This story has been updated.
On Thursday afternoon, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce announced the rollout of Supporting Military Families San Antonio, a website that’s aimed at centralizing hundreds of resources for military families in one place.
The new website brings together more than 30 local organizations so far, with a focus on helping military and veteran families with spouse employment and service member transition into the civilian workforce and access to specialty health care.
It didn’t cost the Greater Chamber anything to create and there is no financial gain, CEO Jeff Webster said.
The Greater Chamber intentionally announced the initiative on the 80th anniversary of D-Day in 1944, when more than 150,000 U.S., British and Canadian troops stormed Normandy beaches to liberate Nazi-occupied France.
“Although we lost a lot of men and women, … back home, the families rallied around the military, and I think that’s what this community is doing, is rallying around our military families,” Webster said.
Lori Stinson, vice president of military affairs and leadership development for the chamber, said the military affairs division already meets monthly with its Military Affairs Council, made up of 266 mission partners, including Joint Base San Antonio, the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army and U.S. Navy partners.
At the press conference, Webster said that the initiative would not duplicate resources that currently exist, such as those from the city, county and JBSA committee Military Transformation Task Force and UT Health San Antonio’s Military Health Institute.
“We’ve already got programs in place. What we’re going to do is rally this all together and put a bow on it at a website that will have resources for employment, counseling, health care, whatever is available,” he said. “They’ve all got their own task forces, but they’re doing 50 things and this one thing may not get promoted. We’re going to promote it and be able to direct [to it].”
Even with all the programs that exist, there are still disparities military and veterans face, officials recognized. They have trouble finding jobs and getting hired, and they struggle to obtain specialty care.
Pam Hegner, a six-year Air Force veteran, listened in on the announcement which she heard about from her husband, who works with the chamber’s Military Affairs Council. Hegner said a focus on health care is essential now more than before because of upcoming changes that could affect local military and veteran families.
In January 2025, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) announced six states, including Texas, would move from the East Region to the West Region, affecting approximately 1.5 million beneficiaries.
The move is significant because it means San Antonio’s health contractors will also change — those who had Humana Military will now be moved to another contractor, TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corporation.
“Changing contractors can hinder a lot, because when you change computer systems you can lose records, referrals,” Hegner said. “So military families are stuck finding new [primary care managers] new specialty care, figuring out the referral process. They say there’s not going to be much change, but there always is change when you change contractors.”
As organizations like USAA, University Health, CPS Energy and JCB join the new initiative, the Greater Chamber is asking them to commit to supporting military families by pledging to hire more military spouses and former service members.
Webster said the Greater Chamber will reconvene on July 6, 2025, to review what the initiative has accomplished and to recognize organizations who followed through on their pledges. The initiative will hold the organizations accountable for their pledges by asking them to share data and numbers on their impact, Stinson added.
While the initiative starts in San Antonio, the Greater Chamber plans to share the concept to other cities so that the Supporting Military Families site could also exist beyond San Antonio. Stinson said the second year of the initiative will have a focus on housing and child care.
“We’re not recreating the wheel, we’re uniting the wheel. We’re putting all four wheels under the car and moving forward,” Webster said, as local officials listened in the crowd, including Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, State Sen. José Menéndez, Bexar County Pct. 4 Commissioner Grant Moody, and soon-to-be CEO of University Health, Ed Banos. JBSA military leaders and representatives from participating organizations were also present for the announcement.
Menéndez said an initiative like this one is needed to earn the title “Military City USA.”
