and military families with financial support and other critical resources, has donated more than $500,000 over five years to service members living in Texas. The grants were used for getting treatment for wounded soldiers, saving homes from foreclosure, and assisting with basic needs during times of serious financial crisis.

These donations saved 56 Texas military families from losing their home to foreclosure. Since 2003, 1,412 Texas military families received grants. USA Cares received 397 requests for help from Texas families in 2004 alone, and demand is rising.

"Today's military families are facing a perfect storm: multiple deployments, rising gas and food prices, the sub-prime mortgage mess, and a struggling economy. Coupled with visible and invisible wounds of war, many families can't win this battle without our assistance," Roger Stradley, founder of USA Cares, said. Post 9/11 wounded warriors and their families from any branch of service can apply for help.

USA Cares has worked with military families since it was founded in 2003. Since then, the organization has responded to over 11,000 requests for help with more than $5 million in direct assistance grants. For example, USA Cares works with other partners to field a program for post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury victims who lack the financial resources to attend the treatment they need and deserve, ensuring that the service member doesn't have to choose between groceries or treatment. On the housing front, USA Cares is a recognized leader in mortgage loss prevention assistance for the military.

Nationally, USA Cares receives more than 100 new requests for assistance a week. Dedicated staff and volunteers work through each one with the determination and commitment to assist these families as quickly as possible. "USA Cares is out there actually providing financial assistance to solve these problems "“ we're not just talking about them," USA Cares Executive Director Bill Nelson said.

For example, in Round Rock, USA Cares paid $500 in rent to keep a family with two children in the home. In Post, the organization negotiated with a mortgage company and paid $7,078.92 to save the family home. And in San Antonio, USA Cares helped with a $500 vehicle payment because the service member had transitioned to active duty from the National Guard and wasn't paid correctly.

There are eighteen military installations in Texas, including Fort Hood, home of III Corps; Fort Sam Houston, location of the Army Medical Command; Lackland Air Force Base, the only entry processing station for Air Force enlisted basic military training; and Camp Mabry, the home of the Texas Military Forces.

USA Cares embarked on a national fundraising campaign on July 4. Share A Minute will raise funds by asking Americans to donate $25 to represent one minute of a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine's full 525,000-minute annual tour of duty. Those minutes quickly add up to create hardships for soldiers and their families during deployment or when they return, and it costs USA Cares $25 a minute to help these families.

This level of support will ensure that USA Cares can meet all the needs of military personnel and their families not only through the present twin crises of PTSD/TBI and housing, but also the economic challenges yet to come.

Stradley said there is no doubt that Americans will help by donating. "Our nation, including the residents of Texas, has a level of compassion that is unmatched in the world. This nation’s defenders need help, and it's now our duty to come to their aid.'

To share a minute, go to http://www.usacares.org/ and click on the Share A Minute logo or call 1-800-773-0387 for more information.

About USA Cares and Share A Minute
USA Cares is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that helps military families bear the burdens of service with financial and advocacy support. Its mission: to assist wounded warriors and their families, to prevent home foreclosures and evictions and to help with basic needs during financial crisis. Share A Minute asks Americans to donate $25 to represent one minute of a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine’s full 525,000 minute tour of duty. In its five and one-half years of operation, USA Cares has responded to over 11,000 requests for assistance, saved 465 military family homes from foreclosure or eviction thus sparing over 1,000 children from uncertainty. Families anywhere in America can apply for assistance through the USA Cares web site, http://www.usacares.org/, or by calling 1-800-773-0387. For more information on USA Cares contact jrevell@usacares.org.

USA Cares, Inc.

USA Cares, Inc.

USA Cares exists to help service members and their families across America and around the globe. USA Cares provides support with relevant and direct assistance that improves challenging situations and betters the life and well-being of America's service members who ask so little, yet give so very much. Helping service members and their families with quality of life issues using grants, counseling and mentorship.

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