Friday, August 14, 2009

Kayak Program at Augusta VA: How to Help


The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia is home to the nation's only Active Duty Rehab Unit located within a VA facility. It's treated more than 640 inpatients since opening in 2004, and was featured on the NBC Nightly News in March.

The Kayak Program, overseen by the Recreation Therapist at the Active Duty Rehab Unit, allows Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen healing at the unit to enjoy this outdoor sport and the beautiful Augusta canal as well as the Savannah River. To volunteer your time or to support the program, contact Eric Gray, Recreation Therapist, Charlie Norwood VA Active Duty Rehab Unit at eric.gray@va.gov or call him at (706) 733-0188 extension 6146.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Mentor program for OEF/OIF combat returnees

The CSRA Wounded Warrior Care Project hosts a Transition Round Table, providing a venue for networking in order to streamline efforts to help service members, veterans, and their families in transition. A brief overview of initiatives includes an employment and training program in collaboration with the US Army Corps of Engineers (in Archaeological Curation), a collaborative job fair on Fort Gordon for soldiers in the Warrior Transition Battalion and Iraq and Afghanistan-returned veterans, and a computer training collaboration with the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, the Georgia Department of Labor, and the Cristina Foundation. We are also exploring pain management programs (civilian, military, and VA programs)to help Iraq and Afghanistan returned service members and veterans.

Art Robb, US Navy (ret.) is a volunteer with our project, and is helping us develop a mentor training program for the Augusta, Georgia area for combat veterans and service members. This program will complement and aid in coordination of efforts by agencies and organizations as well as assist in the transition back into community from combat. To contact Art, you can email him at arobb25@comcast.net or to read his blog (which will appear soon here on our website), you can see it now at: http://combatwarriormentoringblog.blogspot.com/

We hope you weigh in on the need for this type of program, give us information if you know of an existing combat warrior peer mentoring program, or let us know if you'd like to be a sounding board.

Laurie Ott
Executive Director
CSRA Wounded Warrior Care Project
laurie.ott@csrawwcp.org
(706) 434-1708