April 14, 2025

Welcome to the 2025 Annual Art & Essay Submissions Gallery! You can search by name or entry type and sort by age. This year's winners are sorted to the top by default, and their winning category and age range is listed in the result column. We hope you enjoy this…...

March 20, 2025

Many military families face unique challenges during spring break, particularly in balancing budgets, time, and food insecurity. Each year, school breaks bring what many call the “Spring Break Slump,” a period when financial strain increases and access to essential resources, such as school meals, is temporarily lost. In fact, 40%…...

March 5, 2025

More than 1.6 million military children face the unique challenges of military life. From parental deployments to frequent relocations, kids at a very young age must quickly adapt to new environments. As the unseen heroes who often struggle quietly and may feel unheard, military children need our community support. That’s…...

February 10, 2025

Less than two weeks ago, my husband, our son, and I landed at the Naples International Airport. After nearly 24 hours, three flights, two airports, and one lost suitcase later, we had finally made it to what we would call home for the next three years. The mixture of relief…...

February 1, 2025

Hi, my name is Chelsea Guigma. I recently graduated with an undergraduate degree in marketing, a certification in digital marketing and data analytics, and two associate degrees. I consider myself a lifelong learner, readily adapting to the ever-changing world around me. My connection to the military is through my husband,…...

February 1, 2025

As 2024 ends, we will all undoubtedly find ourselves reflecting on the past 12 months and all the growth and challenges we faced. The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) Military Spouse Writing Program was such a big part of my personal growth and development for the past year, and today, I…...

December 19, 2024

The holidays can be hard. Whether you’ve just landed at a new duty station or been there for years, the holiday season can bring up a complicated, tangled web of emotions. Add in a deployment and it can seem almost impossible to tackle the season alone. Let me set the…...

December 17, 2024

The holiday season can be a bit of a mixed bag for military families. Christmas is a season of magic and togetherness, but that can be hard when a family member is deployed. I know this to be true in my own life. Trying to pull things together and create…...

December 10, 2024

When you lead a lifestyle as unpredictable and ever-changing as being a military spouse, it’s easy to lose your sense of self, belonging, and purpose. Much of our lives as spouses revolve around supporting our service members, navigating the challenges of military life, and providing stability for our children. For…...