Amazing things happen in Clarkston and Independence Township. A group of citizens concerned about the military families living in the community have banded together to provide support.
Clarkston Cares was founded by Dr. Tom Stone, who was concerned about the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome on veterans returning from the Gulf and Iraq Wars.
Currently, Clarkston Cares has evolved as a community mechanism to help the veteran and their families during their loved one's deployment.
The website for Clarkston Cares follows http://clarkstoncares.org/index.htm.
In today's military, there are two different kind of soldiers, the regular military family that is a full time soldier and his or her family with access to military support at a local base, such as Selfridge Air Base.
Many of today's soldiers come from the state's National Guard. National Guard soldiers and their families do not enjoy the support given regular military personnel.
Schools in communities like Clarkston have a few students in classes whose parents are deployed versus schools on large military bases where a large number of students understand in their own way, the work their parents do. A son or daughter of a deployed Naitoanl Guard soldier may be the only child in their classroom with a parent in the military.
Health care and counseling is not as easily available to National Guard personnel as the regular military men and women. Recently, in Fort Lewis near Tacoma Washington, Congressman Kurt Shrader found that the WarriorTransition unit created to support soldiers returning with health issues treated National Guard soldiers differently than regular Army soldiers.
Back to the Community Cares organization in Independence Township and Clarkston, community members are available to help with referrals to tradesmens, service providers and professionals. Links are made to doctors, tutors, and counselors for military families. Mentors and service organizatios are available to support the soldier and military families.
Clarkston resident Stone, said about 24 residents have met over the last year to create the support network and be available for the military men and women as well as their families.
One of the members is Navy Captain Bart Clark, retired, who created the website for families to peruse to find the appropriate support.
Community ingenuity and concerned citizens can do amazing things.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment