JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Founders of Andrew's first Military and Family Support center revisited the establishment and met with the current staff Oct. 5, to celebrate 25 years of supporting service members and their families.
Kim Myers, M&FSC Director, welcomed the original crew into the familiar building, at 1191 Menoher Dr., where they took a tour and reflected on the history and past and present policies of Family Support.
During the tour, Myers led the family support teams to the award-lined hallways of achievements dating back to 1987. Jeanette Ruffing, Family Support Center Director from 1987 to 2001, helped guide the group down memory lane as she discussed the history behind the memorabilia.
As the tour progressed, the original crew continued meeting the new M&FSC members.
The last stop on the tour was at the place in the building each group seemed to like the most, the kitchen. A celebratory cake, refreshments and a surprise awaited the original Family Support founders.
The group gravitated to a conference room where several tables were lined with photo albums and newspaper articles about groundbreaking events for the center. All of the members conversed about past memories, their lives now and the evolution of family support, while eating cupcakes and examining the artifacts.
While viewing photographs of Family Support ribbon-cutting ceremonies, Ruffing discussed many changes she witnessed at her time with the center, such as three location changes from buildings 1633, 1610 and 1191. The original members wanted to be near family advocacy; which is why the M&FSC is located directly across from the service.
A notable change Ruffing mentioned was the shift in sentiment in the way the Air Force prioritizes military families today.
During Ruffing's husbands enlistment in the 1960's and 70's, she said she felt the need for a sense of family support and was motivated to do what she could to help.
By the days end, the current M&FSC staff expressed appreciation to original crew members, Linda Graziano, Faith Skordinski, Patsy Jenkins Harry W. Brooks, Larry Cruz and Jeanette Ruffing for their passionate efforts. They thanked them for paving the way for Air Force families.
"Building up this establishment is something we enjoyed doing," said Ruffing. "It was the first time the family came first."
The camaraderie between the members of each group defined how working the good-natured service of M&FSC brings members together.
The establishment has created a tapestry of relationships, personal and professional, as many of the founding members of the M&FSC have cultivated life-long friendships and brought upon new opportunities for one another.
For instance, when Skordinski worked with the center, she was handling a great deal of clients, paperwork and other duties. When she switched from full-time to part-time, it became necessary to bring in a new team member. That's when Linda Graziano came aboard to assist, in one of the first spouse-employment job-sharing initiatives on Andrews. The two have remained friends and continue to help one another.
Skordinski, Office of Financial Management division of business transformation acting director, recently brought Graziano on board at her current place of employment.
The original crew also said they understood the importance of building relationships across the services, said Skordinski Directors from a variety of MFSs would meet monthly to share ideas and build cohesion.
"Even though there wasn't a joint service then, we performed as if there was," said Skordinski. "Back then, Fort Belvoir and Anacostia were leading the charge."
Today these meetings are done out of necessity, said Myers. Since Sept. 11, the NCR
Family Support Centers have conducted monthly emergency family assistance planning meetings to ensure they are ready to provide help and access to resources in a crisis situation.
Whether it's dealing with the hardship of deployments, education, employment, finance and/or crisis management, the M&FSC staff is in place to identify needs of Airmen and their families and determine the appropriate assistance or resource to refer them.
"A recent change impacts members retiring or separating from service," said Myers.
"Due to the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act of 2011 and the Veteran Employment initiative, the Department of Labor Transition Assistance Program has been extended from three to five days. The purpose for the DoL-TAP workshop is to expand training and employment opportunities for service members."
After everyone shared stories of how far the Air Force has come in assisting service members and their families, both groups took a photograph together to commemorate the occasion.