Grant will assist Invictus Foundation™ in raising awareness of behavioral health services provided to military members, veterans and their families.
SEATTLE, June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Invictus Foundation™, a national nonprofit organization providing individual and family behavioral health counseling services with licensed behavioral health practitioners to military members, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families, announces a grant from BNSF Railway to expand its Welcome Home Network™ program and services.
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"BNSF Railway awarded the grant to support the ongoing efforts to scale the Welcome Home Network™ regionally and nationally and to assist the Invictus Foundation in continuing to develop its public awareness campaign addressing military behavioral health issues," said Gus Melonas, BNSF's Director of Public Affairs. "BNSF values the team work experience that military personnel provide and as a result BNSF is a major employer of veterans and we will continually add their experience to our work force in the future," states Mr. Melonas. "We've learned from experience that there are lots of parallels between the military and our work. We're both 24/7 environments. Many of our jobs are outdoors, a physical environment and mission-focused. The railway industry is one long relay chain, like the military."
"Through BNSF Railway's generosity we will continue to raise awareness about the psychological impact of war, to reduce stigma, and to raise awareness about the Welcome Home Network's™ services," said Peter J. Whalen, Founder and CEO of the Invictus Foundation.™ "With BNSF's continued commitment to this issue, we can extend our efforts to help military members, veterans and their families. This grant will help us continue our work to normalize what our military members, veterans and their families are experiencing and support the sacrifices that they are making by providing critical and confidential behavioral health support on a sliding fee schedule that includes no cost." Importantly, by providing services that are separate from the military establishment, the Welcome Home Network™ offers an essential option for men and women who might otherwise fail to seek or receive appropriate services.
The Welcome Home Network's™ licensed volunteer behavioral health professionals are available to active duty service members, members of the National Guard and Reserve forces, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families who have separated or retired from any branch of military service. The principal issues confronting this Community are lack of access, lack of services and finally lack of health care benefits. The first two have nothing to do with health care benefits but rather lack of an understanding of referral sources and fragmentation within the referral sources themselves. The Invictus Foundation's™ Welcome Home Networks™ have been designed to fill that void.
About Invictus Foundation™
Invictus Foundation™ is a nonprofit 501(c) (3), founded in March 2010 by Peter J. Whalen, a career health systems and services executive, in the Seattle, WA area. Mr. Whalen is also a Vietnam veteran. The Organization is dedicated to meeting the behavioral health needs of our uniformed services personnel, veterans, their families, and the communities affected by having served in the Iraq and Afghanistan theatre of operations. The Invictus Foundation™ continues to recruit volunteer behavioral health professionals to its Welcome Home Networks. To learn more, visit www.invictusfoundation.org
About BNSF Railway
BNSF is one of America's leading transportation companies. BNSF Railway is the product of nearly 400 different railroad lines that merged or were acquired over the course of 160 years. BNSF played a central role in settling and growing the American West, and today, BNSF continues to have a significant impact in meeting the needs of shippers and serving the economy.
CONTACT:
Peter J. Whalen
Invictus Foundation
Email
5412 NE 6th Court / Ste 200
Renton, WA 98059-4982
1-855-544-PTSD (7873)