The Airman and Family Readiness office is no stranger to providing support through everyday challenges. When the United States government shutdown in October 2025 left hundreds of Colorado Air National Guard members and civilian employees without pay, the program quickly became an anchor for families navigating sudden financial uncertainty.
What began as a routine period of support work rapidly turned into a community wide effort to keep food on tables and bills paid.
“We have resources in place to help people with day- to- day stuff,” said Jack Guynn, Airman and Family Readiness program manager. “But throwing this huge and long furlough at everyone meant we all had to adapt in different ways. And especially us, as the COANG Airman and Family Readiness office, we had to step up.”
With many households struggling after paychecks stopped, Guynn and his team moved quickly to identify immediate needs and direct families to emergency assistance. The office received rosters of affected Title 5 civilian and Title 32 dual-status military members who were furloughed.
“We reached out to them saying, ‘Hey, if you need anything during the government shutdown like loans or any type of grants we could potentially offer, or any food bank information, we’ve got a huge resource list,’” Guynn said.
He explained how the program focused primarily on addressing financial and food insecurities, connecting families with resources and funding to meet urgent needs during the shutdown. Using both National Guard Bureau resources and an internally built database, the team developed a comprehensive list of support options tailored to Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Northern Colorado and the Denver metro area.
“We partnered with a lot of food banks in Colorado, Colorado Feeding Kids, and we helped out with C-Corps, which is a Southeastern Christian Church organization that brought out food trucks for people during the furlough,” Guynn said.
Support also came from state leadership.
“Col. David Nagel [director, CONG Joint Resiliency Directorate (J9)] helped secure $150,000 for the CONG Foundation and the Department of Military and Veteran Affairs state loans that we pushed out to multiple members,” Guynn said. “That was a huge win for us. Just from him reaching out to state departments and other internal organizations to make sure our service members had some money and some food to go away with.”
Ashley Fredenberg, Airman and Family Readiness specialist, worked alongside Guynn.
“I think the challenge for me was feeling like I didn’t have enough resources to give everyone,” Fredenberg said. “You want to help people to the maximum extent, and, at first, I felt limited until we were able to secure additional funds. The initial pot of money ran out and we had to figure out how to help those who still needed support further down the road.”
Their work extended far beyond daily conversations with families; they were constantly coordinating with businesses, nonprofits, food banks, and even local firehouses that offered support. The team picked up food donations, distributed gift cards, and pulled together every available resource to make sure Airmen and their families had what they needed during the furlough.
For more than six weeks, the Airman and Family Readiness team worked nonstop to keep families supported by coordinating resources and pushing out assistance wherever it was needed.
Their efforts stretched far beyond routine operations, ensuring no service member or family had to face the shutdown alone.
After 43 days, Congress reached an agreement Nov. 12 to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
“We’re prepared for the next one if it happens,”Guynn said.“The whole J9 team really stepped up. Everyone had a great attitude and everyone kept working, which was amazing to see.”
In the end, their message remains simple but unwavering:“We’re here to support.”
For more information on the services and support that are available through this program, pleasevisit[ https://www.140wg.ang.af.mil/Home/Family-Support/](https://www.140wg.ang.af.mil/Home/Family-Support/)