Core Challengers: Meet Amy F.

Have you read about the Do More With Your Core Challenge?

Meet another one of our challengers!

Name:  Amy F.

From:  Upstate New York

Background:  Amy was introduced to Hope For The Warriors® through the "Salute to Freedom" event, hosted by the Cortlandt Yacht Club in Montrose, NY.  After that event, she ran a race for the organization, raising more than $1,000. 

“I was touched by the wounded vets [I have met in the] past couple years. As an American, I am proud to support Hope For The Warriors.”

Navigating LinkedIn

Hope For The Warriors® invites all service members, veterans and their spouses to attend the first webinar in our new Professional Development Series.  R.S.V.P to Katie Tame.

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Core Challengers: Meet Amy and Steve

Have you read about the Do More With Your Core Challenge? 

Meet two more of our challengers!

Names:  Amy and Steve D.

From:  Long Island, NY

Background:  Amy graduated from Villanova University with a degree in Chemical Engineering.  Her husband Steve graduated from SUNY Maritime ’92 and received his commission in the US Merchant Marine. The two married in 1997 and have two teenage kids.  Steve started competing in Obstacle Racing (OCR) events and Amy decided she better join him so that they could more time together.  So far this year, the couple has completed 10 OCR events and several Go Ruck challenges.

Why Amy and Steve joined the Challenge:

In May of this year, Amy and Steve did a GORUCK Challenge in Long Beach Long Island and were included on a team full of Hope For The Warriors® employees and volunteers.

"They are such a great group of people and such a great organization that we feel we should help. We are always exercising and working out and doing personal monthly challenges, so when the “Do More with Your Core Challenge” came up, we knew we had to do this."

Thank you to Amy and Steve for joining the challenge!

Donate to their Core Challenge Page today!

Above & Beyond Program: A Success Story

 

Today's blog is written by Blaz, a veteran and a Marine who has both benefited from, and volunteered to support, Hope For The Warriors® programs.  By sharing his story, we hope that others reach out for help, and to help.

“Shortly after Operation Desert Shield/Storm, I started to have many symptoms that affected my health.  Many I just ignored like the asthma, extreme headaches, feeling dizzy and always feeling nauseated. But eventually, my wife Theresa started noticing gashes on my face, caused from my falling down.  Theresa knew this was not normal so off to the doctors we went.”

“After many MRI’s and numerous visits to the doctors, it was discovered that there were masses growing on my brain.  The decision was made that I would undergo brain surgery to remove the mass.  However, the neurosurgeon only drained the mass.  The mass was pressing on my pituitary which was causing me to lose my balance and fall over.  Within a few months the mass came back even bigger and that is when my health started to go downhill from there.” 

“I was transferred to the Wounded Warrior Battalion East in early 2007 since I could no longer function within an infantry unit.  My Traumatic Brain Injury was finally catching up to me after all these years since the blast.  The only thing left for me to do was to be medically retired from the Marine Corps, something that I have never planned on.  In 2007, the Wounded Warrior Battalion was introduced to an organization called Hope For The Warriors®.  This was a new nonprofit establishment to help the wounded warriors and their families.  Hope For The Warriors® was there for my family and me until my retirement in December 2008.”

“When I retired, I hit rock bottom.  I drank from the moment I got up and would not stop until the alcohol was gone or I passed out.  I would not shower or shave for weeks, wearing the same clothes night and day, in most cases my bathrobe.  I ate junk food all day and would not even leave the house.  My wife could see me slipping away from reality and there was nothing that she could do.  One day, my wife told me that I should go back to school.”

Theresa, Blaz's wife, caregiver, and greatest supporter

“This was a great idea since no one wanted to hire me without some sort of education.  But college really scared me since I did not do very well in high school.  So I started attending college on line and I made the Dean’s List.  This was a huge accomplishment for me since studying and reading is a challenge for someone who has a TBI.  I was trying to get my BA in Business Management and after four years and eleven times on the Dean’s List, I graduated with honors as Magnum Cum Laude by maintaining a GPA of 3.85.”

“The depression was still there and at this point I became more frustrated that no one wanted to hire me.  Hundreds of applications had been filled out online, in person and through the mail only to be told that I do not meet the requirements.  The drinking started up again too.”

“One day the phone range.  It was someone from Hope For The Warriors®, asking if I wanted to go to New York.  This put a smile on my face since they had done so much for all the wounded warriors and their families.  Not only was I going on a vacation to New York City, but I would once again be in charge of about a dozen wounded warriors.  Things started to look bright and the depression was slowly leaving my unhealthy body.”

 

Blaz presents at an Above & Beyond Seminar

“Hope For The Warriors® called upon me again, but this time it was to go through the Above & Beyond Program.  WOW, what an amazing program! The Above & Beyond Program taught me how to dress for an interview, how to put out a resume that no one could say no to.  It prepared me for job interviews and helped me build new contacts. Business owners would talk to us, telling us wounded warriors what they look for when it comes to hiring.  The people that I met were professionals, teachers, mentors, and I would like to also add friends.  Nessy, Connie Morinello, Chris Hansel and many others made the Above & Beyond Program such a huge success.”

“In March 2012, I was hired at NAVSEA.  Captain Eric Ver Hage gave me my start as a civilian government employee, something that I have wanted for more than 4 years.  I also started working towards my Masters in Public Administration and have kept on with the tradition of being on the Dean’s List.  This time I kept my GPA at a 4.0 and will be graduating as Suma Cum Laude.  Both degrees were a struggle; I would re-read things 5-10 times.  I would spend hours just trying to figure out what the teacher wanted.  My wife Theresa would see my frustration so she would ask me to read the question.  Then she would break it down so I would understand the question better.  Once she did this, off I went typing my huge papers.  There were many days I just didn’t feel well with all my health issues but I managed to complete my assignments.”

Volunteering with Hope For The Warriors

“The day that Hope For The Warriors® came back into my life was the day my wife and I started to promote this great organization.  Anything that Hope For The Warriors® needed, my wife and I were there waiting to help.  You know that you have come full circle when you show up for an Above & Beyond Program as guest speakers and a lovely lady started to cry.  That would be Nessy--she had faith that I would finally make it.  Hope For The Warriors® and the Above & Beyond Program have truly saved my life.  If it was not for their beliefs, their guidance, their contacts, I am sure I would still be in the depths of hell, dealing with my depression.  I am also grateful to have such an amazing wife who never gave up on me.  I owe my wife everything and I guess this is what true friendship is all about.  My wife Theresa has been with me through all the doctors’ visits, all the surgeries, all the depression and anger; it is her motivation and dedication that gives truth to the meaning of Care Giver.”

Hope For The Warriors® has another Above & Beyond Seminar scheduled and we are looking for volunteers to support service members and veterans as they transition into a new civilian career. 
 

Volunteers are needed to help with writing resumes and conducting mock interview sessions for a group of transitioning Marines/Sailors from the Balboa Medical Ctr in San Diego.  September 25 from 8AM-4PM.  Contact Connie at cmorinello@hopeforthewarriors.org for details.  Local volunteers only please.

Core Challenger: Meet Steve S.

Have you read about the Do More With Your Core Challenge?  Now meet some of the challengers!

Name:  Steve S.

From:  Long Island, New York

Background:  Steve joined the Army in 2003 as a combat military police officer and deployed to Afghanistan in 2004.  He suffered from some injuries but still deployed again in 2007, this time to Iraq.  He is a criminal justice major at Long Island University and also works for the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Why Steve has joined the challenge: 

“I love to run, ride my road bike and participate in any other events that are fun and adventurous. The reason I love supporting this event is that it brings veterans and supporters from all over the US together to do one common thing and that is to do sit-ups. Another reason is that it keeps me active and doing something that I wouldn't normally do because of my injuries. It gets me motivated to become more and more active."

Steve was already an active member of Team Hope For The Warriors.  The photo above was taken at the Trislip Super Sprint Triathalon this summer.

Donate to Steve's Core Challenge Page today!

How Strong is Your Core?

Throughout the month of August, close to 200 people have joined Team Hope For The Warriors® and the Do More With Your Core Challenge.  The challenge is simple--complete 250 sit ups everyday.

The challenge is led by Steve Bartomioli of Westchester County, NY.  "Barto" is an active member of our Team and in the Go Ruck Challenge.  He considers himself fortunate to have compete in events with other members of our staff and Team.  Above is a photo of him with two other Team members after a triathlon on Long Island.

The goal of his challenge is to encourage support to Hope For The Warriors® while helping people increase their physical activity.  The challenge has been a success! In the first seven days of August, participants from 27 different states have completed more than 283,500 sit ups.

But Hope For The Warriors® is all about supporting our service members and veterans and this core challenge is no different. Participants include service members and veterans that we assist.  And within the challenge, across the country, members encourage each other through the Facebook event created.

This core challenge has also demonstrated how strong the organization's core has become.  One of the challengers, a wounded veteran, posted one day that he was sick and could not complete his sit ups that day.  Quickly, another challenger accepted his sit ups.  That day, she completed 500 sit ups--250 of her own and 250 to support a fellow challenger. 

How strong is your core?  Our cores are getting stronger by the day!

Learn more about the Core Challenge or donate to one of the challengers.

Interested in the next challenge? Email the Team and let us know that you are interested in receiving Team news.

In the next few weeks, we will highlight core challengers.  Please come back to read about our great Team members!

A Sergeant in the House

Today's guest blogger is Betty Turnbull, author of the book A Sergeant In The House, a children's book that shares the heartwarming story of a boy's love for his father, a man serving in combat.  Proceeds from the book will benefit Hope For The Warriors®.  Thank you to Betty for sharing her thoughts and for choosing Hope For The Warriors® as the beneficiary for her hardwork.

The author with her son

In a time when we hear more and more about our service men and women and the battlefield injuries they sustain––be them psychological or physical––I felt called to write a story that would explain the sacrifices of our heroes in a way that children could connect to them. And I wanted to do it in a way that would give back to our nation’s warriors. So it was an easy decision to donate 100% of my author royalties to Hope For The Warriors ®.

A Sergeant In The House is the story of Lenny, a young boy whose father joins the military to serve his country. Lenny desperately wants a puppy. But the family must move frequently and Lenny is still very young to care for an animal. So Lenny strikes a bargain: When his daddy becomes a sergeant, Lenny can have a puppy. When his father is deployed to war, Lenny learns what it means to be responsible, to care for his family, and to help around the house. A dreaded phone call brings the news that Lenny's father has been injured and is being sent home. When Lenny's father explains that this means he'll never become a sergeant, Lenny realizes that what he truly wants is his daddy––puppy or no puppy.

I grew up in what I would call a very patriotic home. My dad was a veteran of WWII. He met my mom at Wright Patterson Field in Ohio, where she was working as a secretary to a general. I grew up proud of my country.

I spent most of my adult life outside the United States in Haiti, where my husband and I worked in education and rural development. Our three children were born and raised in Haiti.

During this time, I grew to appreciate the United States and the freedoms I grew up with even more. I remember how surprised I was when a Haitian friend insisted we talk in a whisper in the open yard. He was fearful that someone would hear him speak against the government and retaliate by hurting his family. No longer did I take the First Amendment for granted.

When our oldest son announced at age 12 that he wanted to attend the Air Force Academy, I wasn’t surprised since I knew he shared our patriotism and appreciation of the United States––plus I suspected something about cool airplanes had caught his attention. I was surprised, however, when at 13, 14, 15 and onward he held onto this dream. In 1991, he entered the Academy. Today he is a Lieutenant Colonel and currently deployed to Afghanistan.

Family Together

 

Because of his service, my great respect for our military has grown from cheering on the branches of the military as groups of people to realizing that these groups are made up of individuals. These individuals are sons and daughters, wives and husbands, and fathers and mothers. And my son, himself a husband and father, is just one of the thousands who puts himself in harm’s way to protect my freedoms. EVERY. DAY. And there are thousands of other mothers, fathers, spouses and children who wake up every day with a prayer on their lips for protection and go to sleep every night with a “thank you for another day.”

I’ve also learned firsthand, that when one member of the family serves, all members serve. With each move, spouses get the job of creating a home out of a house all over again and changing or giving up careers; children have to make new friends and adjust to new schools. Long hours and deployment leave spouses holding it all together. And it’s the family who steps up when a loved one returns, because too often our heroes return with physical and psychological injuries.

The ongoing battles that our warriors continue to fight are our ongoing battles. Organizations like Hope For The Warriors® make it possible for us to be a part. I’ve had a burden for years to find a way to pay tribute to our heroes and their heroic families. A Sergeant in the House is that tribute. My hope is that it will warm the hearts of those who read it and bring awareness of just how much families sacrifice for the rest of us. May we all start each day with a thank you for our freedoms and may we not take for granted the price paid to keep them.

I feel privileged to be partnering with Hope For The Warriors® by donating my royalties, and I invite you to join me in supporting our nation's heroes through this worthy organization.

Purchase the book today.