 Newsletter Winter 2010 |
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Coming Home Project |
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A Message from Joseph Bobrow, Founder and President |
 Best wishes to all for a happy and peaceful year. The last quarter of 2009 and the first few months of 2010 have seen change and continuity. Our intrepid Operations Manager, Kasee Fuller, received a full scholarship to get her Ph.D. back home in Iowa near her family with her old mentor and couldn't pass up the opportunity. We were sorry to see her go and happy for her at the same time. Nicolette Segell has taken over admirably as Retreat Planner, planning all six 2010 retreats. Amanda Schoeneman is joining us as Program Coordinator, rounding out the office staff that also includes Lauren Rettberg as our Office Manager. If you have applied for or attended a retreat, you've certainly had the pleasure of speaking or emailing with Lauren. Kevin Walsh has joined us as Finance Consultant. We said goodbye to Helen Marlo, Ph.D. and Larry D'Arcangelis, long time Board members and had the pleasure of welcoming three new members: Dan Lowenstein, M.D., Mai-Ling Garcia, MA and Janice Pettey. Please read about them below. Life is full or joys and sorrows. On the sorrows side, we experienced the tragic loss of one of our retreat participants, Russ Anderson. It was heartening to see the extended Coming Home community reach out and support Angela and the kids during this tragic time. I spent two weeks recently visiting Vietnam, my first trip to Asia. It is a beautiful and serene country whose inhabitants practice equanimity and forgiveness naturally. But the signs of war and suffering are everywhere. Riding up the beautiful Perfume River in Hue in the early morning, I imagined vividly the documented ferocity of the conflict during the war. I thought, Perfume and Blood. Holding the joy and pain of life in the same palm. I had the good fortune to visit with Vietnamese veterans from all sides of the conflict, NVA, South Vietnamese AF and Viet Cong. (see pictures) The encounters were deeply moving and I learned that their experience during and since the war was more similar than different from those of many American veterans. During a recent trip to New York I had the pleasure more... |
| Events |
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Service Providers RetreatThursday, February 18th - Sunday, February 21, 2010 Supported in part by the Bob Woodruff Foundation  --- Applications will be available on our website for all Veterans and Families Retreats Early March 2010 --- Veterans and Families Retreat in Washington DC Area May 27-31, 2010 --- Veterans and Families Retreat in San Diego, CA Area June 24-28, 2010 --- Veterans and Families Retreat in San Francisco, CA Area July 29-Aug 2, 2010 --- Veterans and Families Retreat in Texas Hill Country Area August 26- 30, 2010 --- Retreat in San Francisco, CA October 7-10, 2010 |
| Coming Home Project Expansion |
 This year we will be partnering with Operation Homefront and putting on Veterans and Family Retreats in Northern and South CA, San Antonio Area and DC Metro Area. We are excited to welcome Larry Long at all of our summer retreats. See him featured on the State Dept website now. Locally, we will be starting community education classes in April for Veterans and spouses in the South Bay. |
| Volunteer Spotlight |
 Maureen Devine, a Marriage Family Therapist, is in private practice in Santa Rosa. Her passion for working with the military population is driven by her own experience within a military family. Her father, a WWII vet, retired as a Colonel/ Flight Surgeon after twenty plus years in the USAF. Her father-in-law, a Korean War vet, retired as a Colonel USMC. Her brother is a Vietnam Vet USMC. Her son, Captain USMC, was deployed twice to the OIF theater. He is currently serving as Operations Officer, Region 6 (East Africa), Marine Corps Embassy Security Group.Maureen has contributed as communications coordinator of the CHP therapist cohort for two years now, has presented at conferences about CHP programs, has facilitated at several of our retreats and is part of the core facilitation team at our 2010 retreats in our 3 new regions. We thanks Maureen for her stalwart service and dedication, informed by her own personal experiences and training. |
| In the Community |
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CHP had a presence at many community events in the last quarter by Mary Dudum and Joseph Bobrow, offering information of our counseling and residential retreats. We were invited and attended to bring our community support to:
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Occasional Correspondent: Terri Jones |
 Terri Jones is a mother of a fallen soldier who died by suicide in 2005. Terri attends The Coming Home Project yearly and continues to bring awareness to PTSD and military suicide prevention. Terri lives in Iowa with her children Jena and Mick and grandson, Jacari.Winter Time Blues Winter this year in Iowa has been a record breaker! We have had more below zero temps, more snow, more ice, more blizzards than anyone seems to remember. It is snowing right now as I write. With all this cold and wind and few sunshine hours, winter time blues can set in. I have experienced this form of depression with symptoms ranging from finding myself wanting to sleep all day on the weekends to wondering around the house extremely bored because there is nothing to do. You can only vacuum the rugs so many times. Any outside activity just ends up bringing out some pent up anger. Us Iowans are known to cuss at the wind, especially when it can take your breath away and leave you completely frozen with something so simple as walking from your car to the grocery store entrance. Read full story... |
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CHP Participant Sharing |
At our Service Provider Retreat this February, Susan McDuffie and Colleen Walker graciously shared their art with us. The drawing was completed by Susan during the retreat and Colleen shared a poem she'd written during boot camp years ago, but that she thought about during our retreat various times. Please read her poem, "The War" here. We hope you enjoy this beautiful art. |
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Welcoming New CHP Board Members & Volunteers |
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Board Members:
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