Sharaya Woodwick

Share your military spouse story:
I was born & raised in Montana & I am the youngest of 4 siblings. Growing up, both of my parents worked full time yet we still lived below the poverty line, a fact I was happily unaware of until I was a teenager. When I was 14 my Mom was rear ended & had serious medical complications that still impact her work to this day. Because of this, I dropped out of high school & worked 3 full time jobs from the age of 16 to help pay the bills. A few weeks before I turned 18, friends of ours decided that Tyler & I would make a good couple. We finally gave in & started dating, it was love for both of us! We were married 14 months after that. In August of this year we will celebrate our 17th wedding anniversary. Tylerd let me know that he wanted to join the Air Force after being laid off from a job he loved, my Dad is a veteran so I was very supportive & excited for the adventure & the inevitable changes this would bring. I remember hearing the phrase “you knew what you signed up for” when we got to our first duty station and homesickness set in, the truth is: no we don’t. We don’t know how we will feel when we are left home pregnant with a toddler & our spouse is gone for months on end. But what I do know is that your relationship will be tested in a big way, on a regular basis. How you weather those storms determines how you succeed or fail in this lifestyle. I found how to balance the weight of uncertainty with the joy of connection. The struggles shaped me into who I am today. The Airman’s Attic program was such a blessing for us. People don’t realize that we were one of the 1 in 5 military families with food insecurities. When we were at our second duty station an opportunity arose for me to manage an Airman’s Attic & I jumped at the chance! Finally I can give back what was so graciously given to us. Now at our third duty station I continue that work as well as being a stay at home Mom to 3 kiddos. I am proud of the work I get to do as a military spouse.

Share an example of your leadership experience within the military community:
I am currently a volunteer manager of the Hill AFB Airman’s Attic and have been for almost 3 years. This is the second Airman’s Attic that I have managed during my husband’s career. With that responsibility comes leading food and diaper distribution events, coordination with local community leaders and managing our regular volunteers. I meet regularly with our board of 7 to keep everything moving and donations coming in. I also meet with community leaders off base to make sure that the current needs of our military members and their families are known so as to secure pipelines of goods that will long outlive our time on this installation. I was recognized for my volunteer work and received the Lt. Governors award for my contributions to the state of Utah. I have also been a part of many different planning committees for squadrons parties and outreaches over the years! I believe in making our community as strong as possible by taking care of the entire family unit.

Describe your involvement in the military community:
I absolutely love the military community and am a proud Key Support Liaison (KSL) for the 388th OSS and have been able to help with many different homecomings, welcoming new babies, aiding in times of emotional distress and being a bridge to resources in this local community with a special interest and passion for other EFMP families like mine! I plan to stay a KSL until the very end of my husband’s military career…and maybe even after that! I have also found a home playing kickball for our bases female league! It has brought me so much joy to be active with other spouses and active duty members that just enjoy being together, kicking some balls and having fun! It helped me escape depression and anxiety and find a real tribe of truly wonderful ladies!

Describe how you support your community:
When I was asked and agreed to take over management of the Airman’s Attic one of the first things I did was remove any rank restrictions that were in place because in my experience life hits you regardless of rank and no one should feel that they can’t access aid. I also worked tirelessly, with the help and support of my team, to build up 2 separate food pantries that have fed almost 2000 families in the last year alone. I have been able to host 4 separate food distributions and 2 diaper/pull up distributions since taking on the management role. I am extremely passionate about mitigating food insecurity in my community as much as possible. My husband and I were a part of the military statistic of 1 in 5 that have food insecurity when we were first stationed at RAF Lakenheath and we utilized the food pantry to help us make it through that. I want to do my part in giving back that resource that was such a blessing to us.

What do you advocate for? Why?
What I advocate for: 1. The Airman’s Attic is a mutually beneficial and symbiotic necessity at any base and should be protected and fought for. 2. Food insecurity should have no place in the military community and I will continue to fight to make sure everybody eats. 3. EFMP Families need to have easy access to the resources that makes their lives easier. Why: 1. When we got to our first duty station I got pregnant almost right away and after working most of my life it was hard not to bring in money, the Airman’s Attic on RAF Lakenheath let me feel like I was contributing to our household. It was empowering. 2. As I stated before, I’ve been there with food insecurity and I want to make sure that the people in my community don’t have to experience it! 3. As an EFMP family with 2 special needs kids I know how much more stressful a PCS can be due to all the added needs. If resources are readily available, everyone wins!

How have you spread the message of your platform/advocacy?
I give regular tours and information briefings to our local community leaders to give them a chance to get involved and support their local military members. We utilize Facebook for all of the Airman’s Attic outreaches, distributions , volunteer opportunities, our calendar and information in general and have found that we get the most engagement this way. We also use Signal as a secure way to communicate with our volunteers and community leaders. KSLs also use facebook to stay connected to each other and the other squadrons on base so that we can help lend support in whatever ways are needed.

What do you hope to accomplish with the AFI Military Spouse of the Year^® title?
I hope to bring awareness to food insecurity and the devastation that can bring to our military families, reaching out can be hard but it shouldn’t be for someone so vital. If we all pull together there is no reason for a family to go hungry. I also want to highlight the importance of the Airman’s Attics (and their counterparts in other branches) and all the ways we impact the community with this organization. In addition I want to end the stigma of being an EFMP family and make resources easy to access and as stress free as possible. I am proud to be a military spouse and I’m proud of the work I’ve been blessed to continue doing to help my community, wherever that may be.