Village Program Sets Up Military Mom for Success
Ashakyia Blocker was a teenager looking for stability when she enlisted in the Navy right after she turned 18.
“I graduated (high school) May 24, 2012, and I left for the Navy in June,” she said. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I just saw a spot on TV, and I thought ‘I’ll do that.’”
For Ashakyia, the Navy turned out to be a lot of fun, surprising her as a great choice for a career. She was able to travel and see places that she had never considered. Her first duty station was in Hawaii. She was assigned to missions in the Pacific.
A job transition from artillery to religious program specialist challenged her and gave her a new outlook. She worked with chaplains to help service members find resources for everything from mental health assistance to marriage and grief counseling.
“It is more than just housing. It gives people like me more to look forward to. It gives us hope.” – Ashakyia Blocker, Navy veteran
“My first job helped me with my motor skills,” she said. “The shift brought me into a different space and let me grow and mature. It taught me how to give people grace.”
She had two children, son Aasir and daughter Arion. She planned to stay in the military for her career. But after giving birth to her daughter, she experienced post-partum complications, extreme pain and muscle spasms in her lower back that sometimes felt like contractions, numbness in her legs, and bladder issues. She was forced to medically retire long before she planned to leave. Meanwhile, she and her husband separated, and she became a single mom.
Her condition required multiple physical therapy sessions a week. Working was not possible. With her family still on the East Coast and her medical retirement happening in San Diego, Ashakyia worried about where and how she would get by after the Navy.
She learned about Operation Homefront’s Transitional Housing – Villages. The program provides fully furnished apartments for wounded, ill, and injured service members with families to live rent-free while they go through the process of medical separating from the military.
She moved into the San Diego Village in November 2024 with the goal of saving money, paying down debt, and focusing on her health. She needed time to make sure she and her kids found stability again.
“When I first heard about the program, I didn’t believe it,” she said. “I thought no one is going to let you live for free. There’s got to be a catch.”
The program gave her the support she needed to move forward, reaching her goals to find stable housing she could afford, and go back to school for social work. She happened to find an apartment in the same complex as the Villages after graduating the program. Her kids are happy there and enjoy the complex.
“Honestly, in God’s name, what Operation Homefront and donors are doing is amazing, especially for veterans getting out of the military in medical retirement,” she said. “It’s such an uncertain time. You don’t know what the future is going to look like.”
The resources and financial education she received impressed her. as well.
“It’s more than just a transitional program,” she said. “It is giving you a village to support you in a time when you might not understand what is going on in your life. It is more than just housing. It gives people like me more to look forward to. It gives us hope.”
Since 2008, the Village program has defrayed more than $8.7 million in rent and utility costs to military families.
