When they come home.
For many injured service members returning from war - and for their families - a new battle has begun.
Issues of physical recovery, post military training and employment, and the stress of everyday life present huge challenges.
Hundreds of nonprofit and other organizations, many run on shoestring budgets, have sprung up to help veterans navigate their futures.
These are just a few I have chosen to highlight.
http://www.sentinelsoffreedom.org/
A group of San Ramon Valley, California business and community leaders have joined together to help veterans who have suffered serious war injuries as a result of their service in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The assistance can take the form of housing, employment, mentoring, education, transportation and community support over a period of up to four years.
Communities across the nation can take a lead role in welcoming home severely injured service members. In so doing they create and extend community pride by providing support and mentoring to these deserving Americans.
Our Sentinels of Freedom Foundation will work with other communities to advise them on:
Securing Temporary and/or Permanent Housing
Providing or Adapting a Home or Vehicle
Finding Jobs and/or Educational Opportunities
Contacting and Working with the Military and VA
Organizing a Welcome Home Celebration
http://fisherhouse.org/
The Fisher House™ program is a unique private-public partnership that supports America's military in their time of need. The program recognizes the special sacrifices of our men and women in uniform and the hardships of military service by meeting a humanitarian need beyond that normally provided by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.
Because members of the military and their families are stationed worldwide and must often travel great distances for specialized medical care, Fisher House™ Foundation donates "comfort homes," built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. These homes enable family members to be close to a loved one at the most stressful times - during the hospitalization for an unexpected illness, disease, or injury.
There is at least one Fisher House™ at every major military medical center to assist families in need and to ensure that they are provided with the comforts of home in a supportive environment. Annually, the Fisher House™ program serves more than 8,500 families, and have made available more than two million days of lodging to family members since the program originated in 1990. Based on a comparison of fees at a Fisher House™ (the average charge is less than $10 per family per day, with many locations offering rooms at no cost) with commercial lodging facilities in the same area, it is estimated that families have saved more than $60 million by staying at a Fisher House™ since the program began.
In addition to constructing new houses, Fisher House™ Foundation continues to support existing Fisher Houses™ and help individual military families in need. Families and friends of patients at any of the military's hospitals can now receive up-to-the-minute reports on a loved one by going to the patient's own customized web page, thanks to new services provided through CaringBridge. We are also proud to administer and sponsor Scholarships for Military Children, the Hero Miles program, and co-sponsor the Newman's Own Award.
http://www.operationcomfort.org/
Operation Comfort coordinates donations [including money, goods and services] to provide comfortable and rehabilitative living room areas as well as family waiting rooms for service personnel being treated in the burn and orthopedic units at Brooke Army Medical Center [BAMC] in San Antonio, Texas. Operation Comfort was started by an American Airlines flight attendant who was part of a team transporting soldiers to and from the Middle East. This person is Janis Roznowski. Says Janis, “Having had the great experience of being in the presence of some of the bravest men and women I have ever met, makes me realize that we can never do enough for them. I believe that our military men and women are truly our nation’s National Treasure. Now that they are wounded, we must do what we can for them.”
Our Wounded Military first: Operation Comfort is focused on providing a fresh, useful environment where wounded servicemen can communicate with family and comrades, have access to state-of-the-art computing equipment, large screen entertainment in their social rooms, comfortable furniture for these rooms and color schemes that are very relaxing.
Their families second: Because the rehabilitation of our servicemen oftentimes requires family members to be close by, we make every effort to improve the family stay. By extending our efforts to Burn/Ortho Waiting rooms, Fisher Houses and the Soldier Assistance Center, we are able to help our wounded servicemen/women have a peace of mind that their family needs are also met. It is our hope that our wounded will recover faster and more completely when they are not burdened with administrative or family concerns.
Their fighting comrades third: At Operation Comfort, we also recognize the need of the wounded service personnel to stay in contact with their military comrades as well as family members who are unable to travel to San Antonio. It is in this regard that computers and telecom gear is provided. We want the servicemen to stay in touch with no cost to them.
http://www.yellowribbonfund.com/yellowribbonfund/
Every day, our wounded servicemen and women return from combat, many to long-term rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital. Beginning in late 2004, over 500 individuals and businesses in the Washington Metropolitan Area donated funds to help these service members and their families. In February, 2005, we created the Yellow Ribbon Fund specifically to welcome them into our community through community volunteers--friends who care.
Welcoming Our Injured Service Members
Long-term rehabilitation at any hospital is not easy. Family and community support helps a patient tremendously in their recovery. Most injured service members at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital are away from their own communities, with only a few family members around and some with none. Many are amputees. These active duty service members' primary responsibility is to successfully accomplish their recovery mission. That mission still leaves many of them a substantial amount of free time.
Into Our Community
Yellow Ribbon Fund volunteers arrange opportunities for the patient to enjoy our community, just as members of their local community would do if Walter Reed were there, instead of here. We take them to local sporting events, invite them to join us in hunting, fishing, and other sports. We take them and their families to a variety of other events in our community. When the Government does not cover the cost of a family visit, the Yellow Ribbon Fund arranges free hotel rooms and apartments. If a family is here for an extended period, the Yellow Ribbon Fund arranges taxis and rental cars so that they can enjoy our community.
In our Mentorship and Internship Program, we offer these service members the following: (1) an opportunity to use their free time to learn job skills with a local company and to have meaningful interaction with the civilian business community (2) if appropriate, more formal training on the job, in a local business or at a technical institution (3) as required, transportation to and from the job or training site (4) community interns and friends who care.
Remember the Troops
And Peace on Earth
