The month of May is both Military Appreciation Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. That they both fall in the same month may be coincidental, but it is a totally appropriate pairing.
To truly appreciate former and present members of our military, we need to understand the mental health challenges they face.
To say I’m excited about the Hope For The Warriors Memorial Day 30×30 Virtual Fitness Challenge is a bit of an understatement. Sure, sure, I know you’re saying, “Of course you are. It’s your job.”
Well, you’re right, or at least partially right. I am the Sports and Recreation Manager at Hope For The Warriors, and this program is part of my job.
March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, but those of us who have a loved one with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) don’t need a month. We live it every single minute of every single day.
My husband served in the Army for 17 years. We have been married for 14 years. Most of those 14 years were while he was still serving his country.
Our world was turned upside down when he suffered a TBI.
When I meet with individuals seeking support at the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at Hope For The Warriors, located in Jacksonville, North Carolina, I truly understand their situation. I’ve been there!
I’m the outreach manager for the clinic, which offers mental health services for post-9/11 veterans and military families. In February, our clinic also started treating active-duty service members.
Currently, our services are provided virtually through Cohen Veteran Network (CVN) Telehealth face-to-face video therapy across the state of North Carolina. When pandemic restrictions are lifted, we will also offer in-person sessions in our newly renovated 5,300-square-foot clinic in Jacksonville.
It’s finally 2021, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say we are glad 2020 is in the rearview mirror.
Just because the year has changed, though, does not mean the trying circumstances of the past year have relented. Last year brought unprecedented hardships across all walks of life, and those challenges to our health, economy, and way of life will persist for the foreseeable future.
Resilience has been the key word for 2020. This year has brought us a pandemic, an economic crisis, an upheaval of normalcy, and so much more. Yet, through it all, we have persevered.
As James Lane Allen once said, “adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” This year, the nation—and the world—has experienced adversity.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904
