ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — When most people hear about the Employee Assistance Program, they often think of counseling, but the program offers so much more.

EAP’s Work-Life Program offers services that can help all Air Force civilian employees, including Non-Appropriated Fund workers, as well as Guard and Reserve employees and families, juggle the responsibilities of work and home without dropping the ball.

Air Force Materiel Command civilians have had access to the Air Force EAP for more than 15 years. The program expanded its reach, rolling out Air Force wide in October 2017.

Heather Watkins, an Air Force EAP field consultant at Robins Air Force Base, said the program’s specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide expert guidance, information and personalized referrals to service providers in the employee’s area.

“The Employee Assistance Work-Life Program is a benefit to Air Force civilian employees and their families that saves employees time by helping them with personal life issues that can otherwise distract them from work such as: child and elder care, education, financial or legal issues, health and everyday responsibilities,” she said.

Watkins said the program offers referrals for services ranging from adult care and aging – including care options, living arrangements, respite care, grief and bereavement – to daily living tasks like home improvement, automotive and cleaning services, emergency preparedness, travel arrangements, and much more.

The Work-Life Program even offers resources for COVID-19 through its Life-Care Resource Center. Such resources include discounts and deals on living healthy at home with your family, practicing mindfulness meditation for well-being and performance, planning staycations, and utilizing available financial resources.

The Work-Life Program also provides free kits containing various products and information on many of the more commonly faced life issues.

“The program helps to ease the burden of stress and everyday life by allowing specialists to research needed community resources and ensuring that the resource is available for the employees to use,” Watkins said. “Using Work-Life services can save the employee hours of time by having the specialist do the research on local resources for them.”

No matter when you need help, EAP consultants are there, said Carolina Perez, an Air Force EAP field consultant at Robins for two years.

“The EAP Work-Life Program helps Air Force civilians and their household members take some of the stress out of everyday life and major life milestones,” she said. “The EAP Work-Life Program can assist with smoother life transitions to include help with moving, retirement, adoption, child care, adult care, wedding planning, education and more.

“Specialists are at the ready to provide members and their families with expert guidance, information, and personalized referrals to service providers in their area,” Perez said.

Perez said EAP Work-Life services help people keep their focus on the Air Force mission, not life’s difficulties.

“The goal of any EAP program is to assist employees with personal and work-related problems that may impact their job performance, health, mental and emotional well-being,” she said. “The Work-Life Program is an important part of the Air Force EAP in that it can assist members and their families with addressing key life events and day-to-day challenges that may be impacting their job performance.”

Air Force civilians and eligible military members, along with their families, can access the EAP Work-Life Program by calling EAP at 1-866-580-9078.

By setting up an account on the EAP website at https://www.afpc.af.mil/eap, individuals can access EAP’s Life-Care Resource Center webinars, live talks, audio guides, and articles that offer insight and strategies into key life events, as well as day-to-day challenges.

Contact EAP today to see how its programs can help you.