CHARLESTON, W.Va. –
“Always ready, always there” is the National Guard’s motto. While Guardsmen and their families might think readiness is all about what they need to do to prepare for deployment, readiness also encompasses day-to-day preparedness. Being always ready means proactively preparing yourself and your family for any situation, including unforeseen emergencies and disasters.
September is National Preparedness month, and our partners at the West Virginia Emergency Management Division and the Federal Emergency Management Agency stress the importance of being financially prepared for emergencies to help provide peace of mind for you and your family and to build individual and community resiliency.
According to FEMA, 91 percent of those who experienced a disaster also experienced financial impact. Making sure your financial house is in order prior to an event is critically important.
A valuable and free resource to help Guardsmen and their families do just that, is FEMA’s Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK) (Download here: https://www.fema.gov/media-collection/emergency-financial-first-aid-kit or here: https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/ready_emergency-financial-first-aid-toolkit.pdf).
The EFFAK helps individuals and families organize, gather information, and centralize important documents such as household identification information, financial and legal documentation, medical information, and household contacts. It provides comprehensive checklists and forms that help guide you thought the financial readiness process, along with tips and best practices for safeguarding the data and information you prepare. Finally, the document also explains the FEMA disaster assistance process, and provides information on resources and links to additional tools you can utilize to become better financially prepared.
We encourage all our WVNG #OneGuard family to take financially preparedness seriously, and to take advantage of the tools and resources available to all our Soldiers, Airmen and civilian employees.
For further financial assistance, please reach out to our WVNG Personal Financial Consultant, Mr. Michael Jay Yabs, at 304-989-4366, or via email at pfc.3.wv.ng@zeiders.com, the WVNG Family Programs Hotline at 1-866-986-4326, or the WVNG Judge Advocate General (JAG) Office at 304-561-6619.
For more general preparedness and readiness information, visit: www.ready.gov.