Coronado Gives: Strength In Service Supports Military Families

Published by the Coronado Eagle & Journal by Christine Johnson December 1, 2025

The mission of Strength in Service is to promote mental health support, career opportunities, and foster social health and belonging to enhance the quality of life for active-duty service members, veterans, military spouses, and their families.

There are times when you come across a story that makes you sit up and take notice. Something that allows you to believe there are truly people in this world that want to use their powers for nothing but good. This is one of those stories.

Crystal Bettenhausen-Bubulka was just beginning her clinical social work practice when her family moved to Coronado in 2021. As a military spouse of 18 years, she knew the challenges military families face finding health care, mental health support, and therapies. While facing a need for support in her own family, she encountered what military families face on a daily basis. Four-month waitlists. Disconnected phone numbers. Calls not returned. For a family in crisis, four months and no one to help them is a lifetime with no solution. Crystal decided to become part of that solution.

In 2021, Crystal decided to take what was broken and try to put a plan in place to help families like her own that were struggling, to find care and support. “I started Strength in Service because the system failed my family”, said Crystal. “Now we are making sure it doesn’t fail anyone else’s”.

The mission of Strength in Service is to promote mental health support, career opportunities, and foster social health and belonging. They want to enhance the quality of life for active-duty service members, veterans, military spouses and their families. The ultimate vision is to build a socially connected community and safe spaces where military families can develop emotional strength and prevent mental health challenges that lead to suicide.

In 2023, Strength in Service opened their first office in Coronado. A physical location where families can access mental health support. Crystal understood that there were two crisis that needed immediate attention. 1). Military families can’t access mental health care. 2). Military spouses can’t maintain careers because of constant relocations and limited flexible employment creating a 21% unemployment rate for those spouses. The solution was to train military spouses to become mental health providers who serve military families. Today, Strength in Service employs two Associate Clinical Social Workers and has helped over 65 military families. These military spouse clinicians serve families across California via telehealth, accepting major insurance and offering sliding scale fees for families who can’t afford care.

In 2024, Strength in Service launched their 501(c)(3) to support the growth of social work, provide social connection programs, and mentor military mental health clinicians. To date, they have provided 235 hours of support to military-connected individuals and their families. But like any great program, Strength in Service needs your help as they continue to grow and double the positive impact on military families throughout California.

Your generous and thoughtful donations will allow military families access to healthcare, zero waitlist, accepted insurance, and in-person care in CORONADO. The funds will also provide military spouse clinicians sustainable part-time income, career advancement, flexible hours accommodating military family life, and a direct impact on the 21% military spouse unemployment rate.

Strength in Service works because the model has military spouses treating military families. When a client struggling with deployment calls in, their therapist has lived through deployment. When a teenager feels invisible after their third school change, their therapists’ children have navigated through the same isolation. And when it’s impossible to get through the healthcare system, their therapist has faced the same barriers with success.

Your tax-deductible donation for Strength in Service can be made through CORONADO GIVES which is hosted by the Coronado Community Foundation.

Go to: coronadogives.com

Click “donate online”

Enter the amount you wish to give

Choose “Military family support” category

Follow giving instructions See the Full Article Here