Home Again:Veterans and Families Initiative

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Teaming up to help military families stay connected

Sesame Street and The Electric Company unveiled a new collection of resources for military families. The innovative materials are designed to help elementary school-aged children and families stay connected and communicate during times of tremendous change and uncertainty.

Both Sesame Street and The Electric Company are productions of Sesame Workshop, which designed the materials for the program. The new resources are being provided to military families in cooperation with the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

The Electric Company Extended Learning Program - afterschool tools for educators, filled with literacy and math-based lesson plans, games, activities and tips.
Content will be distributed beginning in mid-November through multiple military channels, including Department of Defense Education Activity Educational Partnership Program, Boys & Girls Clubs of America-affiliated Youth Centers and other programs that support military families.

http://www.rbr.com/media-news/teaming-up-to-help-military-families-stay-connected.html

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Back In the Game: Hunting trips aimed at healing combat veterans' spirits

RAYMONDVILLE — On a recent day in South Texas, a fresh-faced Marine from Kemp, Texas, sits at a local rancher’s dining room table, talking about hunting and fishing.

Sitting in a wheelchair, he also recounts in his steady Texas drawl how he lost his legs June 27. Lance Cpl. Jeff Knight, 23, was on his second tour in Afghanistan when the blast from an improvised explosive device sheered off both legs at the knee.

It was just two months before his birthday, and Knight, a combat engineer, had been sweeping for mines during a patrol.

The recounting is one of the few moments in the conversation in which his hint of a smile fades and his tone becomes serious.

Dina Arevalo

http://www.themonitor.com/news/members-56380-raymondville-aimed.html

ABOUT US

Our mission is to provide education that facilitates an understanding of the military as its own sub-culture to those who serve our nation’s bravest. If you are providing education, housing, employment or clinical care to veterans and their families, you need Home Again. If you are committed to veterans succeeding you must understand their mindset, challenges and the milieu they operate under. Home Again dispels idealizations and myths about the military and focuses on its strengths, values, vocabulary, routines and needs.
Home Again: Veterans and Families Initiative enables providers and others to do their usual work in an enhanced, culturally informed way that places a priority on veterans and military families. We make this happen through education and have trained over 900 community providers such as:

Child protective services

Mental health clinicians

Higher education institutions

Work readiness programs

Our training goes far beyond an introduction to the culture of the military. We address the invisible wounds and hallmarks of the most recent wars. We give you the tools you need to help veterans and their families succeed, reintegrate and get on with their lives. Our training team includes a clinician (with expertise in trauma), and Veteran Peer Advocates who have walked the walk and understand the military experience.