Give an Hour is expanding its reach to include victims of Hurricane Sandy and first responders dealing with the aftermath of the devastating storm.

 

 

"We in the mental health community have valuable skills and services to offer.  We must do our part to assist the victims of this disaster as well as our first responders - military and civilian - by making ourselves available to those who are suffering and those who have stepped up to provide relief following the devastation in New Jersey and New York," explains Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour.

 

Dr. Van Dahlen adds, "There are over 400,000 licensed mental health professionals in the United States.  Collectively we represent an important resource that can be harnessed during times of need. Through our efforts to provide counseling and support to our military community, we have learned just how important an hour a week can be to someone who is suffering. We are asking all licensed mental health professionals to join our network - so that we are ready when and if we are called upon to serve."

 

Mental health professionals interested in joining Give an Hour can complete an easy online form at www.giveanhour.org. 

 

Those seeking help from Give an Hour should email requests to Lisa Calixto at lcalixto@giveanhour.org.  

  

Jack's impressive career included work as National Association Executive and lobbyist for the American Dental Education Association 

(ADEA) in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was the Director of Legislative Affairs in the Washington, D.C., office of a national organization of nonprofit hospitals for seventeen years.

 

Mr. Bresch served in both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. As a political appointee in the Carter Administration, he was Deputy Assistant Director for Legislative Affairs at ACTION, the federal agency overseeing the Peace Corps, VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), and the Older American programs. Before that he was a legislative assistant and staff director for two members of Congress.

 

A former Navy and Marine Corps Chaplain, Mr. Bresch held elective office in Montgomery County, Maryland.  He was involved in numerous state and national political campaigns.  

 

Jack was the caring father of Mary Elizabeth Bresch White, James Richard Bresch, and Jeffrey John Bresch and the doting grandfather of Maeve Barnwell White, Kelsey Cathleen Kirby, Madeline Ann Bresch, Emma McKee White, John Richard Bresch, Chloe Elizabeth Bresch, Camille Christine White, Celia Christine Bresch, Jack Conelly Bresch, and Margaret Mary Bresch.

 

The family requests memorial contributions to be sent to Montgomery Hospice, 1355 Piccard Drive, Suite 100, Rockville, MD, 20850 ( www.montgomeryhospice.org).  

 

Give an Hour is grateful for the support of SAAB North America, the newest corporate sponsor of our work to provide free mental health care to our country's service members, veterans, and their loved ones. Supporters such as SAAB make it possible for us to meet the increasing requests for services that Give an Hour receives every day.

Give an Hour Featured in Special USA Today Edition:  

"Thanking Our Troops & Veterans"

Give an Hour is featured in a special 24-page Veterans Day section, "Thanking Our Troops and Veterans," in USA Today, that hit newsstands in Washington, D.C., New York, and Houston on Friday, November 9.

The special section includes a feature article about Give an Hour and a full-page ad. Give an Hour would like to recognize the contributions of The Ad Store D.C. for their support of our work. The Ad Store created our "man in the mirror" campaign, which has been featured in Time Magazine, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, and Washingtonian.

  

Click here to see the feature.

 

The experiences of war are powerful and not easily forgotten. For many, the things that happened in the past are affecting the present.

 

In Give an Hour's powerful new print ad campaign, mini dramas give the reader quick flashes of events in the lives of service men and women and their families. The messages are simple but poignant. Each story is chronicled using military time and concludes with a reference to time and Give an Hour.

 

A special thank you to the creative team of Chris Nott and Mackie Blaylock from Capital One Bank, who have given their time, passion, and dedication to creating awareness of the work of Give an Hour.

 

Just in time for the holidays, you can now Shop Give an Hour. We are excited to announce the opening of our new online store, where you can purchase a variety of Give an Hour items, from coffee mugs and tote bags to t-shirts, caps, and stadium blankets.

As always, we are open to your feedback and suggestions for different items.

Give an Hour has partnered with Oceangate Records to use its song "There's Still Christmas," featuring Clarence Clemons, for the 2012 holiday season.

 

Oceangate Records is proud to contribute to this most worthy organization, which is close to the heart of musician and songwriter Dennis Bourke, a decorated combat veteran who can personally empathize with the cause of Give an Hour. Bourke states that "when life seems hopeless for veterans struggling with the ghosts and images of their time away, we hope that 'There's Still Christmas' will bring them some joy and let them know that no matter what you've endured, there is something wonderful in life to look forward to."

 

"We are grateful to Oceangate Records for their generosity in allowing us to share this great song from the 'Big Man,'" says Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour. "We know that raising awareness and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health care happens in many different ways. We need to continue to find ways to reach people with our message and to raise funds to continue our good work, and partnering with Oceangate Records in this way is a wonderful opportunity to do so," Dr. Van Dahlen adds. 

 

Ask your local radio station to air "There's Still Christmas" and help raise money for Give an Hour. Give an Hour receives a donation from purchases or downloads at iTunes. Enjoy!

On October 20, 2012, Give an Hour and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Va., Community Blueprint group participated in the Military Family Festival sponsored by the Tidewater Military Family Services Council.

 

The event not only informed local military families of the resources available to them, it also provided a free, kid-friendly, fun-filled day. At the Give an Hour table, children made military memory bracelets that allowed them to use their creativity and express how it feels to be a military child. Parents received information on Give an Hour and how to access our free counseling resources. Volunteers. local Blueprinters, and GAH staff themselves had a blast and look forward to continuing to aid the military community in the Hampton Roads area.

 

Thank you to all who stopped by.  We hope to see you again at next year's event!

 

The Third Annual Forward March Conference was held in Fayetteville, N.C., on October 18 and 19 at Snyder Memorial Baptist Church. The conference, 

designed to empower "helping professionals" who serve military children and families, covered such topics as post-deployment difficulties, child and family issues, and mental health treatments to alleviate these stresses. Speakers represented a blend of national, state, and local expertise--and included Give an Hour founder and president, Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen.

 

The purpose of the Forward March Conference was to increase public awareness of the unique challenges faced by military families. The conference resulted in increased collaboration between national, state, and local organizations while improving lines of communication between military and civilian professionals who serve military members and their families.

 

Give an Hour and the Fayetteville Community Blueprint were major sponsors of this year's conference, along with many other Blueprint partners such as Southern Regional Area Health Education Center (AHEC) and the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County (PFC). As a sponsor, Give an Hour supplied 12 scholarships to cover the registration costs, and GAH staff actively assisted with conference planning. Two Give an Hour staff members serve on the Fayetteville Living in the New Normal  Steering Committee, which has evolved into the Forward March Planning Committee.

 

The Forward March Conference drew over 250 individuals including military and judicial personnel, counselors, psychologists, social workers, substance abuse professionals, case managers, therapists, teachers, human service and behavioral health professionals, clergy, and other providers, as well as military and community leaders.

 

Give an Hour recently launched a new version of our website. Although it looks very similar to the old version, the way things work behind the scenes is quite different--especially with provider data. We are now able to keep track of more detailed professional information about you, our providers, in order to better match you with those using GAH
services. So we need all of you to take a few moments to log in and update your profile. We want to be sure that everyone's data transferred correctly from the old website, that all licenses are up to date, and that you fill in  new data where requested. 

 

It is crucial that our data is as up to date as possible. Please take a few minutes right now to update your profile by following the instructions below:

 

1. Go to www.giveanhour.org  and click on the Login link in the top right-hand corner. You may have to retype http://www.giveanhour.org rather than use a bookmarked link in your internet browser.

 

2. You will need your username from our old website. If you cannot remember your username, please send an email to  info@giveanhour.org and we will send it to you.

 

3. You will not be able to use your old password. Instead, you will use a temporary password--your email address up to the @ sign--to log in. (For example, if your email address is janedoe1@me.com, then your password would be janedoe1. Once you are logged in, you will be able to set up a new password.

 

4. After you log in successfully, you can click on your name in the upper right-hand corner. This will bring you to a screen where you can update your status as a provider (i.e., whether you are available to accept a Give an Hour client right now) and you can edit the details of your profile.

  

If you have any questions or concerns about the website or your profile, or if there is anything we can help with, please let us know. 

 

As always, we are grateful for your participation, your time, and generosity as a Give an Hour volunteer. Thank you!

   

The United States has a long and proud tradition of volunteer service. Now more than ever, volunteers are renewing their commitment to helping others and making new connections that bring us closer together as families, as neighbors, as communities, and as a nation.

 

The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation was established in 2003 to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers are making in communities across the country and encourage more people to serve. The council specifically created the President's Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

 

Recognizing and honoring volunteers sets a standard for service, encourages a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspires others to make service a central part of their lives. The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families, and groups that have achieved a certain standard--measured by the number of hours of service over a 12-month period or by cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime.

 

Give an Hour is a certifying organization.  We invite you to start tracking your hours. Stay tuned to information (early in 2013) about how to report those hours so we can recognize you for your service.

 

We are grateful to the Case Foundation for a $25,000 grant to help Give an Hour fully implement the Presidential Volunteer Service Award program to recognize hundreds of volunteers nationwide and to inspire and commemorate outstanding volunteer service.

 

 

You may already know that Give an Hour is a highly innovative and extraordinarily committed nonprofit organization, founded in 2005, to develop a network of volunteer mental health professionals to give an hour of mental health services each week, free of charge, to members of the military-including active duty, reserve, and guard-veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, their families, and their communities.  

 

Since its inception, Give an Hour not only has developed that network of volunteers but also has become the rare organization that has transcended its original mission. Give an Hour has succeeded in developing a multisector model of community engagement that embodies a spirit of collaboration, knowing that no one organization can do this work alone.

Here is just a sampling of what Give an Hour has accomplished since it began providing services in 2008:  

· Increased volunteer hours given by mental health providers by nearly 5,000% from 1,415 in August 2008 to 70,000 hours in October 2012
· Created, with other nonprofit leaders, the Community Blueprint, a national initiative bringing together community, military, and veteran service organizations to provide effective services on a local level
· Developed strategic alliances with Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs
· Developed partnerships with national mental health associations (American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, Anxiety Disorders Association of America, American Mental Health Counselors Association, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, Mental Health America, North American Association of Christians in Social Work, and Therapeutic Communities of America) and numerous regional associations
· Selected as one of five winners of the White House's Joining Forces Community Challenge in April 2012
· Developed a multimedia national public awareness campaign resulting in coverage in TIME, Newsweek, USA Today, Washingtonian, and Sports Illustrated; on television and radio stations across the country; and on the CBS jumbotron in Times Square

Give an Hour has accomplished all of this with a small budget and we need your support to continue. Please join the growing number of individuals who show their understanding of the needs of military families by supporting Give an Hour. Gifts can be made by clicking here, or by going to http://www.giveanhour.org, clicking on the "Donate Now" button, and following the easy instructions. Your tax-deductible contribution to Give an Hour embodies a spirit of giving, a commitment to others, and the realization that together we can-and must-support those who have already given so much. 

 

Give an Hour, along with PayPal and Zoove, unveiled **GAH, a mobile giving platform that will make donating securely from your mobile phone to Give an Hour easy.

 

The **GAH giving platform officially launched with a full page ad in a special 24-page Veterans Day section of USA Today called "Thanking Our Troops and Veterans."

 

"We have a tremendous network of talented and skilled volunteers on our network," notes Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour.  "We are innovative in the ways we provide services, utilize our resources, and tap into the skills and the time of our volunteers. The ways we assist the military and veterans community are constantly evolving, such as sending Give an Hour volunteers to  join our friends at Team Rubicon in assisting in the Hurricane Sandy clean-up efforts in New York on Veterans Day. The **GAH platform, we believe, is an innovative tool that aligns with our way of working," she adds.

 

Callers who dial **GAH from their smart phone will hear a voice message thanking them for calling and explaining that their donation will have a significant impact on the lives of service members, veterans, and their families. They will then receive a text message prompting them to simply tap the link to donate using a secure PayPal account or credit card. 

 

 

Join Give an Hour's GIVE $11 campaign. This November, in honor of Veterans Day--the 11th day of the 11th month, set aside to honor military service--please donate $11 to help provide free mental health services to service members, military, veterans,  and their loved ones.  Donate now!   

 

And, please help us spread the word within your social networks. Together, we can make a difference to those 

who served.  Thank you. 

If you are interested in individual or corporate giving, please contact Katherine Wilkins, director of development, at kwilkins@giveanhour.org.

• Increased volunteer provider network by 530% from 1,000 in February 2008 to 6,500 in October 2012 

• Increased number of volunteer hours donated by mental health providers by nearly 5,000% from 1,415 in August 2008 to 70,000 hours in August 2012   

• Increased non-mental health volunteers over 4,000% from 15 in 2008 to 620 currently