There are an estimated 60,000 military youth members spread all across Washington state, and April - the Month of the Military Child - serves as the ideal month to honor their sacrifices.
A Military Kids and Families Summit, with various guest speakers and youth panel members present, took place during the Month of the Military Child at the McGavick Conference Center located at Clover Park Technical College April 15, 2016.
"The idea for the summit came from the desire to bring community and military resources together and discuss what is available and where the gaps are for support to military families," said event host and Washington National Guard Child & Youth Program Coordinator, Robbin Seeberger. "It also served as an environment to strengthen the level of understanding for our military youth and their resiliency."
Resiliency is typically an instrumental characteristic for this nation's youngest members of a military family.
Remaining resilient during numerous moves, parent(s) deployed and frequent absences in the household, due to ongoing and required military training, is no easy mission.
"Military kids are impacted by change more so than the average teen with deployments, moving, changing multiple schools, forced reintegration, etc.," Seeberger said, when referring to hearing the summit's youth panel.
That difficulty makes it even tougher for those that support military youth to remain consistent.
No one wants to hear one thing from one provider and then hear something completely different from another.
"Every organization has their individual mission, so how can they incorporate support to the military population with what they currently do?" Robbin asked.
The honoring of military youth during April, as the Month of the Military Child (MOMC), may not mirror the same amount of support coming from military appreciation days such as Veterans Day or Memorial Day, but hopefully, with events such as this one, that will change.
"Military children are impacted while their parents are off defending our country, and their home life is continuously impacted, even without deployments," said Seeberger. "The month (of the military child) is one way to recognize and honor the sacrifices their parents have given.
Supporting the military youth that serve this nation, in a different capacity than actual servicemembers, is an importance that several organizations shared in April at the Military Kids and Families Summit.
"Countless providers and community partners gathered for the all-day event, as well as a panel of military kids who answered questions about their ‘journeys and adventures' throughout their lives," said Seeberger.
Synchronizing the verbiage that military youth providers, or any provider uses, can become a focal point for continued success.
"I think youth providers all speak a very similar language, but actually understanding military culture is not always fluent amongst providers," said Seeberger. "Knowing the difference between a certain (military) branch, rank, deployment status, etc., can be crucial to understand for the system of military youth support to function properly."
Continuously building new relationships, while forging the already existing connections, remained the priority of the conference appropriately themed, "Making Connections".
"A reoccuring goal of the summit was to connect community and military service providers, educate service providers on programs available to military families, and provide tips on how to connect with beneficiaries."
The overarching message for the summit continued to push how instrumental the right relationships can be and how the community can better serve their military families.
"We will continue collaborating to build a stronger network to support our military families," Seeberger ended with. "We are honored to serve those that don't always receive the recognition they deserve.