My name is Sondra Julian and I am a mother sending her son off to war for the first time. Many people ask me if I am afraid that he may be killed in Iraq and my response is, "Of course, I'm terrified, for all of the soldiers. But my main concern is not as much with his safety, as it is with his mental health condition upon his return."There are an alarmingly high number of troops returning from war who are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I feel compelled to do something to help these young men and women, along with any military personnel past or present, suffering from PTSD caused by being in war. My solution is to start this non-profit foundation to provide free mental health care to any of our Heros who may need it.
I have a million great ideas and have been doing non-stop research educating myself on just how to go about this, and it's going to be huge. Unfortunately, I'm just one person and not independently wealthy so I need financial HELP to get this project off the ground. The foundation received its first donation in the amount of 500 dollars on December 11th, 2007 from Pvt. Travis-John Gerard Julian, my son.
The foundation's name is Military HEROS Foundation, Inc.. Also known as M-HEROS, an acronym for Mental Health Extras Restoring Our Soldiers. It's referred to as "Extras" because it will be totally supplemental and in no way conditional to whatever a member of our services is entitled to through the military or other insurance sources. This foundation will simply have a network of doctor's across the country that any military personnel will be eligible to go to regardless of residence and/or status. The doctor's office will bill the foundation directly, that way there is no middle man. That Hero won't have to go through any extra stress and only has to focus on the healing process.
I invite you to look around our website-in-progress, and Get Involved! There are lots of ways you can participate and help, even by just spreading the word. No matter how we individually view the war, we are all living in this day and age together. We need to take care of those whose minds and lives are being altered by the ugliness of war as they fight to defend the very freedoms we sometimes take for granted.
Sincere thanks in advance, from me, our troops, and their loved ones, to all who help make this Foundation the success it surely will be!
Sondra Julian
CEO and Founder of Military HEROS Foundation, Inc.
