Fort Bragg’s over 50,000 active-duty military personnel, and their families, are gaining an additional local support system.
Blue Star Families, a national nonprofit military family support network, is launching the Greater Fayetteville Region Chapter to help the families of service members build community.
The chapter provides seven counties — Cumberland, Bladen, Harnett, Hoke, Moore, Robeson and Sampson — with evidence-based programming to help veterans, service members and their families. The programs range from employment services to counseling to community-based activities like museum tours.
“No one works harder for the country than the service members and their families here in Fayetteville,” Kathy Roth-Douquet, CEO of Blue Star Families, told CityView. “We at Blue Star Families have wanted to come, bring our proven support to this area for many years, and we are thrilled that now, finally, we are able to open a chapter locally. Creating these local chapters is so crucial in helping military families not just get by, but really thrive.”
The Greater Fayetteville Region Chapter is the nonprofit’s thirteenth chapter and first in North Carolina. Two organizations, the Fort Bragg Armed Services YMCA and the Rick Herrema Foundation and its park, Rick’s Place, were already certified to offer Blue Star Families programming as what the nonprofit calls “outposts.”
Roth-Douquet said donors to establish the local chapter included the railway corporation CSX, Peter Bloom, founding board member of public school teacher crowdfunding website DonorsChoose.org, and Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.
Two locals lead the Greater Fayetteville Region Chapter. Tate Johnson, the chapter’s executive director, is a civilian living in Lumberton and is involved in the Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s military affairs committee. Lexie Coppinger, the chapter’s program manager, is a military spouse. She was born on Fort Bragg and was awarded the post’s Military Spouse of the Year award last year.
The programs Johnson and Coppinger will put on at the chapter are all based on research conducted by Blue Star Families. One of the largest data sources guiding them is the Blue Star Families Military Lifestyle Survey, an annual survey of active-duty service members, veterans and their families about issues affecting their lives. Survey topics include pride in service, access to health care, and finances.
Results from the 2024 Military Lifestyle Survey found financial issues were among the top concerns for North Carolina’s active-duty families. While all service members received pay raises this year, and junior enlisted service members will see another, even larger base pay increase this month, many service members and their families still struggle financially.
The survey found 18% of North Carolina’s active-duty service family members received food from a food pantry or a military food distribution within the past 12 months. The Assembly reported in 2024 that over 31% of soldiers on Fort Bragg and their families had trouble accessing enough food.
It’s why Johnson and Coppinger are establishing Blue Star Families’ Nourish the Service program.
“It’s going after food insecurity for families on installations and families that may be off of those installations,” Johnson said. “There are unique challenges for service members and their families — spouse underemployment, childcare costs, student loans, out-of-pocket living expenses — all those things affect the bottom line, and Nourish the Service can help.”
Broadly, the program helps with meal planning and grocery budgeting. It also connects families with resources like food pantries and military financial assistance. The program is tailored to each Blue Star Families chapter, and Johnson and Coppinger are still working to create something that best fits the needs of those on Fort Bragg and veterans in the broader community.
Another factor impacting military families’ finances is spouse employment. According to Blue Star Families’ military spouse employment research initiative, many military spouses report struggling to find employment because of employers’ fears that they can’t stay in the position long term or their unwillingness to hire or accommodate military-affiliated employees.
A quarter of North Carolina’s unemployed military spouses surveyed in the 2024 Military Lifestyle Survey want or need paid employment. Of those who said they actively looked for work since their spouse’s permanent change of station, 22% had yet to find employment.
Blue Star Families and the Greater Fayetteville Region Chapter have resources to help through the Blue Star Careers program, which connects to employment for military spouses at companies like Boeing, Google and Allstate. The chapter has an event planned on May 22 to help military spouses with resume-building in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Month.
“Unemployment for military spouses hovers around 21%. The national average is around 4%, so that [percentage of military spouse unemployment] is extremely high,” Johnson said. “When a military spouse comes to a new community, we work with them to find a job.”
He added that the program can also help veterans transitioning into civilian life and employment.
Other programs at the Greater Fayetteville Region Chapter include Blue Star Books, a book donation program to military children and their local libraries, and Blue Star Outdoors, a program helping military families experience parks and public lands. Another will be Blue Star Caregivers, a peer support group for service members and their families managing mental health disorders.
Johnson said he and Coppinger are still tailoring each program to local veterans, Fort Bragg service members and their families’ needs. He said the chapter will have more programs and events as he and Coppinger hear about the community’s needs, some of which the pair will learn more about at the chapter’s first military spouse roundtable on Friday at the Iron Mike Conference Center.
One way service members and their families can help guide the chapter is by joining the Blue Star Neighborhood, a Facebook-like platform from Blue Star Families that lets members sign up for programs and connect with other military families. Johnson also encouraged residents to attend the chapter’s launch this Friday, April 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Studio 215 on 215 Williams St.
“We’re committed to strengthening military families by connecting them with their neighbors in order to create vibrant communities of mutual support,” Johnson said. “We’re all about building strong communities where military families can share experiences, find resources and grow together.”
More information about the Blue Star Families Greater Fayetteville Region Chapter can be found on the chapter’s webpage, Facebook page or on Blue Star Neighborhood.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the News Foundation of Greater Fayetteville.