#militarymonday, eMentor, military, Military Support Series, milspouse, support, veteran

Have you heard about eMentor? #MilitaryMonday #MilitarySupportSeries

No Comments

Welcome to another Support Series posting.  I haven’t made one of these posts in bit here, but last week I had the pleasure of seeing my friend over at eMentors at one of the recent Hiring Our Heroes, hiring fairs.  People need to know about eMentors, so they got bumped to the top of my list of support services to highlight.  eMentor provides both a military spouse and veteran program, which I truly believe is so vital.  With the growing number of military spouses powering forward in their careers with great determination, the eMentor program is one of the keys to thriving.

Original 
The Military Spouse eMentor Leadership Program welcomes mentors and protégés who are spouses or widow/ers of military members and veterans. We also invite representatives of military spouse-friendly firms to serve as corporate mentors to assist protégés seeking employment or with other career issues. The program puts military spouses in virtual touch with more experienced spouses and corporate and career mentors for guidance and support with challenges of all kinds and for assistance with finding meaningful employment with longevity and upward mobility. 
Their program knows no bounds.  If you’re in a field, they probably have a mentor for you.  In my last conversation with them they had found a Micro-biologist with some crazy specialty that I had never heard of.   A mentor is a valuable resource that I don’t think many think of.   They have walked in your shoes, they’ve been there.  If you factor in the added value of a fellow military spouse, who has faced the unique challenges that we have in our lives….well, then you’ve struck gold my friends.
Aside from the MilSpouse program, eMentor also has several other unique programs: Officer Women (Male officers can participate as mentors only), CadetMidnWomen (women officers, officer veterans and officers-in-training in all the services: U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines) and a Veterans program (a valuable resources for those seeking to transition from the military to civilian world).
The program is easy to particpate in, simply chose the program you’d like and click “join”.  There you will complete an online profile so that you can be matched correctly.  The relationships take place online mostly, but phone conversations and in-person meetings offer further support.  Mentors and protegees will receive online newsletters, emails and periodic trainings to further support the relationship.  There are also discussion forums available for further conversations with others enrolled in the program.
I really encourage anyone looking to further their careers, or begin anew to check out the eMentor program.  Whether you are a teacher, a nurse, a micro-biologist or an entrepreneur; if you a Veteran looking to move forward in the civilian world, check out the eMentor program.

post signature
If you like what you just read please click to send a quick vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs- The best mommy blog directory featuring top mom bloggers

Continue Reading

#militarymonday, Celebration of Service, community service, Home Depot Foundation, homeless veterans, Veterans, Washington DC

Home Depot Foundation – Doing More for Veterans *D.C. Project*

No Comments

The Home Depot Foundation, created in 2002, is the organization that manages the grants, initiatives and disaster relief for Home Depot.  It also manages Team Depot, the associate-led volunteer group.  Community service has always been of great importance to Home Depot, being involved within the communities they are located.  The foundation was formed to repair the lives and homes of those around them, by connecting with local non-profits.  Since its inception, the foundation has invested over $340 million to assist veterans and their families in need, as well to improve local parks, playgrounds and community buildings.  The Home Depot Foundation has committed $80million over the next five years to the needs of Veterans.  The sheer magnitude of all Home Depot has accomplished is staggering.  Please take time to read more about the projects on their website.  Partners to the Home Depot Foundation include Habitat For Humanity, The Fisher House, Semper Fi Fund, Operation Homefront, Team Rubicon and many more.

This week, the Celebration of Service, which runs from 9/11 to Veterans’s Day, will bring The Home Depot Foundation to Washington, DC, to partner with The National Association of Concerned Veterans. The NACV is one of the oldest active veterans service organizations.  It began operating in the DC Metro area in 1972.  The focus has been on housing, employment, training and reintegration.  They have created a comprehensive program that seeks to create the easiest transition for Vets.  Their transitional housing in the DC area provides a safe place for both male and female veterans, as well as their children and families.  Team Depot will be bringing a team to update and renovate the transitional homes in the city, which is one of 350 projects completed during this Celebration of Service.  Dedicating time and money explicitly to ensure that every Veteran and their families have a safe place to call home is a goal that began in 2011; and since that time the Home Depot Foundation has invested over $52 million.  More than $1.5 million of that has been with local Veteran assistance organizations in the DC area.

Visit Home Depot’s Foundation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Watching this short video about Home Depot and their Mission to serve

post signature

Continue Reading

#militarymonday, #militaryspportseries, Air National Guard, military mental health, pts, ptsd, Real Warriors Campaign, TBI, Wingman

#MilitaryMonday The Wingman Project and Real Warriors Campaign

No Comments

It’s the last day of September, therefore the last day of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month (check out my post here); so now do we just move on to the next awareness month?  I get the idea of awareness months, but sometimes I worry that after that month passes, it will be forgotten.  People tend to take up the mantle of a cause when its cool or profitable, and then it eventually falls by the wayside.  For those that are living through these sorts of things, one month of recognition just simply isn’t enough.

I wanted to highlight some resources that concentrate on keeping this issue at the forefront all the time.  It isn’t until issues of mental health because a concern all the time, that things will change.  There shouldn’t be a negative stigma attached to someone living well.  As someone that has personally struggled with depression and anxiety

The Wingman Project, of the Air National Guard – 


was created in August 2007 by the Deputy Director of Safety of the Air National Guard as a collaborative solution, including chaplains, family support, medical community, and safety, for all Airmen and their families to address suicide intervention. Since then, the project has been endorsed by the US Air Force and the Department of Defense, receiving an HQ Air Force “Best Practice” in July 2009. 
On their website you can access ACE training for family and friends, and also request comprehensive ACE training, where you could then train others to be a Wingman.  
The New StepUp Campaign encourages everyone to spread the word about the Wingman project and suicide prevention awareness.  Learn ACE, download the mobile app and find your local DPH.  Talking about it, and not sweeping it under the rug is the way to make it “normal” and acceptable!

I met some of these wonderful people this summer at the National Training Seminar for Military Child Education Coalition.
The Acadia Military Support Services Program is specially designed to help our Active Duty Service Members and their families focus on healing from the trauma of living through life-threatening events and human tragedy while courageously performing their military duties to maintain our freedom.  Our highly qualified professionals stand ready to provide first-class mental health care, and unequaled substance abuse recovery and rehabilitation through  our network of TRICARE certified facilities.
There’s a wide range of resources and treatments available through this program, and they are prepared to handle anything that comes their way.  They have compassion and love for our troops and their families; and providing care in a stress-free and safe environment is their goal.  They have residential treatment facilities scattered about the US, and provide assistance to the service member and their families from all five branches including the Public Health Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
The Real Warriors Campaign is a multimedia public awareness campaign designed to encourage help-seeking behavior among service members, veterans and military families coping with invisible wounds. Launched by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) in 2009, the campaign is an integral part of the Defense Department’s overall effort to encourage warriors and families to seek appropriate care and support for psychological health concerns.
What I love the most about the Real Warriors Campaign is that they feature, and regularly talk about, real service members that have sought out mental health and psychological treatment.  I think that really is 
the best way to address this issue.  These real warriors have continued on with successful military careers, maintaining security clearances and learning coping skills to do all those things.  They also provide confidential assistance through phone, live chat and email in partnership with the Defense Centers of Excellence Outreach Center.
Service Members can log into service member forums to talk with men and women who have 
been where you are.
I wish I could post every single video and PSA.  I urge you to watch more of them, spread the word, show them to your friends, husbands, wives, friends….

post signature

Continue Reading

#militarymonday, mental health, military, pts, Suicide Prevention, TBI

It’s Suicide Prevention Awareness Month….now what?

No Comments

There are many months of the year that are dedicated to some sort of cause or awareness, some of which are great, some of which you’re thinking “okay, we need a specific month to think about this?”  Some, like September and its Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, make me stop and think.  We have this month, to think about it,  but so what?  I mean, its great that we’re thinking about it, but what are we actually DOING about it?  I think we are just now starting to really pay attention to this, things are just starting to move, and people are admitting we have a problem.   Resources are being put out there, by Veterans and civilians alike, because I think the realization that the numbers are becoming staggering is coming into play.  Too many military members are committing suicide because its their only way out, and their only way to deal with things.  And what about all the people who are left behind, and the trauma they have now experienced by a friend or family member, or just a fellow soldier in their unit ending their life?

The statistics are there, we see them in every article.  In the 2011 DoDSER (DoD Suicide Event Report) it cited the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, and its report that stated 301 service members died by suicide, and a staggering 915 attempted it.  Programs are created, talks are given, and even last year the Army had an entire ‘Stand Down’ day, where no one (except essential personnel) worked.  Instead they all attended training.  The numbers keep on rising despite all this, and the military seems to be baffled.  But what is the answer?  I was talking to few friends, originally wanting to get their thoughts on where the disconnect might actually be.  Is it fear, is it lack of training and resources for family members, is it lack of the right resources, or is it something else.  As I began to think about it, in the five seconds it took me to ask the all, I wondered something.  Maybe its the fact that there isn’t one right answer.  Maybe that’s how we operate, or how the military operates.  There is a solution to the problem, you apply it, its fixed.  One of my friends was thinking the same thing I was.  There isn’t one right answer, “there’s as many reasons for suicide as there are people,” one of the my friends said.  You know, I think she’s right.  Maybe its not the solution that we should be looking for.  Maybe we should be looking at how we get the solutions (plural) to the people they need to go to.

In a conversation with Major Ed Puldio (WarriorsForFreedom.org) and Dr. Dan Reidenberg (SAVE.org) the focus wasn’t on a specific program, but making sure those that needed help, go the help they needed.  In 2004 Major Pulido was injured by an IED.  He realized that despite what he wanted for himself, to go on with his military career despite his physical and emotional injuries, there were other things for him to do out there.  He hopes that others won’t be scared to finally get that help either.  Fear of losing your career isn’t worth the long term loss to yourself, your friends and your family.

There seems to be a multi-solution for all of those involved in the conversation last week.   Peer-to-Peer mentors, education in the workplace (for National Guard and Reserve), raising awareness for general medical providers, for law enforcement and giving tools to family members.  One of the most unique of these programs was the Carson J. Spencer Foundation, a unique program that has set its sights on changing the face of mental illness and suicide.  Their program, Working Minds, provides tools and training to enable business to battle suicide head on.  Please read more about the Carson J. Spencer Foundation, a Colorado based organization, on their website.   It’s organizations like these that are realizing, like I did, that there is no one way to “solve” the issue of suicide.  There’s a magic pill that everyone can take a suddenly everything will be okay.

How is your community, base and/or state tackling the issue of mental health and wellness?  How would you help those dealing with thoughts of suicide?

You can find a growing list of resources by clicking on the Military Mental Health tab at the top of my blog.  See that I’m missing a resource, please let me know!

post signature

Continue Reading

#militarymonday, #MilSpouseSurvey, military monday, Military Officers Association of America, military spouse, Military Support Series, MOAA

MOAA and the #MilSpouse Employment Survey #MilitarySupportSeries

No Comments
As I’m prepping this post (its already Monday) I am glued to my television set watching the coverage of the shooting at the Navy Yard.  It brings back too many memories of the shooting near our old duty station in Nevada.  When our military members are unsafe even at home, it is almost too much to handle.  I have a friend at the Navy Yard so prayers and thoughts for him and his family, and for all those involved especially first responders.
For this week’s Military Monday, Military Support Series, I am highlighting MOAA (Military Officers Association of America).   I have had the extreme pleasure to work with some of the volunteers at some events, and they are the most wonderfully passionate people that I have met.  They are truly here to help you, and are very approachable and know what they are talking about.
 MOAA is one of the Nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers.  It is an independent, non-profit, politically nonpartisan organization.  With over 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers and their families – we are a powerful force, speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their career.  MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members.  We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community.  We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.

Membership is open to active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired and former commissioned officers and warrant officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Auxiliary membership is also available to spouses of deceased service members.
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.
With more than 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their families – we are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their careers.
MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members. We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/main_article.aspx?id=982#sthash.UabCGEax.dpuf
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.
With more than 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their families – we are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their careers.
MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members. We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/main_article.aspx?id=982#sthash.UabCGEax.dpuf
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.
With more than 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their families – we are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their careers.
MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members. We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/main_article.aspx?id=982#sthash.UabCGEax.dpuf
As a member you have access to so much support, provided by this amazing organization and their chapters near you.  Assistance is provided in areas of Finance, Health, Education, Professional Development, Pay and Benefits, Careers, Discounts and Travel.   This year MOAA also co-hosted the 2013 Warrior-Family Symposium just last week.  I was unable to attend, but have to keeping up with all the information from the event on MOAA’s website.  You can access video from the event on the site. 
One of the main reasons why I chose to cover MOAA this week is because of the #MilSpouseSurvey that is going on right now.  This survey is not just for MOAA members, or the spouses of Officers.  We know that the employment of military spouses is a huge issue right now.  In the milspouse universe right now, its everywhere.  Everyone is working on it I feel like.  I was just at a hiring fair directed specifically towards spouses.  MOAA is doing its part, partnering with several other spouse and business organizations, to find out how to best address this significant issue in our community.  Please take the survey, and watch for its release in Spring of 2014.
Thanks for stopping by today.  If you can’t use this information please pass it on to someone you know!
Connect with MOAA on social media as well – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

post signature

Continue Reading