Military With PTSD INC
Seeing Things From Both Sides
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There is a lack of education for veterans, caretakers, and civilians about the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the veterans, in the family, and on the community as a whole. To help keep families and marriages together, through education couples can begin to understand this condition and can relate to its effect on the veteran, caregiver, and family. Keeping marriages and families together and learning to live with PTSD is our focus and a goal we will continue to strive to reach!
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Seeing it from Both Sides
Military with PTSD Seeing it from Both Sides program to offer both peer support and peer education through connection to others who really do understand this condition and can relate to its effect on the veteran, caregiver, and family. At Military with PTSD, nobody sugarcoats any aspect of PTSD, including the domestic violence that can happen.
Ashes to Phoenix
Our in-house publishing program. We will produce two types of educational/therapeutic materials. First, there will be in-house products such as brochures, pamphlets, workbooks, journals, books, and other educational materials. These will be created by staff and volunteers of Military with PTSD. The second type of materials will be those created by others, primarily books. As part of our mission to help put veterans and caregivers back to work, this will be an opportunity for them to write and publish books as a means of personal income, education for other veterans and caregivers, and peer-to-peer support. An example might be a veteran who has written an inspirational book of poetry or a teen-created novel describing life in a PTSD household.
Strength of a Warrior
Strength of a Warrior is an interactive website from Military with PTSD.
The Strength of a Warrior program features a variety of training exercises designed to help veterans overcome personal challenges as they integrate back into civilian life. Some of what Strength of a Warrior offers is: education about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a self check questioner for PTSD, online self help worksheets, and resources for veterans.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can develop following a traumatic event that threatens your safety or makes you feel helpless. It is normal to be afraid, sad, lost, and even angry when you’re in danger; that is a normal reaction to trauma. Most people who go through a trauma have some symptoms at the beginning, but they will start to fade. But when you feel stuck in a constant sense of danger, having to be on high alert, and upsetting memories months after the traumatic event, it’s probably time to talk with your doctor. You could have PTSD. No one knows why some people develop PTSD and others do not. PTSD is not a sign of weakness. PTSD can be a debilitating disorder, and the symptoms that come with PTSD can have a negative impact on a number of different areas in a person’s life.
You set a pace that works best for you and work from the comfort of your own home. The Strength of a Warrior program is not meant to replace professional mental health, but provide you with education and tools to work in conjunction with your mental health care.
Explosion of Kindness
Provide a free yard sign to veterans with PTSD that ask neighbors to "Please be courteous with fireworks," in time for Independence Day. This project will remind people a veteran lives in their neighborhood and that if they are planning fireworks, heads-up would be nice. Jon Dykes, the veteran who made the original sign that inspired this program said, "Courteous to me means remembering that you are not the only one living in your neighborhood. America celebrates our independence on the 4th of July. Not the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th of July. Some fireworks are expected, and that's OK. I understand; but not 24 hours a day."
Reconnecting Families
Reconnecting Families is a program designed to give military and veteran families a free family fun night out to reconnect and bond.
Where we work
Awards
The Best of Military Mental Health on Social Media: Facebook 2014
USC School of Social Work
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of products distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Military personnel, People with disabilities
Related Program
Explosion of Kindness
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total Number of Free "Military Veteran Lives Here Please Be Courteous with Fireworks" signs sent out each year.
Number of unique website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Military personnel, People with disabilities
Related Program
Strength of a Warrior
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Tracked the number of website visitors every month.
Number of public service announcements created
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Military personnel, Veterans
Related Program
Explosion of Kindness
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Last year, the Explosion of Kindness campaign made such an impact, we saw a city make a PSA to raise awareness that unexpected fireworks are difficult on veterans so to please be courteous.
Number of research studies conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Military personnel, Veterans
Related Program
Explosion of Kindness
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Research is conducted to not only evaluate programs, but to help create new models for families.
Number of program/model/intervention innovations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Military personnel, Veterans
Related Program
Explosion of Kindness
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
For many veterans, especially those with PTSD, the Fourth of July is the worst day of the year. But now there's a way they can enjoy them without feeling traumatized.
Number of website pageviews
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Caregivers, Families, Veterans
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of website pageviews
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Caregivers, Families, Veterans
Related Program
Seeing it from Both Sides
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of free admissions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Veterans, Families
Related Program
Reconnecting Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
How many free tickets to concerts, family shows, and events we gave out for free to veterans and their family members.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal is to improve and protect the lives of people living with PTSD, though education on life skills and supplying peer support, which includes both veterans and all family members and raising public awareness. Military with PTSD offers both peer support and peer education through connection to others who really do understand and can relate. We aim to help families and communities connect despite PTSD.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We educate the veteran, family members, and the public about PTSD, the changes to the brain, the symptoms, fireworks, and how that looks in real world terms. We give away free veteran firework signs also to raise public awareness and start the discussion. We aren't Doctors or in the healthcare field, we are peers who have lived the same realities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are a young non profit and haven't figured out the financial side to fund what all we would like to do yet. But we have a huge social media following with over 100,000 veteran and family members on Facebook. We have the ability to connect with veterans and their families and communicate in a way that they understand.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We are still working on getting programs up that are educational and helpful. We have learned jumping into a program without a well thought out plan and/or research will never work and can cause much more issues than slowing down and thinking it through and planning it out before bouncing it off the public. But yet still be flexible enough that if there is a need or a want for something we do to be able to extend that opportunity. Our firework sign program thus far has been a great success.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, It is hard to come up with good questions to ask people, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Military With PTSD INC
Board of directorsas of 11/25/2022
Mrs Yolanda Santiago
Military with PTSD
Term: 2019 - 2021
Trina Plante
Military with PTSD
Shawn Plante
Military with PTSD
Kelli Freeman
Military with PTSD
Mary Norris
Military with PTSD
Tori Carter
Military with PTSD
Shawn Gourley
Military with PTSD
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 11/25/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.