Hi, everyone my name is Katrina Cox, Manager of Program Services, with 4 Aussie Heroes Foundation. The Foundation has recently held its March “Triumph over Trauma” Program at the Scenic Rim, Boonah.
I personally found it a great honour and privilege to be invited to walk part of the journey with the Participants in our March Program, which consisted of both Military and First Responder personnel, past and present.
The strength and resilience that each of the Participants displayed, truly inspires me.
The day they arrived at the Program they were clearly filled with a mixture of excitement and anxiety. However, the Foundation’s Programs are set in a tranquil rural setting and I find this environment really encourages people to push through that initial anxiety.
When the Participants at our March Program drove along the long entry road and up into the parking area for the Unit where they would spend the next 11-days, they could then see other people arriving, and their anxiety levels no doubt rose again, and their brains and emotions go into overdrive. As I had been through the initial intake assessment process with each of the Participants, I made sure I was there when they stepped out of their cars to welcome them. Just as the thought of leaving entered their head, there was someone they know and who was (and is) truly committed to joining them on the next phase of their journey there to meet them.
As the days passed by the Participants developed a sound support network and friendship with each other, they realised that they are not alone and there are others going through the same journey as them. They then developed and regained skills that they always had, but along their journey the skills had been “misplaced”.
The weekend arrived, and so did their partners/support people, and I could sense that the Participants felt that this was an opportunity for those partners/support people to gain knowledge and information on what they have been going though, plus for the partners/support people to also build a support base of people that know what it is like walking this journey with someone suffering from PTSD. By the end of the 11-days there was a change and a renewed resilience, that they will take into their everyday lives.
I want to thank each, Military and First Responder person that gives so much of themselves to our Nation, and I want to thank their families who also walk that journey with them, you are all amazing in my eyes.
The preparation for the next Program begins, and it is with pleasure and pride that I invite people to pass on our details to those past and present, Military and Frist Responders, that may benefit from our June Program, which commences on the 14th of June 2021. Please get in touch and start the next phase of your journey.
