Hope in Flight

March is Women's History Month and we continue to honor women that have displayed hope and courage.  Today's blog focuses on Pam, spouse of a wounded Marine and one of our honorees for this year's Got Heart, Give Hope® Gala.

Pam enlisted in the Marine Corps a year after graduating high school and at 4' 10" and less than 100 pounds, recruiters were unsure of her strength.  The first Marine began his conversation with "Are you serious?"--clearly in disbelief.  Pam went on to excel in boot camp and in the service and attended college to become an officer.  During her time at Oregon State University, Pam met Ryan and on July 4, 2004, the couple married. 

Nothing during her 10 years in the Marine Corps prepared her for the challenges that lay ahead.  Ryan, a cobra pilot, deployed with the MEU to the middle east in 2007.  In May 2007, Pam received the phone call that Ryan's cobra had been hit during a training exercise. 

It still took a few days before Pam understood the full extent of Ryan's injuries.  She rushed to San Antonio and Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) to be by his side.

The first time she saw Ryan, he was wrapped almost completely in gauze and was in a medically induced coma. She put her hand on his chest and felt his heart beating.  At that moment, she knew that they would be OK.

At the time, Pam was seven months pregnant with their third child. As Ryan began his rehabilitation, Pam focused on supporting him and taking care of their children.  Ryan maintained a positive attitude in spite of having more than 50 surgeries in the three years he was under medical care at BAMC.

As Ryan's recovery progressed, the couple began to make plans for the future.  At one point, Pam made it clear that flying again was absolutely not an option for him. Considering his injuries, no one could blame her.  And yet, it was Pam who eventually turned to Hope For The Warriors® in 2010 and our A Warrior's Wish® Program.  Her Wish was for training to put her husband back in the air, flying again. The end goal was to help Ryan get a job flying with US Customs and Border Protection, a job they had both read about.

"When I read the description, I saw Ryan in that job. I couldn't not let him be himself.  This was who he was."

Hope For The Warriors® granted Pam's Wish and after a year of flight training and another year of interviews and testing, Ryan was hired. In this position, he is both a pilot and a law enforcement officer. 

Pam and Ryan had another great example of hope.  That is--their fourth child who was born in August 2010.  Pam calls her their miracle baby because if Ryan had not lived, she would not have been born.  Each of us feel a close connection with this little girl even though we have never met because Pam and Ryan gave her the most amazing name....Hope.

Join us on April 17, 2013 in honoring Pam and others who demonstrate great hope and courage.  Learn more.

Treating Today’s Service Member- An Integrative Approach to Recovery

As we continue to celebrate women during the month of March, today we highlight Aynisa Leonardo, Military Wellness Program Coordinator and Family Reintegration Program Director with Holliswood Hospital and Hope For The Warriors®. 

Today, Aynisa is our guest blogger.

Military members sign up to serve for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being a tradition of honor, devotion to duty, and a love of country, understanding they might make the ultimate sacrifice. 

What that contract neglects to mention is that a different sort of price may have to be paid in return—being physically or psychologically wounded.  The cost involves isolation, instability, loss, void, and conflict, and these are the perils that treatment providers must learn to examine and support. Finding a way to help clients mesh all of these variables into one integrated and healthy lifestyle can be an elusive goal, and given all of the complexities at play, it’s no surprise why.

“Normal” Life

Service members must constantly evolve and re-establish themselves as their environment changes, creating a physical and emotional strain on the entire family.  These crises are layered and intertwined with aspects of career, relationships, and moral values. Service men and women undergo the stress of extended trainings and/or deployments, which result in displacement from home. Wounded service members are thrust into an array of unpredictable circumstances, related to duty stations, medical boards, continued deployments, expectations, standards, early retirements, and career changes. All of these factors necessitate a sense of continuous adaptability, which can interrupt a person’s constancy and personal identity. Without a steady foundation, they struggle to cultivate connections with each other, their community, their society, the world at large, and ultimately themselves.

True recovery often requires several role inversions: From a position of strength to vulnerability, from a state of emotional numbness to saturation, from a definitive identity to the unknown, and ultimately from wounded to survivor.  Supporting this variability means to understand that loss is a part of life, and that they must grieve in order to grow.

 

Family Support

Another important consideration is to understand the military member in the context of their support system, often a family.  Military families have the capability to display unimaginable levels of unconditional support through even the darkest hours. Family-focused treatment is integral to the wounded, ill, or injured service member’s recovery, as a strengthened and informed family sets the stage for their healing process. Through a course of reciprocal healing, the entire family unit learns how to develop a “new normal” of balanced and productive dynamics, with convergent goals and expectations. 

Treatment Models

Using standard methods alone may be enough to meet basic clinical needs.  However, advancements in progressive treatment options are required in order to transcend clients into areas of existential growth and sustainability. Through a combination of verbal and other expressive modalities, the service member and their family is able to heal, both independently and collectively. An integrated model should include education, skills-building, evidence based treatments, holistic techniques, readjustment counseling, and social/peer support.  

Providers must also understand that this model of recovery cannot be done alone.  Strategic collaborations are essential, in order to combine missions and support continuums of care for clients and families. This is the treatment philosophy of our Family Reintegration Program, which is a partnered endeavor between Holliswood Hospital and Hope for the Warriors©.

You can learn more about this program at the following links: Family Reintegration Program and www.militarywellnessprogram.com/family.html. 

 

Art Therapy

Traumatic experiences cause physical, psychological, emotional, and physiological effects.  A trauma survivor often experiences symptoms of both the mind and body concurrently.  There has been increasing evidence on the correlation between brain functions and trauma. Brain development theorist Bruce Perry discusses how incoming trauma events become encoded in specific areas of the brain, and thus are uniquely accessed and processed.  His studies reveal that “a traumatized brain is compelled to train its focus away from language and verbal content, and to fix instead on non-verbal danger cues. This is why interventions that are based on a strictly cognitive, problem-solving approach cannot impact terror-driven behavior.” (Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal, Belleruth Naparstek).  These findings reinforce the efficacy of symbolic and non-verbal methods in trauma-focused therapy. The following pictures show a series of Art Therapy directives completed by service members in treatment, as part of their respective therapeutic processes. You will commonly notice themes of transformation, representative of the paradigm shift that accompanies recovery.

As new treatment options become available, mental health professionals must continually adapt their methodologies to ensure that today’s service members receive the most effective treatment possible.  By using integrative care, in addition to standard practices, providers are able to go beyond words and help clients and their families reach more impactful and longstanding resolutions.

We posted a story about how art therapy helps families at Holliswood Hospital.  Read here.

If you would like to learn more about a treatment program that implements this model/approach, please visit: www.militarywellnessprogram.com.   

 

Aynisa Leonardo, LCAT ATR-BC, Military Wellness Program Coordinator/Family Reintegration Program Director, Holliswood Hospital/Hope for the Warriors®

Remembering Rick Leipold

March 13, 1957 - March 12, 2013

 

Yesterday, we shared on Facebook that Rick Leipold, our adaptive equipment specialist, had passed away. Today would have been Rick's 56th Birthday.  I am surprised that he is not older--not because he looked older but because he had done so much in his life.  Many years ago, Rick lost his leg in a motorcycle accident but he never felt sorry for himself. Instead, he used his personal experiences to help wounded service members adapt to their new physical challenges.  He loved working with each service member and they loved his sense of humor and positive outlook.

I visited Rick's Facebook page yesterday to see what others had posted. So many service members and friends had wonderful stories to share.

A Vietnam veteran wrote:

"The world of injured and wounded service members has lost a great man.  Rick may have looked short in his wheelchair but he was a giant of a man with a heart to match.  He was an icon in the world of handcrank wheelchairs.  Rick could build an adaptive chair for any type of injured or wounded person.  I can hear Rick screaming out the side window of his van 'You can do it you old Marine!' as I struggled up a mountain on the 9-11 Ride to Recovery. Rick was 'good people.' God speed my friend."

A Hope For The Warriors staff member shared:

"My favorite memory is when Rick and one of our Team members went up and down the escalators in their wheelchairs at the Staten Island Ferry.  Everyone rushed to their assistance, not realizing they were in complete control.  Rick inspired service members to not only feel comfortable in their chairs, but he taught them cool tricks to maneuver through cities.  Rick's positive outlook on life will stay with me forever."

There are many more stories, photos and memories.  Each tells the same story.  Rick--you will be missed.

Story in The Times

Mary Nicholson: The Brave Love of a Fearless Mother



Mary Nicholson (right) with Hope For The Warriors® staff member, Mirka Young

March is Women’s History Month, so today we highlight an amazing woman, mother, and recipient of this year’s Hope & Courage award: Mary Nicholson.

Mary Nicholson is the mother of two sons; Andrew, and Michael. Her younger son, Sgt. Michael Nicholson, joined the Marine Corps one year after graduating high school. He was stationed in Hawaii and in April 2011, deployed to Afghanistan.

Mary’s volunteer service started when Michael’s military service began.  She created a Military Ministry at her church. The group was formed to provide support to servicemen and women by creating care packages and helping their families.  But it was also a support group for the military -- no one can really understand what a military mother goes through, except another military mother.

On July 5, 2011, Mary volunteered at a funeral reception for a fallen service member, though the Military Ministry.  The very next morning, two Marines rang her doorbell. Mary peeked out the window, saw the sharply dressed Marines, and refused to answer the door. Somehow, she thought, if she didn’t open the door, it wasn’t true.

Finally, she opened the door. The Marines quickly said “He’s alive.”

But he had been critically injured. Michael had lost his right leg entirely, his left leg above the knee, and his left arm.

Mary, her husband John, and their son Andrew traveled to Walter Reed Military Medical Center to see Michael.  The medical center would become her new home for the next nine months as Mary supported Michael’s rehabilitation.

While staying with Michael, Mary began volunteering and took on an active role to help other families.  She was part of both the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Wounded Warrior Advisory Committee and the Joint Task Force Wounded Warrior Family Care Committee.  Through this work, Mary joined other parents in identifying the needs of the family members while the service member was receiving medical care.  She also supported other families by putting together family care packages for the family’s first days at the hospital.

Mary stayed at the medical center for nine months and returned home to Tampa the following Spring.  After only two months at home, her husband John was diagnosed with cancer.  Mary now found herself caring for two men in her family; her son Michael, slowly adapting to his new life as a triple amputee, and her husband John, who insisted on working through all his cycles of chemotherapy.

In the face of all these challenges Mary has remained poised, strong and positive; seamlessly balancing the unwavering love of a mother, while not coddling her grown Marine son because of his injuries.

Michael will soon return to Tampa and await his new “Smart Home” to be completed. Mary is volunteering for Hope For The Warriors® and the Spouse/Caregiver Scholarship. Mary is thankful for the support the Nicholsons received during their darkest hours. She is dedicated to giving back to all those people who helped and supported her family through this life-altering ordeal. 

Handpainted NASCAR Helmet Signed by Jeff Gordon

  
Whether you are a NASCAR fan, or just a supporter of Hope For The Warriors® , visit Ebay to bid on the handpainted Du Pont NASCAR race helmet signed by NASCAR legend, Jeff Gordon! This is truly a one of a kind item for any fan, and all proceeds benefit Hope For The Warriors® .
 

 

The helmet was handpainted and is being auctioned off by Dave Smith, artist and owner of Phoenix Designs, and avid Hope For The Warriors® supporter. Dave has donated other helmets to be auctioned off in past years. We highlighed Dave in another blogpost from July 2012, titled, 5th Annual Winchester Memorial Poker Run. 

If you're interested in owning this one of a kind piece of art, signed by NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon, check out Ebay to bid now, and remember, proceeds of your purchase will benefit Hope For The Warriors® . But hurry,  the auction closes on March 15, 2013!

Thank you again to Dave for his continued support to Hope For The Warriors® .

Donate Today!

Turning Tragedy into Purpose

March is Women's History Month and today we celebrate a strong woman who has become a great asset to Hope For The Warriors® and to the military families that we serve.

Denise lost her husband, a New York City firefighter, on 9/11.  She is the mother of three children and at that time, worked as a registered nurse.  As she looked for ways to heal after her loss, she discovered the benefits of yoga.  Today, she is a registered yoga instructor and the owner of Strong and Soulful Yoga.

Denise now has a mission.  She uses yoga therapy to help service members struggling with PTSD.  She does this as part of the Family Reintegration Program supported by Hope For The Warriors® and Holliswood Hospital.  Earlier this year, Denise explained how yoga therapy benefits the service member and their family.  Through her work, she conveys to service members that this is a solution to the problems they are facing, a brighter future and above all, HOPE. (Read here.)

Denise also faces her greatest tragedy head on by sharing her story with visitors to Ground Zero.  She is a docent in training at the 9/11 Tribute Center.

Thank you to Denise for your dedication to our military families.  Hope For The Warriors® could not complete our work without you!

March is Women's History Month

President Robin Kelleher speaks at the Got Heart, Give Hope Gala, 2012

 

March is Women's History Month and as an organization, Hope For The Warriors® would not exist if it wasn't for women.  Our history is clear:  A group of military wives founded the organization in 2006. They stood together as they witnessed, firsthand, the effects of the war on service members and their families.



NYC staff have allowed one man into the office

Since our inception, women have worked tirelessly to achieve our mission to restore self, family and hope for wounded service members, their families, and families of the fallen. In order to fulfill our mission, salary dollars are short and hours are long. The true benefit is knowing that a service member recaptures hope, a family bond is mended, a life is restored.

Hope For The Warriors® history depends on women and so we will celebrate Women's History Month on this blog.  Throughout the month, we will highlight women who have demonstrated strength and courage by supporting wounded service members and military families.  They could be military leaders, business executives, dedicated caregivers, or generous volunteers. 

If you know a woman who should be honored this month, please let us know.  Send a short bio and photo to Anne Barnwell.