b'2021 ANNUAL REPORT families have access to resources and financial counseling. A comprehensive survey was conducted to better understand the financial needs of service members and their families, particularly as a result of the pandemic that identified food insecurity, increasing debt, and significant job losses for military spouses. The needs of the military community continue to grow yearly, and Military Saves is committed to evolve in order to meet those needs.Workplace Savings:In 2021 America Saves formed a broad coalition of organizations in Wisconsin and launched the statewide Wisconsin Saves Automatic Savings Initiative to encourage millions of Wisconsinites to establish emergency savings accounts through automated saving. Recognizing many individuals were not fully prepared for the lasting economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsin Saves focused on the role of employers in promoting saving for emergencies to their employees. The campaign launched in April and encouraged small- and medium-sized employers to promote to their employees the ease and benefits of saving automatically for emergencies through split deposit. The initiative is led by Wisconsin State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld, President and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association Rose Oswald Poels, and Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) President Wendy Baumann. Employers were provided with a digital tool kit with easy-to-use resources to help with their outreach to employees. One of the tools included was the Split to Save pledge. To date, 97 employers have joined the initiative, representing approximately 10,000 employees.As a result of the Wisconsin Saves Automatic Saving Initiative, America Saves plans to share learnings and best practices on how other states or large networks can encourage employers to motivate their employees to use split deposit automatic saving.During 2021 six new employers signed on as Split to Save employers and a total of 1,603 employees took the Split to Save pledge. Several employers used America Saves Week 2021 to engage employees with Split to Save. As a result, nearly 1,400 new employees took the Split to Save pledge during the Week with the top three savings goals of Emergency Savings, Vacation, and Retirement.22 Consumer Federation of America'