news from the heart - Warriors Heart

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After retiring from the Army in 2004, Brown was a logistics consultant for Northrop Grumman Corporation, providing consu
NEWS FROM THE HEART

MARCH 2017 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3

News from the Heart

In This Issue

Volume 1, Issue 3 Featured Team Member Dear friends, alumni, and supporters:

I LOVE MY JOB!!! — Misty I wanted to start this month’s newsletter with the above statement from Misty. We could not achieve our mission without incredible people. Misty has been with Warriors Heart since day 1 in Texas and she is a perfect example of why we are breaking new grounds, kicking ass and positively impacting our warriors. I am honored to serve on this mission with the great men and women who make it possible. And thank you… our supporters. For without the love and financial support generously given, many of our warriors could not get the help and healing they so desperately deserve.

Operation Warriors Heart Foundation

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A Ministry of Presence

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Chaplain Skip Straus

Letters from Home Steve, US Army

Continued Success, Josh Lannon Founder and CEO

Newsletter Archives January 2017 February 2017

Published monthly by:

Business Phone:

Warriors Heart

(844) 448-2567

756 Purple Sage Road Bandera, Texas 78003

Editor: Peggy Sweeney

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Joe Brown

(844) 448-2567

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Featured Team Member Joe Brown

Executive Director SAN ANTONIO, TX — (Marketwired – February 17, 2017) — Warriors Heart, the Texas Hill Country-based private treatment facility serving active and veteran members of the military and first responders, today named retired U.S. Army Colonel Joe Brown the organization’s executive director.

Colonel Brown is coming out of retirement to join the front lines against chemical dependency and related psychological disorders so many of our active and retired members of the military and first responders suffer due to the traumas they have experienced. — Josh Lannon, co-founder of Warriors Heart

“Joe’s military background gives him a level of understanding and rapport that will be invaluable to our mission of helping these national heroes.” Retired U.S. Army Colonel Joe Brown served more than 25 years in active duty, specializing in operational logistics and medical service. He also served as deputy to the director of logistics in Iraq, supporting more than 144,000 coalition forces of the Combined Joint Task Force-Seven during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Colonel Brown also commanded the 16th Corps Support Group, consisting of 3,500 soldiers who supported the U.S. Army’s V Corps during major combat operations in Iraq in 2003. Colonel Brown also served as Chief, Ambulatory Care Support Branch at the Frankfurt Regional Medical Center in Germany and Health Care Administrator at Darmstadt Health Clinic, which supported over 40,000 military and family members. After retiring from the Army in 2004, Brown was a logistics consultant for Northrop Grumman Corporation, providing consulting services to the Romanian Ministry of National Defense in Bucharest, Romania. From 2005 to 2015, he was an associate partner in IBM Corporation’s Global Business Services in support of Army and U.S. Department of Defense security missions.

I COULD NO LONGER SIT BACK AND BE SILENT AS MORE THAN 20 VETERANS COMMIT SUICIDE EVERY DAY,

“I could no longer sit back and be silent as more than 20 veterans commit suicide every day,” said Brown. “We are losing more veterans to alcoholism, drug addiction and suicide than we are in combat. The VA is backlogged, and our veterans are not getting the help they need and have earned.”

Continued on page 3

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Featured Team Member continued

Warriors Heart is a 40-bed licensed and accredited treatment center dedicated to helping adult men and women 18 and older who suffer from chemical dependence and co-occurring psychological disorders related to post-traumatic stress disorder, moral grief/injury, anxiety, depression, etc., or the psychological effects of mild traumatic brain injury. Located in a rustic ranch setting in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio, Warriors Heart focuses specifically on helping individuals (active and veteran) who protect and serve the United States and its citizens — the U.S. military, as well as first responders, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, and civilian warriors. Warriors Heart offers drug and alcohol treatment programs, PTSD and MTBI therapy, and inpatient and outpatient long-term sober living services. Located within easy driving distance from Houston and Austin, Warriors Heart facilitates healing with dignity and respect in a private, home-like, and judgment-free environment. Statistics show that many people try to cope with their PTSD symptoms by drinking heavily or using drugs. According to the National Center for PTSD, there is a strong relationship between PTSD and substance abuse disorder (SUD) in both civilian and military populations, as well as for both men and women. About one in ten soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have a problem with alcohol or drugs. Similar numbers can be found among first responders, who face horrors in their work most of us cannot imagine. In helping everyday people in the worst of times, they witness death, destruction and much of the darkest side of human nature — and first responders today seem to be exposed to more trauma than ever before. Service to our country and to our nation’s warriors is a charge that runs deep in the blood of Brown and his entire family. In addition to his own military service, Brown is the father of two sons who currently serve in the military — one in the Army and one in the Navy. His wife, Rena, is an addiction nurse at Warriors Heart.

Joe had devoted his entire adult life to taking care of our nation’s courageous warriors — those who have served and sacrificed so much and have earned a full measure of honor, dignity, and respect. — Warriors Heart co-founder Lisa Lannon

“We are grateful for his willingness to be directly involved in the important, life-changing work we are doing at Warriors Heart every day.”

Warriors Heart is a place that sheds light on darker paths... great HEALING place for Warriors. — Carlos R, MIL, LEO

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Operation Warriors Heart Foundation

Operation Warriors Heart Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, supports programs that address the unmet needs of suffering servicemen and women and give individuals and communities the tools to become self-sufficient. We want to build warriors that will be sustainable after our support ends, and that build upon and strengthen relationships within communities. There are many great programs out there designed to assist our warriors in different capacities. At Operation Warriors Heart, we are focused on addressing the mental and behavioral health of servicemen and women to assist our warriors in overcoming addiction, PTSD, and mild TBI. Operation Warriors Heart 501-3(c) accepts taxdeductible donations that will support our warriors with assistance in paying for their treatment. We invite you to join the war against warrior suicide and the challenges they face and support a warrior (our protectors) in healing with dignity and respect. In addition to monetary donations, contributions are made for the purpose of supporting our warriors healing in the form of land, forklifts, building materials, volunteer work, products, and so on.

MAKE A DONATION WHERE DOES YOUR DONATION GO? Operation Warriors Heart Foundation has been and is still developing specific treatment programs which will guide future funding. Programs under development will provide assistance and support to:

• Subsidize funding for chemical dependency and PTSD treatment

• Building a service dog training facility and providing service dogs to Warriors

• Long term sober living housing and promoting behavioral health education

• Education and community events

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A Ministry of Presence by Chaplain Skip Straus

Chaplains play a vital role in our military forces and public safety departments when they provide pastoral, spiritual, and emotional support. Founded in 1998, the Emergency Chaplain Group provides service to EMS, Fire, and Law Enforcement agencies on-scene and “behind scene” with an emphasis on Critical Incident Stress mitigation. The services offered by our team are without regard to religious affiliation (or lack thereof). We provide specialized Chaplains to assist our Heroes in dealing with the variety of emotions that come along with the job - giving them the tools to deal with such. We serve EMTs, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, dispatchers, and public safety professionals for several agencies across Texas. The biggest thing that sets us apart, is that we require all of our Chaplains to have ‘worn the badge.’ That’s right – we have ‘been there, done that.’ We have sat down (sometimes on the scene) with these everyday heroes on issues involving things such as fatalities involving children, multiple fatality accidents, deaths of co-workers, marital problems, substance abuse problems, and the like. We were named the “Official First Responder Partner” to the PTSD Foundation of America in May of 2015 and have established four “first responder peer support groups” in the greater Houston area, including locations in Tomball, Crosby, Spring, and Brenham. We will add a Conroe location in 2017. Statewide and National Expansion is in the works!



Chaplain Skip Straus Emergency Chaplain Group



(844)448.2567



About the Author: J.C. “Skip” Straus started in EMS in 1973, became a paramedic in 1976, joined his first volunteer fire department in 1978. Skip founded Emergency Ministries in December of 1998. The ministry now provides Chaplaincy for 42 Emergency Service agencies and over 6,000 personnel and employs four full-time chaplains. Chaplain Skip is a Board Certified Chaplain (APCC), Board Certified Crisis Chaplain (American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress) and is the CEO and Senior Chaplain of Emergency Ministries. Skip served five weeks at Ground Zero in New York City working alongside the 1st Batallion of the FDNY. He is a speaker and writer and has authored almost five hundred “Stress Relief” articles, two of which appear in the devotional section in the back of the Firefighter’s Bible (Holman’s Christian Standard Bible - ISBN: 1586400975). In May of 2012, Holman introduced the EMS Bible, and the two “Stress Relief” devotionals appear in that Bible, as well. The Chaplain lives in a suburb of Houston, Texas with his wife Cindy and their dogs, Harley & Lady. They have four grown children and three grandchildren. Skip is an avid scuba diver and underwater photographer.

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Letters From Home We often hear from Warriors who completed the program at Warriors Heart. This is one of their stories of success… My treatment at Warriors Heart has helped to restore my faith, and confidence, interacting with civilians and clinical therapy teams. My treatment for past traumas was treated, abundantly compassionate, at the least saved my family, and at the most, it saved my life. The care I received as an individual was always given respectfully and with intention. I never felt that a question asked was left unanswered, in particular with a staff member who didn’t have an initial answer didn’t attempt to give one but followed up with the correct source or sources. It is apparent to me that Josh and Lisa (Lannon) have made an intentional decision to not create a set plan, but a process for continued growth and development of a program to adjust, grow or improve as necessary. My family and I have been actively working to address my issues for more than two years; Warriors Heart is the first real success we have found. As a man, as a Soldier, as a Father, and as a Husband I finally am able to come home.

Steve, US ARMY

Find A Brotherhood of Healing Don’t wait any longer to seek help. Call (844) 448-2567 for 24/7 support or contact Warriors Heart through email. Someone is always available and ready to help. Your information is confidential to protect your privacy.

COD Newsroom/Flickr

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