News & Media

SoldierStrong Donates Rehabilitation Exoskeleton to New Orleans VA

VA New Orleans Receives Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Exoskeleton From National Nonprofit SoldierStrongSince SoldierStrong’s inception following the tragic events of 9/11, the Stamford, Conn.-based group has donated more than $3 million of medical devices to help injured Veterans. Today’s donation is the organization’s 24th exoskeleton donation, including the 20th one to the VA system. Currently, 35,000 Veterans have access to exoskeleton rehabilitation devices.

“VA has an established tradition of using the most advanced technologies to provide cutting-edge rehabilitation care to Veterans,” said Medical Center Director Fernando Rivera. “SoldierStrong’s donation of this cutting-edge device will help us continue to maximize the independence and improve the quality of life of the Veterans that we treat.”

SoldierStrong co-founder and chairman Chris Meek said the organization’s goal to make exoskeleton suits available to every Veteran in need throughout as many states as possible was a significant factor in the local donation. This is the second exoskeleton donated by SoldierStrong in the state, allowing for use of the device to become more accessible for a wider array of Louisiana’s Veterans.

“Many Veterans who sustain spinal injuries are young men and women, which means individuals often must navigate through decades of health-related challenges when these devastating injuries occur,” Meek said. “Early rehabilitation therapy with an exoskeleton has shown to have lasting positive effects on both the physical and often overlooked mental health recovery for patients who use them. That is why we feel it is so important that exoskeleton devices are made accessible to as many Veterans as possible — young and older — at the onset of their journey of recovery, in order to positively shape and impact mobility in the decades ahead. We are honored to work with the New Orleans VA Medical Center in making our goal a reality.”

 

Maintaining Balance and Creating New Holiday Traditions

Military Families: The Power of Maintaining Balance and Creating New Traditions During the Holiday Season

By Chris Meek

For many, the holiday season is synonymous with laughter, cheer and good tidings, large celebrations and social obligations with family and friends. But for some service members, veterans and their family members, extra anxiety prompted by the holidays’ social activities can escalate stress and sink them into depression and thoughts of suicide as they cope with the effects of a debilitating physical injury or post-traumatic stress (PTS).

Only recently has the focus shifted to the experiences and challenges of military dependents, who make their own, unique sacrifices when a parent or parents serve. For Isabella Taft, holidays while her father, Ward, was on active duty sometimes meant navigating his reintegration into the family dynamic when he returned home from long deployments. Her mother, Amy, acknowledged that process was “one of the toughest aspects of military life.”

“You do eventually get over the initial shock of your loved one leaving, and learn to make your own individual patterns and habits,” Amy said. “Around this time of year, you just keep rolling because you’re not going to let an entire holiday be ruined because they aren’t there. But you question, do you involve them in the holiday plans, just in case, or not? Will they be there or not? How do you create normalcy and routine with that revolving door?”

Holidays became even more challenging after Ward received multiple blast injuries, including a moderate brain injury. With a severely damaged frontal lobe, the U.S. Navy corpsman, who spent the majority of his career serving with Marine units, experienced severe mood swings, suffered short-term memory loss that made it impossible for him to drive, and lost fine motor skills that left him unable to tie his own shoes.

Pre-injury, the Taft family might travel up to 10 hours by car to visit with friends and family, often in large gatherings and unfamiliar settings. Post-injury, family and friends had to come to terms with their decision to no longer travel because travel sparked Ward’s migraines and overstimulated brain activity while the stress of the unfamiliar settings could exacerbate his PTS.

With time, Isabella and Amy found several ways to navigate the stress of the holidays while prioritizing Ward’s recovery and specific needs. Setting boundaries was an important step in creating holiday plans that fit the Tafts’ needs. The process required them to pinpoint specific difficulties tied to family gatherings and identify the steps to overcome them.

Gently explaining to family and friends what was required of them was imperative. If they wanted to see the Tafts for Christmas, they’d need to make the commitment to come to the Taft home. Ward would be involved as much as possible in holiday activities but there inevitably would be times when he would need to separate from the group.

“That meant the family would need to accept that this didn’t mean that something was wrong. It didn’t mean that everyone else needed to stop what they were doing,” Amy said. “They just needed to respect that Ward needed space.”

These conversations created structured holidays that, though different, created a level of control that was beneficial to the entire family, but especially for Ward. For Isabella, opening up to friends was another step.

“Growing up I never wanted to have friends over, I didn’t want holidays or birthday parties, sleepovers or movie nights because I didn’t know how my dad would react. The last thing I wanted was for my dad to walk out and scream at me. You don’t want to be seen as different from your peers,” Isabella said.

Over the years, she has recognized how powerful it was to share with friends about her father’s brain injury and how it has affected her family. She has been touched by their understanding and offers of support. According to Isabella, a result of that honesty was a “house filled with laughter again after 10 years,” a feeling which she described as “awesome.”

Maintaining balance and creating new traditions also proved invaluable.

While growing up, Isabella recognized that her younger sister, Clara, needed to continue to experience traditions of old while simultaneously making new traditions. In order to keep the old traditions, Isabella ensured that things normally done with the whole family were now shared between the two sisters, as Amy’s attention was understandably turned toward taking care of Ward during his recovery from injuries that also included broken bones and nerve damage. Isabella and Clara also took responsibility for picking up Christmas presents for Amy, as Ward’s memory loss made it likely that he might forget.

Traditions that otherwise could have fallen by the wayside during a time of great stress instead gave way to new, special traditions or a blend of new and old. Such adaptability kept the spirit of the holiday alive for the sisters while allowing them to adjust to their family’s specific circumstances. What could have been a reason to abandon tradition altogether became a reason to create new ones while cherishing the old.

At SoldierStrong, a significant component of our mission is not only to provide revolutionary medical technology, such as virtual reality hardware and software, to aid in the treatment of PTS and improve overall mental health, but to also provide individuals, including veterans, active duty service members and their families, with resources and information to maintain and foster their wellbeing. It is our hope that the insight provided by Amy and Isabella Taft may help other dependents and family members of veterans navigate this holiday season, especially during a time when so much of the world and our day-to-day lives look so different.

Veterans Nonprofit Announces SoldierScholar Recipients

Delivering on its commitment to assist soldiers taking a significant academic step into their future by filling in voids left by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the national nonprofit SoldierStrong announced the 2020 recipients of its scholarship initiative, SoldierScholar, today.

“SoldierStrong realized early on that higher education provides a crucial set of opportunities for veterans as they return home from service and begin to transition, and ultimately adjust, to civilian life,” said SoldierStrong co-founder and chairman Chris Meek. “Our organization and supporters recognize the value of the unique interaction that occurs between higher education institutions and veterans. Not only do veterans benefit greatly from higher education, but they serve as major assets to the schools they attend by bringing with them unparalleled experiences and leadership characteristics from their time in service.”

Meek continued, “Though the GI Bill has benefitted almost one million veterans in the past year, it has not historically relieved all of the costs associated with obtaining a degree. Textbooks, classroom fees, transportation, technology, tutoring and a number of other additional expenses that come with obtaining a degree are often not considered upfront when developing a general financial plan. SoldierScholar was created to fill in those gaps left by the bill and alleviate the additional costs associated with receiving a degree. It is an honor to support and assist soldiers in their academic endeavors.”

SoldierScholar scholarships are available to veterans who fought in the recent War on Terror. SoldierStrong, which primarily provides revolutionary medical technologies to Veterans Affairs medical centers across the country to help injured veterans lead full lives, launched SoldierScholar in 2012 and has since awarded more than $500,000. This year’s recipients include:

Lucas Netti, Public Administration, Syracuse University
Lucas Netti served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne Division as an infantryman and sniper team leader. This past August, Netti graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor of arts in political science and is expected to graduate from the university with a master’s degree in public administration and a certificate of advanced studies in security studies in August 2021. Upon graduation Netti plans on pursuing a career in government in the national security sector. “Getting the SoldierScholarship means a lot to me because it gives me an opportunity to represent Syracuse University and its veteran community. It is a good way of showing my academic achievements as a veteran and is a testament to the outstanding education that the professors here at Syracuse have provided me,” Netti said.

Kala Hagen, Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Kala Hagen served in the U.S. Navy for nine years as a cryptologic language analyst specializing in Arabic and Somali. While on active duty, Hagen earned a bachelor of arts in anthropology at the University of Florida and was selected for several prestigious language immersion programs, including Middlebury College’s summer language program in California. While receiving her master of science in foreign service at Georgetown University, Hagen will concentrate on international development in the Middle East and Africa and is especially interested in reducing factors that contribute to extremism and terrorism. Upon graduation, she aspires to serve with the State Department or U.S. Agency for International Development. “I feel incredibly honored and humbled to have been selected for a SoldierScholar scholarship,” Hagen said. “I really admire the work that SoldierStrong does to help veterans, so for them to choose to invest so significantly in my education means a great deal to me.”

Jessica Evans, Civil Engineer Technology, Old Dominion University
Jessica Evans served in the U.S. Navy as a sonar technician while stationed in Hawaii and various other places around the world. In part due to financial considerations, Evans did not go to college directly after high school, and instead was inspired to join the military branch in which both of her grandfathers served. Evans sees her service as a way to honor their legacy. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in engineering, Evans plans to pursue her master’s degree. “Growing up I never dreamed about going to college let alone going as far as pursuing my master’s degree. So to have this opportunity to reach for my dreams is really special,” Evans said.

To learn more about the SoldierScholar initiative and find out ways to donate.

SoldierStrong Announces Co-Recipients of Commitment to Service Award

SoldierStrong Announces 2020 Co-Recipients of Annual Commitment to Service Award Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen, appointed by the president as executive director of the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans to End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS) task force, and Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo, director of medical virtual reality at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies, were recognized as this year’s co-recipients for their contributions to our country’s veterans, including their commitment to promoting mental health and wellness and medical innovation to improve the lives of veterans.

“SoldierStrong presents the Commitment to Service Award annually to individuals who have demonstrated exemplary and inspirational leadership and provided material support to SoldierStrong’s mission to help service members and veterans, many of whom have suffered catastrophic visible and invisible wounds, take their next steps forward on the battlefield, in the classroom and ultimately in life itself wherever their journey may take them,” said Chris Meek, co-founder and chairman of SoldierStrong. “It is an honor to present SoldierStrong’s 2020 Commitment to Service Award to not one, but two, extremely deserving leaders. Dr. Van Dahlen and Dr. Rizzo have worked tirelessly to leverage their talents and resources in an effort to elevate the standard of excellence in mental health care available to our country’s veterans.”

Van Dahlen was selected as executive director of the PREVENTS task force by President Donald J. Trump in 2019, which is dedicated to building a national strategy focused on improving mental health and preventing suicide among Veterans and all Americans. Named to TIME Magazine’s 2012 list of 100 Most Influential People in the world, Van Dahlen is the founder of Give an Hour, a national nonprofit that provides free mental health care to those in need. A licensed clinical psychologist who practiced in the Washington, D.C. area for over 20 years, she received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland.

“Chris Meek and SoldierStrong have become valued partners to PREVENTS over the past year, and working together we will achieve our shared goal of enhancing mental health and wellbeing and preventing suicide among Veterans and all Americans,” Van Dahlen said. “It is both an honor and quite humbling to be recognized by an organization of SoldierStrong’s caliber. I extend my sincerest appreciation for this special acknowledgement and for SoldierStrong’s continued commitment to address challenges that affect those who serve, our Veterans and their families.”

Rizzo serves as Director of Medical VR at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies as a research professor at the USC Department of Psychiatry and at the USC Davis School of Gerontology. Rizzo’s research focuses on the development and use of virtual reality (VR) systems to assess and treat post-traumatic stress (PTS). With his team at ICT, he created the BraveMind VR exposure therapy program used to treat PTS in veterans. The BraveMind program creates “worlds” of combat scenarios, which place veterans back within their memories of combat to work through their post-traumatic stress. The BraveMind technology has been donated to 24 VA hospitals and medical facilities across the country through SoldierStrong’s StrongMind program.

“It is truly meaningful to be recognized by SoldierStrong for my work with medical virtual reality,” Rizzo said. “I am thankful for the thoughtfulness of their recognition, for embracing disruptive technology and ultimately ensuring BraveMind is delivered to Veterans Affairs medical centers across the country through their StrongMind program. I am honored to share in a commitment to improving the lives of veterans and take pride in all that we have accomplished together. To be recognized by a partner organization is a unique distinction and a true honor.”

“SoldierStrong recognizes leaders within various industries, like Dr. Van Dahlen and Dr. Rizzo, not only as a way to celebrate advancements made in bettering the lives of veterans but also to encourage our country’s leaders to continue to keep veterans front of mind in the work that they do and inspire others to find new avenues to benefit our heroic veterans,” Meek said.

Opinion: Veteran Suicide Crisis Demands Our Action

As we honor those Americans who have sacrificed so much in the service of our country, we must do more to address a threat that stalks all too many of them.

In 2018, 321 active-duty service members took their own lives, including 57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen and 138 soldiers. This is the highest number of active-duty suicides since 2012 — when an equal number took their own lives — since close tracking began in 2001.

For the veteran population, there were more than 6,000 suicides each year from 2008 to 2016. In 2016, the suicide rate was 1.5 times greater for veterans than non-veteran adults after adjusting for age and gender. The challenges of coping with the COVID-19 epidemic are adding even more stress, which many health care professionals believe will only make the situation worse.

We can and must address this crisis. One answer is to make mental health care more accessible to those in need. The best way to do that is to break down barriers to care. One of the best shots to get that done is to improve the availability of advanced technology solutions for delivering evidence-based care.

The first challenge to breaking down barriers to care is obvious, but not always easy: getting someone to start some form — frankly, any form — of treatment engagement. There are also the systemic impediments that must be addressed. This requires strategies that address the seven A’s of “Barriers to Care”: awareness, anticipated benefit, availability, acceptability, accessibility, adherence and affordability of mental health care.

We must put more effort into building public awareness about effective treatment options, to increase the perception of anticipated benefit, make treatment more accessible and make available more well-trained treatment providers, and finally to make help-seeking more acceptable (reducing stigma). These steps would promote adherence at an affordable cost.

For service members and veterans, promoting access to mental health care is a key target for reducing suicide incidence. Perceived stigma is a significant barrier for patients seeking mental health care along with lack of knowledge about mental health care, inability to recognize symptoms in one’s self, and inability to identify adequate health care resources for mental health symptoms.

As of 2018, 60% of newly civilian veterans lacked access to mental health care. A presidential executive order has tasked the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Veterans Affairs with filling this care gap.

The problem’s urgency has led the VA to reiterate its commitment to veteran mental health care access. Its Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention is aiming to promote access by making high-quality mental health care and suicide prevention resources available through a full spectrum of inpatient, outpatient and tele-mental health services.

We need better contact between the military and veteran health care agencies for seamless access to service records when someone transitions to the VA system. We also need to promote better access to supportive wellness programs that leverage technology like virtual reality, gaming and mobile apps that engage users in positive content.

We need to set up a health care transition program that ensures a soft handoff to civilian health care, while people are on the tail end of active duty. Mental health assessments should be done and, in combination with other military records, could provide the baseline for big-data analytics after someone connects with the VA.

The urgency for reducing or preventing service-member and veteran suicides demands our best efforts to provide a more comprehensive approach. The time is right for our elected officials to come together and address this pressing issue. It’s up to us to insist that they give it their best effort. Our service members and veterans deserve nothing less.

Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo is the director of medical virtual reality at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies and the creator of the BraveMind virtual reality exposure therapy program used to treat veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress.

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Continuing Education After Service in the Military

Continuing Education

By Chris Meek

Most Americans understand the potential benefits of pursuing higher education. These can include everything from earning a larger salary, to a higher potential for employment. Those with higher education often have a tendency for deeper involvement in civic activities and better overall health, in part, due to financial security. 

The list goes on and on and has been imprinted in our minds by politicians, primary education instructors, and the like as the next logical step for high school graduates. 

With it, higher education brings some appealing opportunities for young adults. Though higher education may not be for everyone, it certainly provides its own set of additional opportunities for veterans as they return home from service and begin to transition – and ultimately adjust – to civilian life.

Dispelling Myths About Veteran Students

It’s not just veterans that benefit from the institutions in which they enroll. Veterans serve as assets to the schools they attend, bringing with them unparalleled experiences and unique leadership characteristics from their time in service. Negative myths have been perpetuated casting veterans as underwhelming academic performers in comparison to their civilian peers. 

It is no surprise that an abundance of research indicates what many members of the military have figured all along: veterans excel in higher education classrooms. In fact, they thrive in making the transition from the role of the active duty service member to student, to college graduate. In fact, I would argue that pursuing an education can play a large role in a comfortable transition back into the civilian world.

The success and track record of student veterans underlines the need and importance of the $5 billion dollars in education benefits attributed to student veterans annually through the Department of Veterans Affairs’ G.I. Bill. Particularly in 2020, a year made tumultuous by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected our country’s higher education students in general, let alone the additional effects it has had on our student veterans.

In response to the extra difficulties placed on student veterans at this time, Congress extended a number of financial protections earlier this month. These ensure the extension of work-study programs and leave housing stipends unchanged. These are important steps in helping student veterans navigate these trying times. 

The Unique Financial Challenges of Non-Traditional Students

The G.I. bill, which has benefitted nearly one million veterans in the past year. However, even with these extensions,  the bill has historically not always relieved all of the costs associated with obtaining a degree. 

Textbooks, classroom fees, transportation, technology, tutoring, and a number of other additional expenses come with higher education and are often not considered upfront when developing a general financial plan. This is only made more difficult for the many veterans who also work full or part-time to support their families and other financial obligations that are not typical of the average college student.

In response to these often difficult realities, multiple scholarship programs (on both the local and national levels) have formed to reduce the financial burdens that come with obtaining an education. These scholarships make the transition into higher education easier for veterans. 

SoldierStrong, the nonprofit that I co-founded and serve as executive director for, is one such organization that provides scholarships through our SoldierScholar initiative. 

We assist veterans in taking an academic step into their future by filling in gaps left by the G.I. bill. so that veterans can finish their college education in order to continue public service careers upon the conclusion of their military service. We are proud of the over $500,000 in scholarships we have been able to provide. These scholarships have provided benefits to student veterans at Georgetown University, Old Dominion University, and Syracuse University. 

We look forward to awarding more SoldierScholar scholarships this year to benefit veterans as they complete their academic journey.

U.S. Army veteran Edrena Roberts, a 2019 SoldierScholar recipientU.S. Army veteran Edrena Roberts, a 2019 SoldierScholar recipient at Georgetown University, said that receiving a SoldierScholar scholarship has given her “incredible peace of mind” and that it has helped make her “success a reality.” 

Roberts is currently receiving her Master of Professional Studies in Applied Intelligence and hopes to use her degree to someday work for the FBI as an analyst. It’s veterans like Roberts that prove why it is so important that organizations continue to provide access to higher education. These opportunities allow veterans to apply the leadership and problem-solving skills they developed in the military to their future careers, thus finding new ways to serve their communities and country.

Learn more about the SoldierScholar Program.