JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Lisa Deal hasn't received a paycheck in more than a year, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been working.
"The past year has been so more difficult then I would have ever imagined. Much more difficult than working," she said.
The Navy wife has been taking care of her three and one-year-old daughters while her husband was deployed. "Just because you are a stay at home mom, you still do a lot day in and day out," said Deal.
And employers understand that. They are part of the
Hiring Our Heroes campaign, and they all have jobs for spouses like Deal.
"They are going to have a lot of gaps in their resumes. They are going to have times where it wasn't very feasible for them to work, due to multiple deployments or multiple moves," said job fair coordinator, Loreen O'Neal.
The unemployment rate for veterans is 40-percent higher than the national average. And Hiring Our Heroes is working to change that by helping businesses understand exactly what vets and their families bring to the table.
"They are out-of-the-box thinkers. They are above and beyond doers. So hiring a spouse is not charity, it's just good for business," said O'Neal.
"I am just looking to get back out there," said Deal. Lisa hopes she can take her experience from home and move it back into the workforce soon.
Hiring Our Heroes hopes to help 500,000 military veterans and their spouses find work by 2014.
