Every April, VA recognizes the resilience, strength and sacrifice of military children during the Month of the Military Child. While service members wear the uniform, their children are adapting to new schools, new friendships and new communities, often with little notice.
For military families, spring and summer mark the height of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) season—a time filled with both opportunity and uncertainty. In a time of change, many of these families look to the VA Home Loan Program to provide security for the next chapter in their lives.
“Military children experience unique challenges that some of their civilian peers may never encounter,” said Patrick Zondervan, executive director of VA’s Loan Guaranty Service. “I know firsthand how challenging it is for children of military families to pack up and begin anew, because I watched my own children go through the hardships of starting all over every time my PCS changed.
“Homeownership is a powerful source of stability for families navigating PCS transitions, and I’m proud to lead a team that helps these families find a place to call home during a time that can often be challenging.”
On average, children of military families move six to nine times before graduating high school. Each move means saying goodbye to friends, teachers and familiar surroundings—and starting over again. This is where stability at home becomes essential.
The VA Home Loan program offers unique benefits that can help military families establish roots quickly in a new community. With no down payment (in most cases), limited closing costs and no private mortgage insurance, VA home loans make homeownership more accessible—and help provide the stability military families need for a new beginning. A home becomes a place where traditions continue, milestones are celebrated and children feel grounded, no matter where PCS orders take them across the United States or its territories.
Since 1944, VA has guaranteed more than 29 million loans for Veterans and military families to buy homes across America. Steps to begin the homebuying process include:
- Securing your Certificate of Eligibility (COE) — https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/how-to-request-coe/.
- Reviewing your financial status to see what you can afford to pay for a home. Here are some resources to help:
- Learning about VA home loan entitlement and limits online.
- Reading about the VA funding fee and other loan closing costs online.
- Getting more advice from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) online.
- Using the CFPB’s mortgage calculator online.
- Choosing a lender.
- Choosing a real estate agent.
- Shopping for a home.
Programs like the VA Home Loan do more than provide housing, they help create stability, security and a place to grow.
VA’s Home Loan Program staff are standing ready to support Veterans and their families during PCS season. For more information, please visit https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/.
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My triplets were just watching this episode and yelled, “Mommy! Can they help you and daddy when we move again?”
https://www.disneyplus.com/mickeymousefunhouse/
Ctrl + Shift + V
In this episode of Mickey Mouse Funhouse, he is joined by Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Pluto help military families move around the world! With Donald’s talent for numbers and Daisy’s flair for choosing the perfect real estate agent, the gang uses housing resources to guide military families on their home buying journey. Join Mickey and his friends in uniform as they tackle housing challenges, share laughter, and learn valuable lessons about teamwork, financial responsibility, and the heartwarming meaning of military service. This delightful episode is filled with catchy songs, magical moments, and the signature Disney charm, reminding us all that with good friends by your side, anything is possible!
This is very helpful for kids as they PCS with their family:
• financial status review to see what they can afford to pay for a home;
• Learning about VA home loan entitlement and limits,
• Reading about VA funding fee and other loan closing costs.
Perfect for bedtime storytelling by their parents, to help them fall asleep.
NO CALCULATOR THERE?
Online CFPB mortgage calculator
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/explore/understand-the-different-kinds-of-loans-available/#loan-term-calculator
This is great, a good news story for ‘Month of the Military Child’ and VA home loans that help service members and their families buy/sell when moving. Can you share more resources on how VA works with DoD with that moving process?
As a former military brat, my childhood consisted of constant PCS moves (both parents served). I am personally offended by this shallow, self-serving VA post, catering to its own management. This article pays no respect to military children’s resilience, offers zero practical advice to help kids navigate new schools, nothing about the emotional upheaval we experienced, and it fails to address real disruptions of frequent moves. Instead, it clumsily pivots into a home loan advertisement with generic links, providing no meaningful support for military families during their PCS process. The writing lacks substance, depth, or empathy. This is performative government advertising, not genuine advocacy. Military families deserve far better than this empty narrative.
‘Student 2 Student (S2S)’ is good for military kids at your new school to welcome you. S2S can help kinds with classes, and make friends fast when they PCS! https://militarychild.org/programs-and-initiatives/student-2-student
SESAME STREET FOR MILITARY FAMILIES
https://sesamestreetformilitaryfamilies.org/
Fun videos, games, printables, happy stories about moving, deployments, and big changes. Perfect if you have youngsters who want something easy and relatable.
This unhelpful post was headlined for ‘military children’, so why were no helpful links provided for kids? Only thing ‘for a child’ was the elementary-level writing, strongly suggest VA do basic research about topics and audiences for what it call ‘News’.
Thanks Again VA ..
OMG queen, I feel for you! I’m a mil-kid princess too, right now we’re stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany (near Frankfurters), we PCS’d last year. Mom’s actively dutied Army, and Dad’s vetAF, then my annoytard big bro makes PCS so much drama!
You’re righties about this VA farticle starting all real, “Patty Z & the Deployments”… sounded like a funny musical, then plot-twist into adulting home loan bla-bla, anyway we sold before moving here, and we can’t buy a house overseas. It’s Month of the Military Child, not a home sales pitchy, richybitchy. Mil-kids serve too. Becky nailed it, boom (mic drop).
Props for speaking up and using it for your summer assignment, you wear smarty pants. That took guts, especially with those fake-ass friends. We’ve done a couple PCS moves already, so I get the SDstress.
Also check Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC)
→ https://www.militarychild.org
‘Student 2 Student’ (S2S) program pairs you with other mil-kids to help you settle-in fast and make friends, not ‘frenemies’! Military OneSource link is helpful, I’ll share with my group and imma drop anyone who says something stupid!
You’re not alone, Emma. Lean on your bestie-moms (total “Chief Family Officer” goals LoL), hit up School Liaison Officer at the new base, and breathe. Your dad will be proud. You’ve got this, and we got you + San Diego beaches might help #LoL
We see you girl, Auf Wiedersehen!
Sophie, thanks! Maybe we will meet one day and be besties : -)
Hey guys… my dad’s a Navy officer deployed on a ship in the Arabian Sea, and it feels like forever. I just want him home. Mom’s holding down the fort with her part-time remote job while I try not to stress about our PCS next year to San Diego.
Mom saw a blog post for Month of the Military Child (MOMC) and asked me to read it and write a comment. I thought it might help with my summer school writing assignment and ease my worries about the move.
At first it was good. It talked about how military kids move 6–9 times before graduating, how hard it is saying goodbye to friends, schools, and everything familiar. That hit home—I’m already dreading leaving my soccer team and the friends I’ve finally gotten close to. There was even a quote from Pat Z. at the VA about how tough deployments and moves were on his own kids. I was nodding along, thinking someone finally gets it.
Then it completely switched to boring adult stuff: getting a Certificate of Eligibility, checking finances, picking a lender, finding a real estate agent, and buying a house with a VA loan. I’m 14! I have no idea what any of that means. I’m not house-hunting, that’s Mom and Dad’s job (mostly Mom’s right now while Dad’s gone). She even calls herself our “CFO” , Chief Family Officer.
I showed it to Mom. She laughed and said, “Honey, this isn’t really for kids. The headline and that one paragraph make it sound like it is, but it’s just selling VA loans to parents.”
I shared it with my friends. Big mistake. They thought it was stupid and said I was stupid for sending it. One asked, “Why are they telling us to get a loan? We’re not the ones buying houses!”
This article was supposed to support milbrats like me, but it left me more confused and sad instead of helping with real worries like friends, the new school in San Diego, and Dad being deployed.
Anyone else have a PCS coming up with actually useful advice?
Hey Emma, girl, you’re right. Fo’sho the blogicle probs not written by any milspouse or actual milbrat. Writer totes missed the point of ‘Military Child Month’.
Military kids like us serve too! We gotta deal with constant moves, saying goodbye to our friends, start over at new schools, and stress/worry about deployments, and not just in April, but all year 24/7/365. All us milbrat’s stories are different, but we all kinda get each other, don’t we? The blogticle author doesn’t, that’s for sure.
That VA post had Zero-F’s given, nothing for us kids, no real stuff, no celebration, no hardship, nothing about what we go through, no building community, just a sales pitch for COE, “child on exploited” that’s lame. I also thought the story was ‘for’ kids, but it wasn’t, it was child-ish.
Emma girl, so big props to you for writing your post, using your words, and sharing your feelings. That took guts, and heart, even if your mom suggested it. And yeah… shame on those “frenemies” who called you stupid. Real friends wouldn’t do that, real friends would help.
So, one actually helpful resource is ‘Military OneSource’ and its also FREE + made for kids/teens like us:
http://www.militaryonesource.mil
• ‘Plan My Move’ tool for PCS chaos
• ‘Changing Schools’ guide tips
• ‘How to Say Goodbye’
• ‘Sponsors’ (kid@new base shows you around)
• Free counseling if the move + deployment stress is rough
You’re not alone in your PCS, Emma!