Every family grieves when a loved one passes away, and many struggle with various aspects of their loss. But when a member of the armed forces passes away, be they an active-duty service member or a veteran, their spouses, parents, siblings, or children are left with a special kind of struggle, and various challenges that are unique to military families.
As part of our duty to honor those who served, it is also our responsibility to assist these family members whom they have left behind. Their loved ones devoted themselves to protecting and defending their country, and in many cases made the ultimate sacrifice. We all have a moral obligation, therefore, to make sure that they are not ignored or forgotten, that their pain and hardship is seen, honored, and dealt with. It is our duty to lighten their load and alleviate their struggle as much as possible.
It is in this spirit that we strive at Empathy to serve the needs of military survivor families, by providing knowledge and resources to address their unique challenges, from assistance with planning a military funeral or applying for veterans benefits, to comfort for the intense feelings that may accompany a military death.
We are thus very honored to be partnering with TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. Founded in 1994 by Major Bonnie Carrol USAFR (Ret.), an Army widow and a 2015 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, TAPS supports nearly 100,000 military survivors, giving them care and assistance as they grieve the loss of a veteran or service member. They are committed to fully supporting the families of veterans and service members, a commitment that extends to providing them with cutting-edge services like Empathy.
Through our partnership with this important organization, Empathy will give these families 24/7 access to the experts on our Care Team and our digital platform. We will meet them where they are, assisting with everything from funeral planning and probate to challenging emotions and difficult family dynamics.
As Major Carroll put it, “Incorporating Empathy’s services within our program is another way we can expand our community and resources to walk alongside our fellow survivors during their journey through grief. We hope that this will also shed a light on the meaningful impact that holistic bereavement care has on military survivors.”
Just as we are proud to work with TAPS, and humbled to do our part in honoring the memory of these fallen heroes by supporting their families, we are driven to help every American family dealing with loss. Each family faces its own unique challenges in the weeks and months after a loved one’s passing, and we partner with many organizations and companies to reach as many of them as possible, innovating every day to tailor our services to each partnership, each family, and each situation. It’s all part of our mission to leverage empathy, meeting families where they are, to change the way the world deals with loss.