Silver Springs February Social for Families with Military Members and Veterans

Two guest speakers will be featured this month at the second Silver Springs social for families with military members and veterans.

The social will be held on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 11 a.m. at the Silver Springs Senior/Community Center, 2945 Fort Churchill Road in Silver Springs. The gathering is for Silver Springs and Stagecoach families of veterans, enlisted and reserve members, and for reserve, active duty, and veterans. It is open to anyone from Silver Springs and Stagecoach with a family member who is or has been in the military. Children are very welcome!

Two Special Speakers for February:
Robyn Roth will describe her nonprofit, Sugarland Ranch, a private, no-kill animal sanctuary that includes  a special "Military Deployment Program" to provide boarding for dogs of members of the U.S. Armed forces who are deployed to combat areas in Iraq or Afghanistan. Their pets can stay at Sugarland Ranch for the duration of their time out of the country at either no cost to the service member or with a donation if they are able. Their Companion Pets are cared for in a safe, loving, home-like environment with daily exercise, great specialized meal service, comfortable sleeping areas & plenty of love and attention.

Sugarland Ranch uses video conferencing programs such as Skype to keep soldiers and pets in contact with each other. Telephone: (800) 713-7177 Address: 3510 MATTERHORN BLVD. RENO, NV 89506

The second guest speaker is Dave Kaul, Nevada Guard Director of Psychological Health at the Military and Family Support Services Center in Reno.

The Center provides Nevada National Guard Military and Family Support Services and assistance to military members, military retirees and military families. For more information, see their website at: www.nv.ngb.army.mil/family_programs.cfm

The social is hosted by the Silver Stage Community Task Force as a means to create a new way for families with enlisted military, soldiers, (active and reserve soldiers) and veterans in Silver Springs and Stagecoach to get to know one another through monthly socials with guest speakers from military community support groups such as Blue Star Mothers, National Guard, Army OneSource, Reno Vet Center, etc. Contact: Task Force leader Cara Childs at (775) 315-2990 or (775) 246-7550.

Waffle Social Saturday, February 26 at 11am
For Silver Springs/Stagecoach Families with Military Members and Veterans
The February social for Silver Springs and Stagecoach families with military members and veterans will be hosted by the Silver Stage Task Force in Silver Springs at the Senior Center at 11am on Saturday, Feb. 26. Waffles are on the menu this month, and people are invited to bring their favorite fruit to add to the meal.

The Task Force, a nonprofit group of community volunteers from Stagecoach and Silver Springs, had been discussing ways to show additional support for the military families and veterans in their towns for the past year. They decided to host monthly lunch socials as a way for local military families, soldiers, (active and reserve soldiers) and veterans to get to know one another and form a local support network. Because the area is remote from many groups and agencies such as the V.A., they also decided to invite speakers from military community support groups such as Blue Star Mothers, National Guard Family Readiness, Army OneSource, Reno Vet Center, etc to share information at each event.

The first lunch social was a big hit, with about 40 attending and speakers from Blue Star Moms, Hugs from Home, S.O.S., Reno Vet Center, VFW Post 37, and Silver Stage Task Force.

The task force members found funds to sponsor the first few meals through their partner, Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey (www.healthycomm.org), and they are seeking business and club sponsors for help with future socials.

For more details, please contact Task Force leader Cara Childs at (775) 315-2990. Donations to support future lunch socials are welcomed.
Community Support for Military Families and Veterans in Lyon County
The lunch socials are one of many community support efforts for military families and veterans taking place throughout Lyon County. Some of those were in response to the Military Community Covenant signed in by about 75 community leaders from the Lyon County area during a ceremony at the September 2010 Healthy Communities Coalition meeting. Community leaders and officials signed a “community covenant” that promised Lyon County communities and State and local groups will work together to increase support to the area’s military families and veterans.

the following are some of the new or expanded events and initiatives that have followed that pledge:

October and November: Mental Health: Christy McGill, Executive Director of Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey (a private nonprofit – see www.healthycomm.org or www.facebook.com/healthycommunitiescoalition) worked with Senator Reid’s office to streamline communication between rural mental health and V.A. (rural veterans have expressed a preference for seeing providers in their own towns rather than traveling to VA services in Reno). Dr. Brilliant at the V.A. and Dr. Cook with State Mental Health said they plan to meet to further discuss this issue after it was broached by McGill and Susan Lisagore of Senator Reid’s office. Healthy Communities Coalition members have suggested that possibly State mental health clinics could bill the V.A. for services for veterans as they do in other states. Contact Christy McGill at (775) 351-8242 for more detail.

November and December: Care Packages and Wall of Service: S Club of Silver Stage High School (a Junior Soroptimist Club for teens led by Peggy Edwards of Project Success and Silver Stage Task Force) organized a soldier support program called M & M’s for Soldiers in November and part of December 2010 – packages were sent to soldiers and Blue Star Mothers assisted with mailing costs. S Club also distributed yellow ribbons in the community. S Club is also assisting in creating a “Wall of Military Service” featuring photos of servicemen in their uniforms. Frames will be created by the high school wood shop, and later the display will be displayed at the nearby Senior Center.

November: National Guard Family Readiness Connections: During the November Healthy Communities Coalition gathering, the director formally introduced Mental Health and Primary Health Providers, Social Services directors, School Representatives, Etc. to Ronald Emerich from National Guard and Reserve Family Readiness Assistance. Mr. Emerich works with families of deployed soldiers and works closely with Army One Source community outreach coordinator Omar Mewborn to point families to resources in mental health, housing, employment, etc.

December: Lyon School District Recognition of Service People: Partly in response to the September 2010 community covenant pledge for increased community support for military families and veterans, Lyon Schools announced in December 2010 that anyone attending a school event in uniform from the Armed Forces (including National Guard), state and local law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency medical services and their immediate family members who attend the same event will be charged no admission fee. pt, the Superintendent and board members signed the Community Covenant Pledge to add to community support for military families and veterans

Lyon County Area 4-H: Jessica Angle, Lyon County 4-H Program manager was among those who signed the Covenant in September. She reports that Lyon 4-H has since recruited more youth with parents active in the military into 4-H, and hosted a luncheon in honor of veterans on Veteran’s Day in Smith Valley. Call Angle at (775) 463-6541 for more information.

The following is a copy of the Community Covenant for the Lyon County, Nevada Area:

Community Covenant to Soldiers, Veterans and Their Families
September 9, 2010

In acknowledgment of the great gift local military personnel, veterans, and military family members give, local leaders from all walks of life will sign a community covenant pledging to work together towards the following:

— Assist military members and all veterans with reintegration into our communities.
— Provide assistance to soldiers and their families by advocating for local, state and federal benefits.
— Work with community partners to connect soldiers and veterans to services and programs to ensure they are a vibrant, respected and a well-served community.
— Connect military family members with both formal and informal community and governmental support throughout the deployment cycle.
Encourage and protect our returning military members by promoting fair and legal employment practices.
— Strengthen federal, state, and local collaborations to improve and increase service options for veterans in the Lyon region.
— Improve availability of education and training for VA and non-VA service providers in the Lyon region.

For more information about progress on the pledges made in this covenant, please call Christy McGill at (775) 246-7550, or check our Facebook page for updates: www.facebook.com/healthycommunitiescoalition.