New Partnership with FCA Foundation Enables TAPS to Expand Care for Families of Fallen Military Heroes
FCA Foundation Grant Supports TAPS Survivor Care Team; Provides Critical Support to Military Families at Their Time of Greatest Need
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 18, 2019
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is pleased to announce a new partnership with the FCA Foundation, the charitable arm of North American automaker FCA US LLC, to provide support to the families of fallen military service members. A recent grant from the FCA Foundation will support the TAPS Survivor Care Team, which serves as the TAPS frontline resource for surviving military families after the death of their loved one.
“TAPS is grateful for the FCA Foundation’s commitment to those who serve or have served in the defense of freedom, as well as those who grieve a fallen military hero,” said Bonnie Carroll, TAPS President and Founder and 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. “Through the FCA Foundation’s grant, TAPS will be able to strengthen the services offered by its Survivor Care Team to bereaved military families at their time of greatest need.”
For 25 years, TAPS has served as the leading national nonprofit organization providing critical support services to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. At the heart of the TAPS survivor support outreach program is the TAPS Survivor Care Team, made up of TAPS staff members who reach out to surviving military family members after their loss and continue to provide support throughout their individual grief journeys.
TAPS Survivor Care Team members are peer professionals, survivors themselves, who communicate with newly bereaved military survivors through calls, texts and emails to provide personalized support to meet the most critical needs of the traumatically bereaved. They have walked grief journeys of their own and thus can provide peer-based support in addition to professional care gained through additional training.
“The FCA Foundation is proud to support the work of the TAPS Survivor Care Team as part of our longstanding commitment to our nation’s veterans, active military and their families,” said Shane Karr, Head of External Affairs, FCA – North America and President, FCA Foundation. “We are forever grateful for the sacrifices these courageous men and women have made on our nation’s behalf.”
FCA US employs more than 5,000 U.S. military veterans and has been recognized under the Honoring Investments in Recruiting and Employing American Military Veterans Act (HIRE). In addition to the 2018 HIRE certification, FCA US is a past recipient of the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve’s (ESGR) prestigious Freedom Award for providing exceptional support for FCA employees enlisted in national defense through human resource policies and management tools. The Company first signed the ESGR pledge in 2008 and reaffirmed its pledge in 2015.
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ABOUT TAPS
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is the leading national organization providing compassionate care and survivor support services for the families of America’s fallen military heroes. Since 1994, TAPS has offered support to more than 85,000 survivors of fallen military in the form of peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, grief seminars and retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, case work assistance, connections to community-based care, online and in-person support groups and a 24/7 resource and information helpline for all who have been affected by a death in the Armed Forces. Services are provided free of charge. For more information go to www.taps.org or call the toll-free TAPS resource and information helpline at 1.800.959.TAPS (8277).
ABOUT THE FCA FOUNDATION
The FCA Foundation is the charitable arm of North American automaker FCA US LLC, a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. The FCA Foundation invests in U.S. charitable organizations and initiatives that help empower people, build strong, resilient communities and generate meaningful and measurable societal impacts. In support of these objectives, the FCA Foundation focuses on the following foundational pillars: youth development, education, support for veterans and their families, and community service.