The Home Front Cares – Blog

Along with newly elected President Tom Daschbach, The Home Front Cares has also elected three new board members.

One of the new members is Lars F. Bergstrom Esq., senior defense council to Army Reserve and counsel to Denver Law Firm Dewhirst and Dolven.  The second member is a returning board member, Dennis McCormack.  Dennis is an active advocate for veterans in the Pikes Peak region as well as leading The Home Front Cares Adaptive Housing Program.  The final member elected is KKTV 11 news anchor Betty Sexton.  Betty has been a long time support of The Home Front Cares.  She has also been the emcee for the annual dinner for the past 9 years.

We are excited for these new and returning board members and are looking to see what they will do for our community and organization.

The Home Front Cares recently elected Tom Daschbach, a board member and longtime community leader to lead our organization.  This information is in the upcoming newsletter that will be available soon!

Daschbach is founder and CEO of TD Support Services Corp., a Colorado Springs based corporation that is also operating in Europe as well as the USA.  Tom was also a previous vice president of the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce.  He was past president of the local chapter of the American Heart Association and former chapter president of the Military Officers Association of America.  Daschbach succeeds Ed Anderson as president who served two years as president until reaching his term limit as a board member.

Tom looks forward to working with The Home Front Cares and moving forward with what Anderson was growing.  We are so excited to have him leading us!

All veterans are not created equal and this is especially true for those living on the street.  Lately, females have a larger risk of being on the street than males.  They have a more difficult time finding jobs in civilian life than their male counterparts.  Some reasons are similar to that of male veterans but others are different.  A common one is Military Sexual Trauma, MST, which happens more often to female military members than to male members.

This is what one woman in the article struggled through this and was able to win disability for PTSD related to her MST and is on the road to recovery.  Her trauma caused her slip onto the streets and into drug addiction but now she is able to get help.

There are others with families who face more complications but still fight to get back the life they had.  The V.A. has since established Renew, a center that incorporates psychotherapy, journal writing and yoga to help female patients cope with problems.

It is encouraging to see how our country is handling the wide scope of problems and working to help any sector of people that need it.

Our first post comes from a soldier at Fort Carson, Colorado.  We will keep the identity secret to protect confidentiality.

1. How are you connected to the military?

I served in the military from 2006 to 2010; I got out as a SGT E-5. I also met my husband in the military as well. We attended Basic Training and got stationed together. My husband is currently still in the military and has deployed twice.

2. How long have you been involved with the military?

I have been connected with the Army for 7 years.

3. Where have you lived during your service?

For all of our training my husband and I were in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for 19 weeks.  The first 5 and a half years my husband and I were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas in 3dACR. Now we are currently stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.

4. What would you tell other military families for encouragement?

Currently my husband is dealing with a chain of Command that really does not seem to care about their soldiers, something he has never experienced before. I myself have never seen anything like it. I would encourage enlisted soldiers to speak up and be heard, and if that does not work use resources until they are exhausted! For officers, I would encourage them to start treating soldiers like they are human beings and not machines that can easily be replaced. The cold hard truth is, treat people how you want to be treated because those men fight alongside you and in a time of need they just might not give a damn because you didn’t give a damn about them and fight for them when they needed you.

There is no shame in getting help and getting your mind right when times are tough. Drinking does not solve anything. It is a depressant! Talk to someone!

5. What would you tell civilians that they might not know?

To all the civilians out there that think they know what military service members and their families deal with, you have no idea. PTSD is no joke. It not only affects the soldier personally but their family as well. My husband has PTSD, he only wants to talk to me about work and his problems. He is also a drinker. He drinks every night, a bottle of rum and beer. A few weeks ago he fell down the stairs and busted his chin open and had blood everywhere. Lucky for me our daughter was asleep and once he passed I had to clean all the blood off of him and around the house and bandage his chin. The next morning he didn’t even know how it happened. A lot of military wives know this experience. I feel that I married this man for better and for worse and he needs me now more than ever. After my husband’s accident I finally looked at him and said he needed to see a counselor because no matter how many deep conversations we had it was not enough; especially when he was not in the right state of mind when we had our talks. He is now getting some help and making some progress after 6 years. Sometimes I can’t believe that some people protest the military, soldiers are willing to sacrifice not only their lives but their sanity. It is a job and someone has to do it.

Next week will be a busy media week for The Home Front Cares! Our first-ever TV spots are scheduled to debut on Denver’s KMGH (Ch. 7) and Colorado Springs’ KKTV (Ch. 11) next week! They’ll run for two weeks, then return again over July 4th! I think there are tens of thousands of Coloradans who will hear about our humble little nonprofit for the first time!

Monday, our Executive Director, April Speake, will appear with anchor Bertha Lynn on KMGH’s 11 a.m. news to talk about how our mission has expanded over the past few years. So if you live in the Denver TV market (that’s a pretty big area!), check it out!

It was 10 years ago next week, on May 23, 2003, that then-Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera issued a proclamation recognizing The Home Front Cares’ start of operations. Colorado Springs City Council and the El Paso County Board of Commissioners will mark THFC’s tenth anniversary with their own proclamations. The County Commissioners proclamation is Tuesday, 9 a.m. at Centennial Hall; and the City Council’s is Thursday, 9 a.m. at City Hall. We hope to see our supporters and media there!

And we’ll be dropping a news release on our new president and boardmembers, and I’ll be scrambling to assemble our quarterly newsletter.

So like I said, it’ll be busy next week at The Home Front Cares, but you should be able to read or hear all about it, not only in the Pikes Peak region, but for the first time, throughout most of Colorado!

Homeless programs in Albuquerque, New Mexico are helping veterans get off the streets.  One veteran told of his surprise when someone took him to a shelter and gave him a cup of coffee despite his obvious look of having lived on the streets.  He was taken aback and so grateful.  Now this veteran is about to get his bachelor’s in accounting.

This story is similar to other veterans who are being helped around the city by various programs.  Funding has been cut from the state but there is still a job to be done.  People working for various organizations still work hard to help veterans living on the street.

While there are many challenges faced when helping veterans given the special circumstances of each person, the work is still worthwhile to give the veterans hope.

Colorado Springs Utilities was chosen as a semifinalist for honoring troops.  Many veterans are glad for the support given by CS Utilities and many other companies in the area.  This company honors troops by handing them booklets and volunteering to sit down with them to explain their rights and other information before deployment.

The troops being honored are Guard and Reserve employees.

Overall, there are 130 semifinalists selected for the final round of decisions.  Other local companies being honored are Hewlett Packard, Everest College, The U.S. Paralympics and many more.

It is encouraging to see that our active duty and veterans are being taken care of by our country.

Elderly survivors of the Holocaust and WWII veterans who helped liberate them gather for the 20th anniversary of the museum commemorating the Holocaust.  Elie Wiesel will also be in attendance.  The group chose not to meet for the 25th anniversary because most survivors won’t be alive in five years.

This is encouraging as our country strives to honor its veterans and showcase their bravery in helping others around the world.  These men risked their lives to fight and 20 years later, they are still being celebrated.  Even as our military fight and defend our country, they help innocent people who wouldn’t otherwise demand their attention.  Let’s celebrate our veterans and the hard work they have given both to our country and countries around the world!

Summertime is going to be hoppin’ around The Home Front Cares.

For starters, it’s our 10th anniversary. We’ve been aiding Colorado veterans and military families for 10 years, but we’re not celebrating. We see the need for our services growing more than ever as thousands of veterans leaves the military and return home. So we’ve got a lot planned for you in the coming weeks and months!

This Saturday, the Gleneagle Sertoma is holding the “Spirits of the Spring” wine-tasting at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, 6-9 p.m. Tickets are available at the door, so come on by!

The great people at Gleneagle Sertoma also plan to benefit THFC with their annual Patriot Golf Tournament in September. Details to come!

That tee-off is in addition to our annual golf tournament, June 27 at Sanctuary (tee times still available!)

And we’re also loosening up our arms to throw out the first pitch at a Sky Sox game, either June 11 or 13 (TBD). If you’re a motorcycle enthusiast, the veterans of the Rough Riders motorcycle club will ride in our honor on July 13. We’re also working with The Classical Academy to plan their annual 5K run on Aug. 24, which will benefit us this year.

So if you’re into baseball, running, golf, bikes or wine, you can plan your calendar to help Colorado’s service members, veterans and military families!

President Obama visited those injured at the Massachusetts General Hospital from the blasts at the Boston Marathon.  Some sustained mild injuries while others were severely injured.  After the week’s events, many felt discouraged but the President served to provide some hope.

According to Massachusetts’s Governor Deval Patrick, he has accompanied Obama visiting wounded veterans who have since bounced back through emotional support during rehabilitation and have since returned to active lives.

Patients felt lifted and inspired from the President’s visit.  Veterans have served and even though they have sustained injuries, they have been able to recover through emotional and physical support from doctors and family.  We support our veterans and those injured at the Boston Marathon in their recovery.