Sarasota nonprofit gets boost in mission to promote healing, prevent veteran suicides
Operation Warrior Resolution, a Sarasota-based nonprofit dedicated to putting veterans on a path of holistic health and wellness, recently received a grant to help in its mission of preventing suicide by veterans.
“We are starting a new community initiative, thanks to a $150,000 grant from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, to reach more veterans and save even more lives with our innovative services for treating PTSD,” Kendra Simpkins, founder and CEO of Operation Warrior Resolution, said in a press release.
The suicide rate for veterans is 57% higher than for non-veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
With the grant funding, Operation Warrior Resolution will be able to help more veterans receive services, strengthening bonds among the veteran community, so they know they are not alone.
One example of OWR’s innovative approach is the Yoga With Elephants program in Myakka City.
The funding will also advance collaboration and engagement with community partners to accomplish the mission of decreasing veteran suicide and giving veterans their lives back.
“OWR’s therapies get to the core of it and heal veterans at a quick pace. We should all live life to the fullest, to become ourselves again, and OWR is a catalyst to that,” Scott Schwalm, a local Air Force veteran, said in the press release.
Schwalm, OWR’s director of community engagement, went through the program in 2019.
“OWR is creating a community, a bonding experience to one another, which is where the real healing and therapy takes place,” he said.
Through the project, OWR seeks to reach more veterans, provide more specialized trauma treatments and ensure veterans know they live in a community that supports them.
“Each veteran and their family have a different story to tell, but they all deserve our gratitude and support,” Barancik president and CEO Teri A. Hansen said in the press release.
“OWR has taken on the big and deeply important responsibility of serving these families, and I cannot think of a better organization to do so,” Hansen said.
To date, OWR has zero veteran suicides, and 89% of those who receive treatment are no longer showing symptoms of trauma and report a significant improvement in quality of life, the nonprofit says.
OWR has a goal of serving 62% more local veterans, spouses, and children over the next year. This goal equates to 100 military families in the Bradenton-Sarasota area who will have a significant decrease in mental health and addiction challenges while increasing their ability to resolve relationship issues, hold steady work and engage in life.
