Rally Point 50

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Rally pointers fall.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
In good afternoon and morning wherever you're going to be
in the world today across the world. This is James
the Sartime with Amena Machiato, Micano Bam folks here with
you at the rally point, and of course we have
the man behind the microphone, zay N the Brain.

Speaker 1 (00:18):
How are we doing today, folks, doing good, loving life.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Outstanding, outstanding. First of all, I want to say thank
you to our man Derek get It Done Anderson. He's
been on the road, killer on it thanks to you, folks,
and I say thank you very much supporting his cause
being with Etna Medicare Solutions. We're glad we met you,
and folks, we have an outstanding show today.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
All right, for today's segment for Voices of Valor, we
have four special guests with us. So we have Philippe Machler,
and we have Kendra Simpkins from Operation Warrior Resolution, and
we have Aaron Lawler Lambert and Aaron Burretta with us
from Greater Pine Island Alliance. So we want to start
by saying welcome everybody to the show and that we're
glad to have all of you here in some pacidy.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Most definitely, And as we always say in our show,
thank you for your sacrifice, all of you, for the
simple fact that you guys not only are helping our
veteran community, you are also are helping out our community
as a whole, help us heel as one whole community.
So thank you for your sacrifice. Everyone here, thank you
appreciate anytime, anytime. So let's start with Philip. Here, tell

(01:25):
America about yourself military experience, how you got to Florida,
and how you got here.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
My name is Philip Makler. I'm the director of Community
Engagement with Operation Warrior Resolution. My background, I'm from Southwest Florida.
I joined the Marine Corps after high school and did
four years of ACTI duty with the Marine Corps. After
those four years, I moved to Tampa and became a
Hollsborough County Sheriff's deputy. And at that point I lowered

(01:52):
my standards and I joined the Army Reserves.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Here we go again, Here we go, Joy come up
on every.

Speaker 4 (02:01):
We can handle it, folks, we can handle today.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Though there's two there's two Army members here, so you
know all three technically, I guess I'm the odd one
out maybe And I can find out with Kendra. Okay, yeah, no,
there's four our Yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:13):
So I love one marine equals like four Army soldiers though,
So that's just such.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
I'm just enjoying the moment for the first time.

Speaker 3 (02:22):
I'm not alone, right, You're like, So, I got reactivated
with the Army and sent to Afghanistan for a year,
and I knew I had challenges coming back from both
Iraq and Afghanistan, but as many of us do, we
covered up. We don't want to talk about it, We
internalize instead of seeking that help. And for me to

(02:44):
try and deal with my own issues, I avoided my
issues and tried to start helping others. But as I
found out later down the road, seeking that help is
what you need to do, and it took me a
long time to see that. Ended up moving to Sarasota
County becoming a sheriff's deputy down here and down here
is when I had the opportunity of meeting Kendra and
Operation Warrior Resolution and it was some challenging years for me,

(03:08):
and I had a chance to go through their five
day brain based healing retreat and it was very inspirational
and it was life changing and as I finished up
my law enforcement career and retired from Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
I reached out to Kendra and said, Kendra, I'm looking
to transition into helping veterans full time because I had
continue to help veterans over the past eighteen years and

(03:30):
it was a perfect fit. So now I'm currently living
my dream job helping veterans get into a place where
we all need to be. So thank you, Kendra.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
Outstanding and Kendra, introduce yourself to America.

Speaker 5 (03:47):
Sure. So I'm Kendra Sinkin smash Slash just got married
this summer.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Congratulations, that's a thank you.

Speaker 5 (03:56):
US Army veteran, licensed clinical social worker I THINK, and
founder of Operation ware Resolution. So I'm an Army veteran
who was audibly discharged in twenty ten and after getting
out of the military, and I encountered my own struggles
and that transition process I mean mental health. I was

(04:18):
discharged with service connected injuries, and through my own personal
journey through the VA and really experiencing how inadequate or
a lot of the barriers and gaps in the VA are,
I began to get back on my feet and go
back to school. And start to get training to do
this with a living to build those gaps in the

(04:39):
VA and help other service members get through those dark
times where I once was.

Speaker 4 (04:46):
Well, thank you for your sacrifice.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
Yeah, that's a wonderful way to put it. Because we're
currently sitting at your new location, I guess, and so
it's very much easy to see how there are a
lot of possibilities for you guys to fill some of
the gaps that unfortunately the VA does leave us with.
I think I gave Philip at least like three examples
on his fifteen minute windshield tour. So yeah, it's definitely

(05:10):
this is really impressive. Aaron and Aaron. If you ever
get a chance to come up here and see this place,
which I'm sure you will, it's phenomenal. It's like, Wow,
your job will drop, I promise. So you guys have
done well.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Okay with that, folks, how about you and Aaron and Aaron.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
To yourself.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
This is like that one movie and I won't say
it's name in case you can't on the air, but
where everybody's like doctor doctor Aaron Aaron are to tell us, Yeah,
good to tell us about yourselves and how you guys
came through as far as your background and how you
came to form Greater Pine Island Alliance.

Speaker 6 (05:57):
Absolutely so. My name is Aaron Barretta.

Speaker 7 (06:00):
I entered the Warmian was commission in nineteen ninety nine
out of the Service Academy, and I ended up doing
twenty years as an officer in the field Artillery. Through
that experience, I deployed three times to Iraq, one time
to Afghanistan. I had a lot of great life changed opportunities.
I spent a year as an interact fellow with the
United States Marshall Service. I served for General Brooks as

(06:24):
his executive officer, and I also was able to be
the chief Military Trained at the United States Military Academy
later in my career, and I finally retired as acting
Chief Joint Fires for a brief period at the United
States Central Command. And it was following my retirement that,
like a lot of veterans, the transition gets hard. One
day he got multiple cell phones and your pone's ringing

(06:46):
twenty four to seven.

Speaker 6 (06:47):
The next day you don't know where exactly you are.

Speaker 7 (06:51):
And through that experience of retiring and trying transition, I
found the American Legion and it was at a barstool,
probably ninety days or so after I retired, that a
veteran at Vietnam that looked at me and he said, Eric,
what are you doing? How are you going to do
this every day? You've got to get over it. You've
got to move along. We've all been there, and so

(07:13):
it was veterans that helped me move on.

Speaker 6 (07:16):
And then from that I eventually found a home.

Speaker 7 (07:18):
Down on Climb Island, right upon Island here, and then
within a few months of that, I bought my home
that n hit. I found myself in a situation where
the American Legion down here, the commander resigned and they
asked me to run it. Days following in from that,
I began to do recovery and help the island. The
American Legion Post one thirty six. We'd feed anible from

(07:40):
three to six hundred people a day. Thanksgiving was over
one thousand, and we just ran a major relief effort.
But I realized that we were not reaching and getting
the assets from the county, state and federal government that
we needed. And from there I was very fortunate to
meet bommy current that runs a great nonprofit capacity Path
put me in touch with some people to understand that
I had to form what's called a long term recovery group.

(08:02):
So from that in December fall in the storm, I
found it the Greater pun On Alliance, which is a
long term recovery group of line to help people recover
post storm. From there, within a month, it was amazing.
We received our federal status as a non profit, so
it moved very quickly. So in the two years post
in we've been doing long term recovery for the island.

(08:24):
You know, even two years later we still had over
eighty nine clients on our list. And from there, obviously
we've had multiple other hurricanes that you know up in
Sarasota they got devastated the most recently here Helene and Milton,
and so really it's taken on a life its own,
just helping your local community. And as a veteran, we
say in the Army, you know, logistics runs everything, and
it really does. And so it's that background that that

(08:48):
helped me found the Greater punt Of Alliance And what
we do now is we help people recover from disasters.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
And Aaron, yes, I really can't say all of that, So.

Speaker 8 (09:02):
I'm the other Aaron, and I was commissioned because I
was in the wrong place, at the right place, at
the right time. I did not serve and I am
so grateful to all of you that did. And I
was asked to be the executive director. So I'm the
executive director of the Greater Paneal Alliance and our mission
is to return every survivor home.

Speaker 9 (09:21):
So when we got the call that there.

Speaker 8 (09:24):
Was help needed in Sarasota for a veterans club, of
course my answer. I looked at Aaron and said, of
course we're Gollain and that is who we are at
the Greater Plane Alliance again, return every survivor home.

Speaker 9 (09:35):
How can we help?

Speaker 8 (09:36):
And with the Cardinal's point, and you know, our our
caseload was still eighty nine prior to Helena and Milton.

Speaker 9 (09:46):
We are now well over two hundred and twenty five
percent of our veterans. We did the math today and
we are twenty five percent of our.

Speaker 8 (09:54):
Caseload as veterans who are living in substandard conditions.

Speaker 6 (09:58):
So that is our mission.

Speaker 2 (10:00):
I've said it once and I'll say it again. Thank
you for your sacrifice, because without your sacrifice, I shouted
to think what happened to those veterans if you weren't here,
And also as a post note, I met you two
during i Ian outbreak and I went to your Post
one thirty six as a visiting command of another American legion.
And I'm not going to exaggerate. Post one thirty six

(10:23):
was a hub of activity. They had trailers of repair kits,
food cases, and pallets of water, and it was a
synchronized machine. For me, I had a flashback to me
being in the Army because I'm used to that stuff.
Because it was synchronized, like while it synchronized William it
comes to cars to come to empty cars. It was

(10:44):
like organized and I know that Aaron Baretta was he
was the machine behind it. And like it took me
all but two minutes to find out who the commander
was because he was more or less not poorting what
to do. He was doing it in a process appointing.
So I'm thankful I had to meet him and the
abilities and resources he's provided to Pine Islands that's been phenomenal.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
But that brings me to my next question.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
How did you guys kind of collaborate with Operation Warriors resolution.

Speaker 3 (11:13):
Tropical Storm Debbi, which later turned into Hurricane our last
location was flooded and we were devastated. We had just
moved into our property that week. I remember Kendra took
a photo with all of us standing in front of it,
and then a week later there was two feet of
water two to three feet of water just inside of

(11:33):
it from the flooding. And fortunately we had the opportunity
to meet with Governor DeSantis. He came down here after
the storm and a member of his team talked with
Kendra and reached out to the Errands and put him
into contact. And I have to add this one part
of the story. I haven't told the Erons this yet.
So they said they were going to be coming up

(11:55):
and assisting us. So the first night they were coming
up and they were supposed to meet with me, they
were eight and I'm like oh, and they said, can
we reschedule for tomorrow morning? And I'm like, okay, are
these guys really coming? So the next morning they said
we're going to meet early. I'm like okay. So I
called them to try and get them breakfast, and I'm
calling and they're not answering their phones. They're like, yeah,
we're gonna get the property. And I'm calling. They're not

(12:16):
answering their phones, and I'm like, they didn't show up
the first night, and I'm like, are they gonna twice
in a row not show up? So I'm I'm a
little bit fired up because we haven't slept, we've been running,
we've been cleaning stuff, and when you get that extra stress,
you're like, now these people are no showing. They're supposed
to come up. Remember I haven't. I haven't told the
two errands this yet. So I get to the get
to the property and I learned why they weren't answering

(12:38):
their phones. They were already to their elbows in mud
and muck and cleaning and doing stuff, and they with
rubber gloves. They were both sweating like crazy.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
You had humble pipe, I had all.

Speaker 3 (12:52):
High and now I was I was embarrassed to say anything,
but it was just awesome that they came. I don't
remember what your boots were, but I do remember being
feeling very sheepish and not saying anything because I'm like.

Speaker 6 (13:07):
I looked like and what I was wearing.

Speaker 4 (13:08):
I don't remember.

Speaker 1 (13:11):
Were you calcinated when this happened?

Speaker 3 (13:13):
I was probably were amazing. I got there and they
were already kicking butt and getting it done and we
were very that was the start of the relationship.

Speaker 4 (13:27):
Oh wow, you know we all know.

Speaker 9 (13:30):
Sarah traffic right.

Speaker 8 (13:31):
The reason we were that night because it took us
nine hours to get.

Speaker 1 (13:35):
There and that's not an exaggeration.

Speaker 2 (13:41):
Well, that goes to the point about the Errands is
that beyond beyond the they were the exciting to do
a job. It goes beyond your normal expectation. And I
will say that there's Superian expectation. There's expectation as you
transition to inter kind of gauged down their expectations. But
to see that our mentality working in the Ciblian and

(14:02):
a sibling insight like the Errands, I've brought here, the
grade pin ison to yourself is a testament to their
dedication to making sure the job gets done, it gets
done right. And I've seen ard the job being getting
done right. That's why I love the Army. Get corrected.
You are corrected before you go any forward, before you
ejeck this up. You're gonna get corrected about there at you.

(14:22):
We're gonna correct it and we're gonna move forward. And
that's what he does. And I'm thank you for your
cyclist I'll say it a million times, you know, I'll
never get.

Speaker 4 (14:28):
Tired of it.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
So I think the overarching theme here with having all
four of you on the show is not only have
your your paths crossed, but it's a matter of I
think the theme of kind of what we wanted to
talk about today with our voices of Valor segment is
veterans helping veterans and just how important that is. I mean,
I know we say that a lot, like different branches
say it different ways. I was in the medical group

(14:50):
in the Air Force, and so sometimes we would call
it medics taking care of medics, kind of thing looking
out for each other. But you guys genuinely have done that,
not only for each each other through your organizations, but
you also do that in your local communities. And so
we would love to hear more about how Operation Warrior
Resolution and the Greater Pine Island Alliance are serving their

(15:13):
communities and all the different ways that you do, because
I know it's not just a matter of you know,
some people are probably thinking, oh, Operation Warrior Resolution, what
does that cover? It's multifaceted. I know enough to know
from reading that you guys offer. You know, the brain
based treatments, the five day retreats, and then you have
an about what eighty five day follow on, so it's

(15:34):
like a whole like a ninety day whole health approach.
And then with Greater Pine Island Alliance, Aaron and Aaron,
y'all are not just taking care of people's homes, but
you know, you're putting help and put their lives back together.
And that's kind of what all four of you are doing.
You're restoring people's dignity and helping kind of put them
back together. But it's usually just a veteran, mostly a

(15:54):
veteran focused kind of project that involves that. So I
would love to hear more of, you know, maybe stories
that you guys have from your organizations of how you
are veterans helping veterans. And Aaron, I know that you're
technically not a veteran, However, Comma, I would dare assert
that you have the degree of attention to detail and
a lot of the professionalism that goes in with it.

(16:15):
So I would be willing to throw down and say
that you are like an honorary veteran in a lot
of ways.

Speaker 8 (16:20):
So well, that's appersonate with that, and that's certainly from
a service heart. You know, obviously have had numerous people
in my family serve and again could not be more
grateful for the sacrifices.

Speaker 9 (16:34):
And it's the very least I can do.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
Well, And into into Amanda's a point here, I'll say
that I don't really from my perspective, you are a veteran,
and you then take that and go out into the
field and help other families who are veterans or not
by such by by by our our rules of engagement,
you are part of our family and we're bound to

(16:57):
protect you because you're taking care of us. Take that
step further when we're not here, God forbid, we're deploying.
We got the great Greater pine Ale Alliance and greater
We're resolutions taking care of our families when we're not here.
And one of the key things you need to be
an effective warrior in the field is peace of mind,
and you guys provide that. And that's how I kind

(17:18):
of kind of piece together you too, because I mean,
you're taking care of people's homes and and you've been
on to show a.

Speaker 4 (17:23):
Couple of times. Both of you be going to show
a couple of times, and.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
You have said it without even meaning you mean knowing
that you're saying it. That people when they're stressed out
about their house being destroyed, there's no healing going.

Speaker 4 (17:34):
On at that point in time.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
Their mind is a complete wreck and you only see
the damage that's been done. The minute you put them aside,
tell them to take a breath, and then you have
them say Okay, we got this, and that moment healing.

Speaker 4 (17:47):
Can start it.

Speaker 2 (17:48):
Can you know they can take a moment to take
a breath and go okay, I need to assess myself
and I see you guys being an indomitable team because
one puts the minor ease, the other one heals the mind,
and that books hand in hand continuously. It's not just
a one phase one, phase two. It's a perpetuating system
because without the peace of mind, you can't heal yourself
or anybody around you. So you're doing God's work. And

(18:10):
like Amanda said, you guys are just a phenomenal entity
that we're busted to have in our universe, and especially
for the veterans that you guys service in the side
effect that go on for ours about this, folks, But
in the end of all this, you are able to
allow veterans to heal themselves, to find other veterans to
go heal themselves.

Speaker 4 (18:31):
So it's a perpetual windmill.

Speaker 8 (18:33):
But I think that's so important when you pointed out,
and I think not being a combat vet am or
having served in that way, it's interesting because I'm able
to look in at needs that may not be addressed
in those areas, and we've been able to bring so
many different resources to assist our combat vets that are

(18:54):
not traditional via resources, et cetera. Because I can, you know,
sympathize but not necessarily empathize, but see the met And
I think that's so important that civilians are assisting, just
like our veterans always assist the civilians, Right, that's all
you do.

Speaker 9 (19:11):
You give us ongoone country all the time.

Speaker 8 (19:14):
It's our responsibility to also give back and make sure
that we're assisting you.

Speaker 9 (19:17):
So organizations like International Orthodox.

Speaker 8 (19:20):
Charities that are down here right now for writing emotional
first aid capacity path sent us down just last week
did shair massages for people our veterans were able to
experience that. It's so important that we work in unity,
because Jay, what do we always say the road to
recovery is long, but together we are stronger than the search, right,

(19:40):
so it's so important to do that all the time.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
Most definitely, and talking about getting your back lub back chairs.

Speaker 9 (19:48):
You have, I knew you were.

Speaker 6 (19:53):
One else.

Speaker 9 (19:53):
Know what you're thinking, path I'll text you her number.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh no, no, keep us and to say no, he's
he's geeking out because as we took this quick windshield
tour of the new property, the Operation Wary Resolution is occupying.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
Now.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
There was a room that when you opened it, it
was a salt law yes, and it had a huge,
a nice massage table. It was like the zen hit
you the second you opened the door. Like I didn't
even have to walk in. As soon as Philip opened
the door, I was like, that's a massage room.

Speaker 6 (20:26):
That's awesome.

Speaker 7 (20:27):
And you know, going back to how we met, we
were asked to go to Sarnesota and that's really outside
of the area that we serve because we're not a
super large organization. But all it took is the ask
and like I mentioned, it was somebody else that they
had met to work.

Speaker 6 (20:43):
With the Santus and.

Speaker 7 (20:45):
All they had to say is veteran organization that focuses
on PTSD and of course I got online and all
of a sudden, I was like, man, we got to
be this are.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Was like, we got to go right, your website is
really good.

Speaker 8 (20:58):
To be honest, the answer is from me because I'm
the bookkeeper and we sat here. But the colonel will
tell you. He was plaining me the story and he'll
tell you what he said to me. I'm like, well, I.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
Can't say right, you just you see what all Personal
Solution was doing. And it was just like, if we
can do anything to help, because it's.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
Just it's one of the easiest.

Speaker 7 (21:18):
Yes, it is veterans helping veterans, and this is a
group that need tell and us having gone through Ian
for booking veterans and this is a group that got
destroyed from a storm. Helping veterans. It also multiplies itself.
You touch one person, those people touch money more and
so it was a no brainer.

Speaker 6 (21:35):
I mean, you can talk more about what you guys do,
but it become amazing.

Speaker 8 (21:39):
Feel if you need to, because even when we got there,
we were so impressed. You were impressed that we were there.
You know, we show up with generators and fans and
bear and water.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
See, they didn't need their breakfast. They just jumped right.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
In Bud Bud Lady is the Breakfast of Champions for
the US Army.

Speaker 9 (21:58):
Yeah, your beautiful Canady.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
So you guys have your new facility, so yeah, definitely,
like let's talk about that.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
So I'm gonna let Kendra talk about this an opportunity.
She she has had this vision and she has been
working her butt off for how many years now? When
did you officially start OWR In twenty eighteen? She had
this vision. And everyone has visions, they have these grand things,
but taking those actions, Kendra has done that and now
she has helped hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of veterans

(22:30):
to include me, And now we are moving into the
seven and a half acre property and she is the
one that's making it happen. So I'm gonna let her
tell a little bit about the property.

Speaker 4 (22:38):
And it is just.

Speaker 3 (22:41):
That you gave a one line as we were walking
over there, and you said, when you step out of
the car, as soon as soon as they stepped when
I first came to this property, when I stepped on
to the property, I could feel that positive energy. Jay
said the same thing and that line. So I'm coining
it's my line.

Speaker 4 (22:57):
Now, man's what I do as a marketer.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
You step out of the property.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
When you step out of the cart, the copyright done.

Speaker 5 (23:09):
It'll be recorded for posterity.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
And I always say with this one of the things,
that and one of the things. And I'm not really
big on retreats. I get kind of weirded out, true story,
except for this time basically, But it's a matter of
when you step out of the car, it's and I'm
not trying to get geeked out here. It's a negative
ion sensation, which is it is, It's just it's base
and it's like usually when you step outside, the world's

(23:33):
vibrating and it's not here. No, it's just it's still.
And one of the things I like as a kid,
if you can hear the brook running or the brit
then it's time to relax. And that is what you
see in a certain part when you walk on the compound.

Speaker 4 (23:46):
You can hear that book.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
I can sit there for hours and be out cold,
relax and not worry about you know, something someone trying.

Speaker 4 (23:53):
To get me or something going on in my head.
So that automatic.

Speaker 2 (23:57):
Therapeutic feeling that you have your kindred Noam Bullseye give
some background on your your walking creation.

Speaker 5 (24:07):
Can me, can me and just give it to all
of the.

Speaker 3 (24:14):
Well, if you can't work, I'll take it out, she's saying, copy.

Speaker 4 (24:17):
To if you'd like to make a twenty five second commercial,
I'll do that too.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
I'm a marketer. What can I tell you? I'll make it.
I'll have one ben in about two days. That's the
true story.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
Put that.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
Put that down there to two days, forty eight hours.
We'll want me back.

Speaker 4 (24:32):
Amen.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
I'm a geek, and I'm a geek in a laptop,
trust me. Uh, information and a couple a couple of
clips from here blow your mind, But anyway, be focusing
a couple of questions for you, Kendra, tell us about
your program, and again Tony Robbins being kind of jealous
of this little location right here, and paint for our

(24:54):
listeners a visual audio visual of your what you have here,
the point of it, and what you wish to accomplish.

Speaker 5 (25:01):
Well, thank you very much. Yes, his retreats place in
Fiji doesn't have anything on this.

Speaker 1 (25:06):
Actually, I was going to say, if you can't go
to Fiji, there's a place in Florida that's pretty close.

Speaker 5 (25:11):
Well, thank you. Yeah, so's it's been a really incredible
journey and to see this come to fruition and to
see where we have gotten to this point just really
speaks to the team and the level of impact that
we provide to veterans in this area of Florida and
throughout the state of Florida. And it originally just started

(25:33):
in twenty eighteen because I was doing a type of therapy,
the brainb stealing, which is very different than a traditional
trauma treatment where they are just re exposed to the
trauma over and over and just talking about it, because
that just activates the nervous system instead of causing the
brain to process and resolve the trauma, and it doesn't
cause them to have to think about it or feel
the pain, and then it just becomes neutralized, like they

(25:57):
can talk about it like they're describing what I have
for breakfast. Wow, So that they can then begin to
re engage with life again. They can begin to move forward,
build the relationships with their families again, and find another
purpose because all of that stuff had been resolved. And
so I said, we need to get more service members
brain based healing, and because I knew it wasn't something

(26:19):
that was offered in the VA, and so I had
this grand idea of well, I'll just start a non
puffin how hard could it be to get grants?

Speaker 1 (26:27):
I was going to say, an all four of you
will probably collectively chuckle at that.

Speaker 9 (26:32):
I'll just get the grants.

Speaker 5 (26:33):
And I literally googled how to start a five O,
one C three and also taking the step to do
that ten twenty three easy form, just to get started,
and really not knowing what into what goes into this,
and if anybody did tell me what went into it,
I wouldn't believe them. So we started providing these therapy

(26:54):
services to veterans, and the more that we got into this,
the more that we saw that there's there's more of
a need. Yes, you can, you can resolve the trauma,
but then then what where's their connection to other service members,
Where's their their long term things that they can do
for their health and wellness, the tools that they can gain,

(27:14):
other ways to to engage in life and continue to
grow and rebuild themselves and their lives. And so that's
where the retreat program came came about. So we integrate
the brain based heeling that we do to resolve all
of the things that have have been a burden and
heavy and holding them back, and then we introduce them

(27:36):
to a wellness lifestyle, a holistic lifestyle of teaching them
that when you step out of the car, the therapy begins. Yeah,
there's there's behind this place and the type of programs
that we provide because it all works together as a whole.
You know, you can't address the brain without addressing the
body and vice versa. So we bring in things that

(27:59):
I will just the physical kind of pain injuries that
a lot of the service members have, because if the
body's in constant pain, there's no way that we're going
to be able to resolve things that are going on
within the mind. So we have the meet with chiropractors
to a medical massage. We're incorporating the yoga to help
shift the nervous system and create the state of calm
and ease, and incorporating nutrition just because what you're putting

(28:25):
into your body can either create stress or it can
alleviate stress. So there's a lot of anti inflammatory, many
items that really introduce them to and supporting them with
coaching and then just really a huge component of WR
is a community with one another with service members knowing
that you're not alone in this and that hey, there's
other people here that are also dealing with the same thing,

(28:47):
and that we can get through this together. You know,
we got each other six and then you know, if
I'm struggling, I know you've got me. And then if
you're struggling, I got to you. And just really knowing
that and feeling that and so all this works together,
the physical to mental, emotional, the social, even the spiritual.
And that's what we're doing in in this this place

(29:09):
and uh and and and we were doing that along
the way. And that's that's what we were doing in
the other property that Alliance helped us with, UH is
that we were we were doing this on a smaller scale.
We weren't able to do all of our programs there
on one location. We still do have that property, which
actually we AER and Aerone're like this that we are

(29:31):
now renting that out to a veteran who isn't able
to be in her home because of storm damage.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
Oh, wonderful, full circle.

Speaker 5 (29:40):
The work that you did is still continuing to help
veterans recover from.

Speaker 8 (29:46):
That makes me so happy because and we need to
obviously recognize UH Surf pro who we were able to
connect to with in the home depot and leadion post
to sixty six.

Speaker 9 (30:00):
And it wasn't just GPIA we came up there. We
under understand what it is to be a hurricane broken and.

Speaker 8 (30:07):
That's one of the mast things that we were all
to come up there with a different brand and a
fresh brain and say, Okay, this is what you all
need and to sell it to your point. You know,
I was mucky and gutting and I'm sitting there going
you have a thousand volunteers here, which was beautiful, but
you needed these other resources and GPI was able to
go procure them for you. Came down United Way of

(30:30):
Lee County actually donated that some of those air scrubbers.

Speaker 9 (30:35):
And that's the thing again.

Speaker 8 (30:37):
Together we are stronger than the search and that's the
important thing.

Speaker 6 (30:41):
No, absolutely, And I think you know, Kender, your points
are about mental health.

Speaker 7 (30:46):
You know, if I can just highlight though that one
of the things I think we've seen in Florida, especially all
of Southwest Florida here is that with all these storms
that have come through, we were seeing it in our
local community.

Speaker 6 (30:58):
You were seeing it up there, but the need.

Speaker 7 (31:01):
For mental health is incredible, especially with people who have
been affected multiple times through these disasters. So we're also
talking about veterans PTSD, but now I've got that's whose
homes have been wiped out two or three times, and
a lot of times that first line of care is
somebody who walks in there and just listens and gives

(31:23):
a big hub because it's so hard to restart and
restart again, especially if you have other things you're still
dealing with.

Speaker 6 (31:30):
And it really is that need across.

Speaker 7 (31:32):
The community just to help people mentally, and it's we
have been fortunate, like Aaron Mention before International Orthodox Christian
Charity as they set a group back and they call
it just Emotional first Age and they're they're just to listen,
you know, and help people. And what you guys do
helping people understand and that's and it's.

Speaker 9 (31:51):
So amazing to me.

Speaker 8 (31:52):
I love Jay and Amanda that you told me, because
again it's funny because we've found so many storms fill
up and you know, we haven't able to connect that
one of the first things that touch I mean, we
have people sitting they call me up, they're like, hey,
we're bringing down you know, chairs and how you worship go,
I'm like to the bar, the one bar that's actually

(32:14):
open if we're crying all day, getting chairs and this
and that, so that physical massage, chairs, that physical touch
is so underrated, just being able to touch someone.

Speaker 9 (32:27):
And look someone in their eye.

Speaker 8 (32:28):
And so our veterans that are experiencing PTSD from what
they went through in their service and then PTSD from
living holmes, it's so important that we make sure we are.

Speaker 10 (32:40):
Attentive to those needs agreed as a as a as
a species, we like to connect and one way or another,
and at any point we look at it. The military
structure its formations about making new connections and tighter connections.
Actually before you actually were more showing with your head
as a civilian, and you take that into the real world,

(33:02):
and when trauma heads or there's a catastrophe, those connections
become even more that important for the simple fact that
we need to be we need to be certain that
we're okay, we're.

Speaker 11 (33:11):
Centered, and then from there on and when I'm centered,
I can then start to expand my my bubble of outside,
like is everything else okay? And you guys shore off
the jump, But I had a question for you, Kendra, do.

Speaker 4 (33:23):
You feel that the v A is.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Cooperative with your holistic approach, because I had a philosophy
about some therapies, not yours. They're they're not made to
resolve the underlying issue. It helps you cope with it,
and then you use chemicals to kind of cover it up.
But I call it you kind of smurder the fire out,
putting out the fire and it comes back up again,

(33:46):
and then add more chemicals and it puts it down,
but the fire still burns. Do you feel that your
were two questions actually, One do you feel that your
holistic therapy is in competition with regular or contemporary?

Speaker 4 (34:03):
Two? Do you feel it has a better success rate?

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Because I have I've researched and again in the sense
that I think you have a higher success rate, and
that veterans are people who follow that path or that
methodology actually sustain I call it normality longer or are
given tools to kind of self adjust or if they

(34:25):
fall back, you can come back here and ask a
question or call you guys again, whereas you can go
to a therapist, you spend an hour and then you're out.
You're another prescription for drugs, and then are you really
making progress your opinion, they're in a.

Speaker 5 (34:38):
Much better way, and so they have to change their
treatment approach or what they're doing with them in a
positive out but also in knowing that we can work together.
So when you talk about these different treatments, it just
depends on the person. First of all, I don't think
that anybody should be having to talk about their trauma

(35:00):
are being re exposed to their trauma. It's fine to
tell your story after the trauma has been results. Otherwise
it's just going to trigger the nervous system and it's
going to cause more issues. So that's why we prefer
the approach, the brain based healing because it doesn't require
that and can result trauma in a gentle and painless way.
So that then if they want to do other approaches

(35:20):
such as yoga, or they want to go out and
do you know, nature hikes or volunteer with Greater Pinyland
Alliance or anything else that they want to do more
fulfilling way. Because they're they're they're all of them.

Speaker 1 (35:38):
They can show they're doing what lights them up, if
you will, what sets them on fire in a good way.

Speaker 5 (35:43):
So but it's it's also like life happens, so you
want to make sure that you're a dressing things as
they come up. Otherwise it's just going to get compounded
by what happened last year, and what happened five years
ago and what happened ten years ago. So because life happens,
we got to resolve all of that stuff, but also
be able to handle life stress or life is stressful
and general it is anybody let alone and events of

(36:06):
losing your job or going through divorce or something like that.
So yes, it's good for anybody to have ongoing support,
to have somebody they can talk to you, whether it's
a therapist or coach. And then that's when I think
that those types of therapies can be useful as long
as they're not turning into a rental friend, but knowing
that you have some money there, so like keep you
straight and narrow and keep focused on the mission, or

(36:28):
you know what's important in life and what is moving
forward and completing your goals.

Speaker 6 (36:32):
I think you know you bring up a lot of
great things.

Speaker 7 (36:35):
And I think you know, one of the things I
always look at is access, you know, to the how
long it takes to get in some of these programs,
and locally, one of the things we did realizing these
mental health gays have a storm is not for veterans,
but for everybody. We did have America's tame and help
the photo. I used to call them disaster case managers,
but I really realized what they are their navigators. There's

(36:57):
someone to help you navigate where to get the assistance
you need. And they're the first one of defense with
mental health and mental well being, because that is the
individual who steps in your house and sits and talks
with you. And one of her other partners we're working
with right now, Sue is she has a great program
and what she's trying to do is actually bring the

(37:18):
VA to the local level.

Speaker 8 (37:20):
Somarson Health and Wellness is an amazing partner of ours
and interesting enough, for years now, doctor Sue have been
my personal physician.

Speaker 6 (37:30):
I got a problem.

Speaker 8 (37:31):
She would never tell anybody that for the Hippa look,
but doctor Sue runs a long profit and she provides
health care for mental health for the underinsured, uninsured or frankly,
a lot of my neighbors just go to her because
she's the best and the access that she is trying

(37:52):
to get for the VA, she is trying to be
a VA pre writer in this community to provide mental
health free mental health caare in this environment, and she
is supported by AmeriCares who is also supporting us.

Speaker 9 (38:06):
And it's so important that we remember that there's so.

Speaker 8 (38:09):
Many different touches that we need to have, so even
here on Client Island, she is here now every Wednesday
doing political visits for our survivors out here.

Speaker 7 (38:20):
To include people with no insurance, So many people with
no insurance, and you'd be surprised so many people that
does affect that act. You don't have the ability and
even some of those who can't access the VA just
they don't know or they can't get out to the VA.

Speaker 6 (38:34):
If you're not at a big five big Clay, you know, and.

Speaker 8 (38:36):
If you were an inn and you are flooded then
and then your car float again from Milton, you can't
necessarily get to the Vactors to the Americas being one
of the many supported including the America Across is trying
to support that mission. And it's so important that we
provide these services for people.

Speaker 5 (38:56):
And I have to tell you the reason that it's
so important for people to work together and the collaborations
between organizations and providers of any service just like the
Greater Pine Island Alliance, they're doing crisis support. They're doing
exactly makes this management stabilization because in order for us
to come in to do our job with mental health,

(39:18):
it's anything we do therapeutically is not really going to
be beneficial until they get out of crisis.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
Say, the immediate has to be addressed before you guys
can come in and help with the long term.

Speaker 5 (39:30):
Absolutely, So it's great to work together with organizations. You
can address the different levels of need because they need
different things at different points in time. And so while
we work together and we can all provide what we
do best, that's how we can better serve and really
create a greater impact.

Speaker 1 (39:47):
Absolutely.

Speaker 8 (39:47):
Again, what we always say the road to recovery is wrong.
Put together, we are stronger.

Speaker 6 (39:53):
Than the search.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
Absolutely yep. And here the therapy starts when you step
out of the car.

Speaker 6 (40:03):
No, I can't wait. I can't wait the first I was.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Gonna say, it's wonderful. I can definitely. I've already told Philip,
like I fully intend to come up here for a retreat.
I know several other people who could benefit from this.
One will take convincing. That's my husband. My husband does
not do a lot of the uh, you know group
what have you. He loves nature, but yeah, he's kind
of where Jay's at as far as like not really

(40:29):
doing the whole Kumbaya kind of thing. But that's not
what this is here at all. This is like, this
will be transformational for people, like I'm even considering telling
my sister that she needs to get on your website
and put in an application because I know she could
benefit from this.

Speaker 8 (40:44):
Because let me say this, I was shocked when I
say say, after I came out again, International orthodoxicris and
charities came out, I sent a couple of the guys
to a restaurant.

Speaker 9 (40:59):
Her that was severely impacted.

Speaker 8 (41:03):
I had one of the biggest, strongest of fishermen I've
known my entire life, you know, beared down, boots on whatever.

Speaker 9 (41:11):
He came up and he said hey, and.

Speaker 8 (41:13):
It was in public. Gave me a big knog. I'm like, yeah,
I'd love to see it too. He said no, he said,
you know what, I really really needed that. And he
said that loud and clear around the entire place. He said,
y'all need to go talk to somebody. You know, I
am a different man today, and it's important that we
let people know the strongest of the strong.

Speaker 9 (41:36):
Still, sometimes you won't tired of being strong. You get
tired of being strong, and that's okay. It's important to
know that we have resources.

Speaker 8 (41:47):
Whether you're a veteran or if you're a survivor of
two storms, it's okay to be tired of being strong.

Speaker 1 (41:55):
We're here at home exactly. Or you don't realize how
much things affect you, like we lost ninety percent of
our home in Ian and you know, watching twenty years
of memories that you've saved for, that you've purchased, like
you know, kind of watching all of that go into
the back of a giant claud Bres truck like that.

Speaker 9 (42:16):
Lots of my memory is watched away. I was two
years agoter. It's okay to not be okay.

Speaker 7 (42:21):
And that's the fun So I will also give a
funny antidote, because.

Speaker 1 (42:27):
Yes, that is the military way we offset the serious
stuff with humor.

Speaker 8 (42:31):
Yes, do it again, so you know everything you know
washed out again.

Speaker 6 (42:38):
My house is three and a half to be yet
day stuff was stacked those stuff, everything was stacked up.

Speaker 7 (42:44):
And finally I told her, let's get in there and
we're going to set up the litterum, so we set
it back up.

Speaker 9 (42:50):
Okay, this is funny, and I tell you what.

Speaker 6 (42:53):
We got TV watching dark football. We're sitting there.

Speaker 7 (42:56):
We're like, you know what, maybe the new normals just
exposed to us.

Speaker 9 (43:00):
Not even if didn't tell it right, I said, you know,
I can work this way. It looks totally normal, you know,
excepting those studs.

Speaker 1 (43:09):
I'm like, well, that it's becoming the new normal.

Speaker 9 (43:15):
I didn't even see below the four foot right.

Speaker 6 (43:18):
I didn't. I'm looking out.

Speaker 9 (43:20):
I've got football on one side, and you know, at
the beautiful couch on the other side. I'm like, this
looks gorgeous.

Speaker 6 (43:30):
It didn't occur to.

Speaker 9 (43:31):
Me that my brain would not process the fact that
we're still for flowing up. I'm sorry that he's still
four foot up.

Speaker 5 (43:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (43:38):
Good, so new again.

Speaker 8 (43:41):
That's the biggest thing I would say for anyone who
is listening for you Operation of Right Resolution, please call.

Speaker 9 (43:49):
It is so important to get in touch and and
look after yourselves.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
Thank you so much, and just to go up to
call us. It doesn't matter. So we stayed even though
we got flooded out. Our therapists were working twenty four
to seven. The whole time we still had we were
still open taking calls, working with veterans and to pat
one of our to one of our coworkers, Horns Scott,
our program director and our retreat director, lost his house,

(44:20):
like everything got flooded out and we had a retreat
coming after it. So while he was going through this,
he was dealing with that and still ran the retreat.
Just imagine losing your house, but you're still stepping up
above and beyond. So this is the team we're working with.
So not only were our therapists still working dealing with
their own stuff with the hurricanes. Just lost your house,

(44:40):
but we've got veterans coming in and we still need
to serve them. So our team at OWR, I'm in
my dream job, I'll say it again, and just working
with these men and women and seeing them step up.
So please call us. We are always here. We're here
to help. If it's the end of the world, the
zombie apocalypse is coming, We're still by the phones read
ready to take that call.

Speaker 1 (44:59):
And then she mentioned and that before we get off
there here if you guys can give us your information
so that if folks want to check out your websites
or contact you. What is the best way to do that.
We'll start with Greater Pine Island Alliance, Aaron and Aaron.
How can people reach out to you?

Speaker 8 (45:15):
We can go to but always and the biggest thing
if you need health GPIA Alliance dot org.

Speaker 9 (45:24):
If you need help, click to get help them.

Speaker 8 (45:26):
If you would like to donate, obviously, and none of
these things would say on our last last time we
talked is we do it for free, but it's not free.

Speaker 9 (45:37):
We need donations.

Speaker 8 (45:39):
And the office phone number is two three nine by
five eight four nine zero one, so I actually look
back for it and then for operational war or reservation
and especially what we do can connect you with mental
health issues and help with pleege.

Speaker 3 (46:04):
Hello, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let cause I looked at
Kendron like I don't know the number, so so I
pushed and Ken just like I know it. So that's
why we have a good team.

Speaker 5 (46:16):
Our phone number is ninety four one two six five
seven two, and we always have somebody there on the
phone lines to be able to assist as well as
you can check out our website at Operation Warrior Resolution
dot art that has all the information as well as
our programs and also pages to immediately sign up if

(46:37):
you want to join us here for the fun that
we have here. Uh, and we'll receive that right away,
and we have something reach out and get back to you.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
And I'm gonna add one more thing to that, because
as they said, what we do for the veterans is
all free for the veterans, but we do need funds.
We have an amazing opportunity with a foundation that is
matching dollar for dollar right now. So if anyone wants
to go to our web page, they're matching dollar for
dollar right now.

Speaker 4 (47:00):
Wow, that's amazing. And to both of you guys, ask
can I.

Speaker 6 (47:03):
Ask one quick questions?

Speaker 9 (47:04):
We're on the phone. If it's a deterent outside of
sarah Sta County, can I still call you?

Speaker 3 (47:09):
Yes, we are available to any better.

Speaker 9 (47:11):
We all have been thinking that perhaps my just it
just might just need a chat. So and that's a
beautiful thing, right that can just call you for a chat.

Speaker 5 (47:19):
Of course.

Speaker 8 (47:20):
Yeah, that's that's so important too, because not everyone can
drive to the location.

Speaker 9 (47:25):
And that's what WR is a great balange.

Speaker 6 (47:28):
If you just need a.

Speaker 5 (47:28):
Chat, you can call that and we actually do a
lot of our stuff remotely. Well are our therapists you
meet remotely. They do about fifty percent of their sessions online,
so you don't have to necessarily be exactly in this
area if you don't want to travel.

Speaker 4 (47:42):
God bless you all and thank you for the work
that you've done.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
In phil I'm gonna say this, Philip, you're living the dream, bro,
You're live in a dream.

Speaker 4 (47:50):
That's his touch. Brace down. Living a dream? Is living
a dream or you're doing the dream? There you go.

Speaker 2 (47:54):
You choose it, man, whatever it feels good to you,
you make it right. Thank you very much, Kendram, and
we'll have you back to show again.

Speaker 4 (48:01):
Take care, folks.

Speaker 5 (48:02):
Thanks, thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
Anything else I forget, I think so just thanks to
our sponsors. Thanks to one hundred point nine w CCFFM.
Thank you to reach across America radio as well. We're
having us on their radio broadcasts. Appreciate all the opportunities
to put visibility on organizations that are veteran centric. You
don't have to be a veteran to listen to the
show or to be on this show. If you support us,

(48:27):
if you love us, so just thanks and please continue
telling people about our show and how they can listen,
whether it's locally in Southwest Florida on one hundred point
nine FM or on the free iHeartRadio app. And also
we are aired on Reads Across America Radio on Fridays
at three pm, so you can find both Reach Across
America Radio and WCCF via the iHeartRadio app. Rally Pointers

(48:52):
fall Out