Give an Hour hosted two days of inspiring events in New York City, where we inaugurated our Got Your 6 program to educate 100,000 students in mental health disciplines on the unique issues of veterans and military families.  

We are grateful to all who participated, giving their time, their experience, and their expertise in the service of engaging and educating the young professionals who will be charged with continuing to care for service members and their families. Our speakers--many of whom traveled at their own expense--joined us to be part of an event that brought our community together. They came out of respect for Give an Hour's mission, without expecting or asking for anything in return.

Noted Barbara Van Dahlen, "We have the ability to address the needs of those who serve and their families if we harness the resources and opportunities available in our communities. Events like the ones Give an Hour hosted in NYC bring together those who are thoughtful, passionate, and committed." She observed, "I have seen the collective impact that organizations and individuals can have when we work together to develop a more comprehensive system of care for those who serve and their families. And I know that we are each enriched by the service that we provide to others. As Mahatma Gandhi said, 'The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.'"

Please visit connected.giveanhour.org/Celebration_of_Service (click on individual event, click on photos tab at top) to see more photos from A Celebration of Service.

Here's an overview of our events:

Serving Those Who Serve - MOU Signing Ceremony with Give an Hour 

and the Army National Guard

(Left to Right) Lt. Gen. Ingram, Bruce Cohen, Barbara Van Dahlen, Lt. Gen. Horoho, Don Weber

Give an Hour is excited to be launching an association with the Army National Guard for the shared goal of expanding mental health services to military personnel and their families. A formal signing of our joint Memorandum of Understanding took place at a breakfast on Sunday, June 2, 2013. This was an inspirational start of the two days of activities devoted to celebrating service and raising awareness about the challenges faced by military families.

A Celebration of Service Community Project

Justin Constantine, U.S. Marine Veteran (left), and Jorge  Calixto, volunteer (right), work to build planters for  Harlem Grown community garden

Working with partners including: City Year, The Case Foundation, American Red Cross, America Corporate Partners, Volunteers of America, The Mission Continues, Team Rubicon, and Student Veterans of America, our service project brought together community and military leaders, conference attendees, and students who rolled up their sleeves and worked side-by-side with veterans during the day on Sunday, June 2, 2013, making improvements to P.S. 197 and building a community garden for Harlem Grown. 

A Celebration of Service Benefit Concert

Give an Hour recognized its 2013 "Commitment to Service" award recipients, Col. Donald Sutherland and Debbie Gregory, during a VIP reception on Sunday evening, June 2, 2013, at B.B. King Blues Club in New York.

Guests enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate and honor those who serve in and out of uniform. 

American Idol Winner Kris Allen

Country musician Danielle Peck  and Mark Rivera

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

The concert portion of the evening showcased the music of Little Big Band featuring Mark Rivera, longtime member of the Billy Joel Band and Ringo Starr's music director; American Idol winner Kris Allen; singer, actress, and social activist Gloria Reuben; country music star Danielle Peck; nationally acclaimed rock group The Secret State;  up-and-coming artist The 9th; and National Guard member and Emmy Award-winning musician, Darby Ledbetter. 

  

 

Author Tanya Biank (left) and actor Alyssa Diaz (right) accept an award on behalf of Lifetime TV for their work on Army Wives

Barbara Van Dahlen pictured with members of  the band The Secret State

Gloria Reuben

The 9th

  

Serving Those Who Serve - Training the Next Generation

Conference and Post-Conference Reception

On Monday, June 3, 2013, at Columbia University, respected mental health and military professionals from around the country helped educate students in mental health disciplines on the unique issues of veterans and military families, through a series of panel discussions and presentations. This full-day conference was live streamed to college campuses around the country. 

Panel Discussion during Training the Next Generation conference

The conference gathered people from across the country, including Give an Hour's president and founder, Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, and mental health advocates, educators, health care providers, faith leaders, members of Congress, representatives from local governments and individuals who have struggled with mental health problems, to discuss how everyone can work together to reduce stigma and help the millions of Americans struggling with mental health problems recognize the importance of reaching out for assistance.

Following the President's opening remarks, Secretary Sebelius moderated a panel that included Dr. Van Dahlen and focused on how addressing negative attitudes about mental 

Panelists (left to right): Norman Anderson, CEO, American Psychological Association; Glenn Close, actress and founder, BringChange2Mind; Gordon Smith, President and CEO, National Association of Broadcasters; Barbara  Van Dahlen, Give an Hour; and Janelle Montaño, public speaker, Active  Minds; with moderator Secretary Sebelius

Give an Hour was thrilled to have a new public service announcement air during the INDY 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway May 24-26 in Indianapolis. Our 15-second spot played on the Jumbotron 

a total of 147 times to an estimated audience of  more than 1.3 million viewers. 

From now through mid-October a similar PSA will run on the CBS Jumbotron in Times Square. If you are in New York City, keep your eyes open and let us know if you see it!

We thank the Capital One creative team of Mackie Blaylock and Chris Nott for making our helicopter fly once again and for creating awareness for Give an Hour.  

Click here to watch.

Barbara Van Dahlen and Give an Hour board members Justin Constantine and Mark Graham were interviewed by Fox News for a report on Give an Hour and the importance of providing mental health care to those in need.

Major General Graham and his wife, Carol, are tireless champions of military and civilian efforts to promote  mental health and suicide-prevention awareness and to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health care. They both speak to audiences across the nation to honor the memory of their two sons, 2LT Jeff, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq in February 2004, and Senior Army ROTC cadet Kevin, who died by suicide in June 2003 while studying to be an Army Doctor at the University of Kentucky. The Grahams established the Jeffrey C. and Kevin A. Graham Memorial Fund to provide the "Question, Persuade, Refer" suicide prevention program at the University of Kentucky, and the Jeffrey and Kevin Graham Memorial Endowed Lectureship in Psychology for the study of depression and suicide prevention at Cameron University, in Lawton, Okla. They also support the ongoing efforts of the Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership, Colorado Springs (El Paso County), Colo., through the Jeff and Kevin Graham Memorial Crisis Hotline and Jeffrey and Kevin Graham Support Services.

Justin Constantine works on an FBI counterterrorism team. As a major in the Marine Corps Reserve, Justin is the Reserve Staff Judge Advocate for Marine Forces South in Miami, Fla. In addition to his role at Give an Hour, Justin also serves on the Board of Directors of the Wounded Warrior Project and spends much of his spare time on wounded warrior activities, including fundraising and raising awareness of the myriad issues faced by wounded warriors and their families. He also serves on a four-year, congressionally mandated Task Force for Recovering Warriors, which provides an annual report to the Department of Defense.

Click Here to See the Fox News Piece

Robert West, Working Films Co-Founder and Executive Director

April 6, 1953 - June 6, 2013

Give an Hour was saddened to hear the news that Robert West, Working Films Co-Founder and long-time Executive Director, passed away peacefully on June 6, 2013.

We quickly saw Robert's passion for his work when Give an Hour began working with him on screenings of the Academy Award-nominated documentary Hell and Back Again to audiences around the country. Give an Hour was honored to be part of Robert's vision to bring the issues facing returning veterans and their families to the forefront.

Give an Hour is the lead activation partner for the health pillar of the entertainment industry's Got Your 6 campaign (www.gotyour6.org), a national public awareness effort led by the entertainment industry and top-tier national nonprofits.

Named for a military term meaning "I've got your back" (and referring to the six o'clock position, designating the rear of a military formation), Got Your 6 aims to bridge the growing civilian-military divide in this country and show veterans and military families as civic assets and leaders. The campaign connects ordinary Americans with veterans and military families to better enable military veterans to succeed in civilian life.

Got Your 6 also focuses on tangible outcomes in six key areas that are pillars of veteran reintegration: jobs, education, health, housing, family, and leadership. For each of the pillars, Got Your 6 partners have established goals that can be identified, measured, and reported in quantifiable terms. Their progress will be monitored by the Clinton Global Initiative. Give an Hour has pledged to educate 100,000 students in mental health disciplines about military culture and the unique issues affecting military families and hosted the conference mentioned above in New York City on June 3, 2013, to gather and teach students and mental health professionals.

As part of this effort, Give an Hour is expanding the GAH Connected/Got Your 6 website, which provides training, education, and resources, while highlighting the great efforts already under way in programs across the country to educate these students. Issues such as PTSD, military sexual trauma, suicide, and TBI, along with deployment, reintegration, family life, and military children, are explored. Students, whether in undergraduate or graduate programs, have easy access to numerous research studies, reports, books, films, sites, video clips, and other interactive material.  "Our hope is that these students will gain a real understanding of what this particular community faces and what sets it apart," notes Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour. Information is also available for current mental health professionals and for university administrators of programs that address military and veteran needs.

U.S. Veterans Magazine's goal is to provide transitioning service members, veterans and their families with valuable information and resources concerning education, employment, entrepreneurship and much more. In addition to informational articles, we also highlight and feature veterans who have overcome the challenges of transition, celebrities who are championing and speaking on behalf of veterans and companies and organizations that go out of their way to assist our nation's heroes.

Click here for your free subscription.

Army Wives, Tanya Biank gives us the inside story of women in today's military--their professional and personal challenges from the combat zone to the home front--in her new book Undaunted: The Real Story of America's Servicewomen in Today's Military. 

Since 9/11, more than 250,000 women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more than 150 have died there. Currently they make up 14 percent of the total active-duty forces. Despite advances, today's servicewomen are constantly pressed to prove themselves, to overcome challenges men never face, and to put the military mission ahead of all other aspects of their lives, particularly marriage and motherhood. In this groundbreaking, insider's look at the women defending our nation, Tanya Biank brings to light the real issues that service women are facing: femininity, belonging to an old boys' club, veiled discrimination, dating, marriage problems, separation from children, questions about life goals, career trajectories, and self-worth. 

Biank focuses on four individual stories. Brigadier General Angela Salinas, the Marine Corps' first Hispanic female general, faces the challenge of commanding an all-male institution. Second Lieutenant Bergan Flanagan finds herself on the frontlines in Afghanistan, serving in the same military police company as her husband. As a marine drill instructor, Sergeant Amy Stokley demands the very best from the recruits at Parris Island. And Major Candice O'Brien deals with deployment to Afghanistan, with two young children and a strained marriage back home.

Undaunted is the story of these courageous trailblazers--their struggles, sacrifices, and triumphs in the name of serving the country they love. 

List Your Practice in the HelpPRO Suicide Prevention Therapist Finder

Give an Hour and HelpPRO have partnered for more then five years to help returning soldiers and their families find mental health services. Now HelpPRO is collaborating with the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), the Carson J. Spencer Foundation (CJSF), the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), and the QPR Institute (among others) to help people find qualified suicide prevention and intervention mental health services.

Give an Hour members list free here (regular price $75) or upgrade to a premium listing for just $75 per year to be listed automatically in the HelpPRO Suicide Prevention Therapist Finder when it launches (expected launch date early September 2013).  

HelpPRO is the oldest, most comprehensive Therapist Finder, founded almost 20 years ago to improve public access to mental health clinicians and organizations. HelpPRO matches users' needs with therapists' capabilities to increase the likelihood that users and therapists will make lasting positive connections.  

HelpPRO is developing the HelpPRO Suicide Prevention Therapist Finder (SPTF) to help people find qualified suicide prevention and intervention mental health services and to encourage clinicians to get training in suicide prevention. The HelpPRO Suicide Prevention Therapist Finder will be available as a link on the websites of many Suicide Prevention organizations. The HelpPRO Therapist Finder is currently available as a link on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website which will be used as a referral resource by 160 independent crisis lines across the country.

When you list with HelpPRO, note whether you work with clients with "suicidal thoughts" on the problems served page and also note if you have suicide-related credentials on the licensing, credentials, and associations page. You will want to note your credentials in your personal practice statement as well if you have a premium listing.