As Coast Guard Debt-Help Requests Triple, Relief Group Uses Football Rivalry to Spread the Word

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance provided $12.1 million in grants and interest-free loans to more than 4,000 Coast Guard members and families in 2025.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- When the U.S. Coast Guard Academy takes the field against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Audi Field on Nov. 14, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance will use one of the Coast Guard community's most visible gatherings to deliver a message that extends far beyond football:

We Are Coast Guard. We help our own.

CGMA, the official relief society of the U.S. Coast Guard, will launch its We Are Coast Guard awareness campaign around the Secretaries' Cup, bringing together cadets, enlisted members, officers, Coast Guard families, retirees and supporters around a shared responsibility to look out for one another.

The campaign was made possible through a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., supporting CGMA's efforts to expand awareness, strengthen engagement and ensure more Coast Guard members and families know where to turn when they need help. CGMA is one of several organizations that has received grants from Lilly Endowment that are designed to help military and veteran serving organizations strengthen their work with members of the armed services, veterans and their families.

The campaign comes as the Coast Guard expands its year-round suicide prevention effort, Mission Ready: Resilient and Connected, focused on strengthening connection, encouraging help-seeking and ensuring Coast Guard members know how to access support before a crisis occurs.

The need is urgent. In 2024, 14 Coast Guard members died by suicide, the highest number in more than a decade.

Financial pressure does not exist in isolation. Research among veterans has linked severe financial stress with increased suicide risk. At the same time, CGMA is seeing growing demand for assistance among Coast Guard members and families.

Requests for CGMA's Debt Management Program have tripled over the last three years, reflecting increasing demand from members and families struggling with high-interest debt and other financial pressures. CGMA has also provided direct financial support to Coast Guard families affected by suicide, helping address immediate financial needs following devastating loss.

CGMA's support extends far beyond traditional emergency assistance. The organization helps Coast Guard families facing debt, housing instability, food insecurity, domestic violence, disaster recovery, unexpected medical expenses and other financial crises. CGMA also helps families grow through programs supporting adoption and fertility-related expenses.

But providing assistance is only part of the challenge.

CGMA research has identified a significant awareness gap among Coast Guard members regarding the breadth of programs and services available to them. Too often, members learn what CGMA can do only after a supervisor, shipmate, instructor or friend points them toward assistance during a crisis.

We Are Coast Guard is designed to help change that.

"If we can come together for a football game, imagine what we can do when one of our own needs help," said Brooke Millard, CEO of Coast Guard Mutual Assistance. "We want every member of the Coast Guard community to know that when life happens, there is an organization built specifically to help them."

During the Secretaries' Cup, CGMA will invite Coast Guard members from across the service to participate in a shared "WE ARE…COAST GUARD!" call and response, creating a moment of unity inside Audi Field.

The campaign deliberately connects two places where Coast Guard service begins: U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May, where enlisted Coast Guard members begin their careers, and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where the service develops its future officer corps.

Training Center Cape May's November Company 209 recorded the chant during week seven of recruit training. Those recruits graduated on Oct. 9 and will begin reporting to Coast Guard units around the globe. At the Secretaries' Cup, Academy cadets and Coast Guard members from across the service will carry that same message forward.

The campaign will extend beyond the stadium through digital video, social media, Coast Guard outreach and WeAreCoastGuard.com, connecting Coast Guard members and families with information about the assistance available through CGMA.

The goal is simple: ensure more members of the Coast Guard community know help exists before they need it.

We Are Coast Guard. We help our own.

About Coast Guard Mutual Assistance

Coast Guard Mutual Assistance is the official relief society of the U.S. Coast Guard. CGMA provides financial assistance and support to Coast Guard members and families facing financial challenges, emergencies and major life events. Through grants, interest-free loans and other assistance programs, CGMA helps strengthen the financial resilience of the Coast Guard community.

For more information, visit MyCGMA.org or WeAreCoastGuard.com.

SOURCE Coast Guard Mutual Assistance