LEARNOperation Financial Freedom (OFF)
OFF equips LAC veterans and families with the tools to break cycles of debt, improve housing stability, and reduce health risks linked to financial stress. As the only trauma-informed financial education program for veterans we remove barriers to economic justice through cohorts and a volunteer network of financial planners, social workers, medical professionals and attorneys. Empowering vets to improve health, build wealth, expand opportunities to fully engage and contribute to their community all while strengthening familial & community ties.
What is the primary issue area that your application will impact?
Adult literacy
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
Central LA East LA South LA San Gabriel Valley West LA San Fernando Valley Gateway Cities South Bay Long Beach Antelope Valley County of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a countywide benefit) City of Los Angeles (select only if your project has a citywide benefit) Other
In what stage of innovation is this project, program, or initiative?
Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)
What is your understanding of the issue that you are seeking to address?
Over 3,800 veterans experience homelessness on any given night in Los Angeles County. Many more live paycheck to paycheck, struggling with debt, unstable housing, and poor credit. Veterans of color, former foster youth, and those living with trauma face the steepest barriers. Yet most programs rely on passive referrals, not real solutions. Research shows that financial stress is directly linked to anxiety, depression, and poor physical health among veterans. This is not about individual failure. It is about STRUCTUAL NEGLECT. Veterans are being discharged into civilian life without the education or support they need to survive, let alone succeed. Without trauma-informed financial education, the cycle continues. This is a justice issue. A health issue. A housing issue. And it demands action now.
Describe the project, program, or initiative this grant will support to address the issue.
Operation Financial Freedom is the only trauma-informed financial education program built for veterans and their families in Los Angeles County. With this grant, we will host four cohort-based learning tracks, each supported by at least two in-person and two virtual outreach events per month. At these events, veterans can immediately enroll and begin receiving services at no cost.
Each cohort begins with an orientation where participants meet their dedicated team of certified financial planners, attorneys, social workers, and peer supports. We administer validated intake tools to assess financial well-being, mental wealth, and social connection to establish baseline data and guide case planning.
Financial education covers budgeting, debt reduction, credit repair, housing readiness, and legacy planning. Mental wealth sessions based on the Seeking Safety curriculum include short educational content followed by optional discussion, led by licensed and pre-licensed social workers.
Attorney-led legal clinics address discharge upgrades, expungements, housing rights, credit protection, veteran diversion, and more. One-on-one consultations are available based on pro bono capacity. Medical professionals will offer wellness education and individualized planning. At the conclusion of each cohort, an exit assessment measures impact and progress. All services are trauma-informed, veteran-centered, and rooted in access, equity, and justice.
Describe how Los Angeles County will be different if your work is successful.
In one year, Operation Financial Freedom will serve 60 veterans in high-touch financial cohorts and reach 1,000 more through legal clinics, wellness sessions, and outreach. Each graduate leaves with a financial plan, stronger connection, and tools to build mental wealth and stability.
Long term, this grant seeds a model for transformation. Outreach becomes purpose-driven. Peer leaders emerge. Systems that once referred veterans away now wrap around them.
This vision is inspired by Francis Barbour, a Marine whose service and sacrifice shaped his brother Sterling’s lifelong commitment to veteran advocacy. Their belief that financial stability fuels healing, dignity, and leadership extends beyond individual lives. It creates safer streets, stronger neighborhoods, and a more resilient Los Angeles County for everyone.
Approximately how many people will be impacted by this project, program, or initiative?
Direct Impact: 1,060
Indirect Impact: 5,000