It takes a village: The family side of Luke Air Force Base
May 23, 2014, 12:02 AM | Updated: 12:02 am
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Luke Air Force Base has become that village to help military spouses raise their children while their spouse is away on deployment.
The lives of Senior Master Sgt. Plez Glenn and his wife, Master Sgt. Tenequa Glenn, were turned upside down when Tenequa was deployed to Afghanistan, leaving Plez a temporary single parent to their 20-month-old triplets.
“One of the most difficult things I’ve done for sure,” said Plez.
One thing that made the transition a little easier on the Glenn family was the Airmen and Family Readiness Center (AFRC) at Luke Air Force Base.
The AFRC provides programs to help families before, during and after deployment.
Sgt. Nicole Eisenbarth went through the AFRC and now works there. The goal of the center is to “prepare, sustain and reintegrate” military families going through deployment.
“We’re pretty passionate about giving them individual care,” said Eisenbarth. “[We want to] bolster them and make them better.”
Sheryl Bush also works on the base in partnership with the AFRC. Working mainly in the youth center, Bush works with anywhere from 200 to 500 military children.
“We are able to provide the children with programs, activities to keep them engaged,” said Bush. “Whenever we see any signs of anything that might be the child missing mom or dad then that’s where the (AFRC) comes in and we partner to provide the services needed to help the child deal with that transition time.”
