“Begins with a Bang and Positive Strengths Based Approach”
Joshua’s Friends is proud to launch our newest Bridge Builder initiative, “Warrior for Life” Movement, to address the out of control suicide rate in our community especially among our soldiers! Currently 22 soldiers a day commit suicide and that number far exceeds all soldier deaths in recent combat zones! This is unacceptable and as a Veteran and founder of Joshua’s Friends, I firmly believe that another program is not the answer to this problem; which has reached epidemic proportions.
That’s exactly why I called a special meeting to discuss, with other Veterans, a human response based on best practices as well as evidence based approaches that are strength based and empower soldiers, who are in the fire, with the greatest possible protective factors available! Let me say with great clarity this is not a program its a Movement where we intend to embrace active duty soldiers, veterans, reservist and all other military members with a movement that creates and perpetuates natural supports capable of building life long protective factors around our military personnel.
Our “Warrior for Life” Movement will work to build positive relationships between active duty members and retirees, prior service and veterans to develop soldier to soldier relationships in an environment where everyone can share their story without fear of repercussions or being branded. This will be a confidential group and soldiers will be encouraged to build a one on one rapport with other retirees in the group they feel safe talking to outside the group dynamic; this is the essence of the Movement and what is going to cause it to effectively stop the soldier suicide rate in it’s tracks! There will also be clinical pastoral counseling supervision as needed and C.B.T. for those who may be experiencing depression, P.T.S.D. or Trauma related issues. However, our group’s primary function will be to create soldier to soldier relationships that will foster trust and someone an active duty member can call anytime, anyplace, anywhere and talk to someone who has been there and understands the army culture. This models design will provide the highest level of protective factor’s possible and has other elements, but the human element is the strongest variable in the equation.
We have 6 veteran’s who have been identified to help launch this movement most of them are 20 year plus service members and have deployment experiences and expertise to bring to the Movement. We decided the Movement will meet once a month at Joshua’s Friends/ Your Best Life Now Counseling Office which is at The Family Life Center of Life line Church in Radcliff KY. Our first meeting will be held at the end of August and the exact date is to be announced, as we agreed we would like to get all vacations out of the way; also we decided to offer 4 intense activity trips per year such as zip lining, white water rafting etc. and I suggested fishing ( I know that doesn’t seem high intensity unless you have ever hooked into a 5 lb Large Mouth Bass!)
One of our group members, who works on Ft. Knox, also offered practical insights on how to promote the movement on post and reach those who need it most; this is definitely a bottom up movement and we are serious about spreading the scope of our outreach beyond Fort Knox. Building a mentoring team concept that helps soldiers discover their own strengths as well as perpetuate intrinsic protective factors from a model that allows soldiers to start from the outside and work inside! This is fundamental and can’t be minimized; I suffered from severe depression most of my adult life and the answer was never found inside of myself! The answer was discovered by reaching outside of myself and soldiers must have a safe place and person(s) where they can reach out to a team that can understand and empathize with the silent battles that rage within. We also discussed engaging wives, mothers and women’s groups on and off post who will help us launch the Movement.
The idea is bold and we believe takes a proactive stand that creates, positive functional, preventive measures to “Strengthen Soldiers for Life Building Unbreakable Bonds” thus, encouraging and offering real hope that transforms soldiers into “Warriors for Life”! This group is a totally free initiative and is being offered by a group of Veterans who are concerned with the out of control suicide rate among military members; and we welcome any positive feed back or criticism that helps us to stop suicide in it’s tracks!
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