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PeopleTranscript
00:00 (gentle music)
00:02 - Hey everyone, Mike Cirelli here.
00:04 We're dropping a special podcast
00:06 in support of the 2023 Land Rover Defender Service Awards,
00:09 namely the Veteran and Civil Servant Outreach Award,
00:12 which is presented in partnership with Hearts and Science.
00:15 The Veteran and Civilian Servant Outreach Award
00:17 had an overwhelming number of applicants
00:19 for which we wanna say thank you to all of them.
00:22 It was a hard decision, but they've selected five finalists
00:24 and now we need your help to select the overall winner.
00:27 Running a veteran nonprofit isn't easy
00:29 and it takes a deep sense of service
00:31 and passion to selflessly serve those returning from war.
00:34 In fact, a lot of these nonprofits are run by veterans
00:36 who already served their countries
00:38 and as if that wasn't enough,
00:39 they made it their life mission to continue serving others.
00:42 That's a noble path.
00:43 I started a veteran nonprofit in 2016
00:46 and let me tell you one of the toughest parts about it
00:47 was fundraising.
00:48 Fundraising isn't getting any easier,
00:50 especially as we get further away
00:52 from the end of the global war on terrorism,
00:53 but it's much needed.
00:55 That's why the Defender Service Award is so important
00:57 and why these organizations need you to vote.
00:59 The winner will receive a customized Defender 130 model
01:03 and $25,000 in cash.
01:04 Now that goes a long way in serving their mission,
01:06 but the other finalists won't go home empty handed.
01:09 They'll also receive a $5,000 cash prize.
01:11 So to assist you in the voting process,
01:13 I'd like to introduce you to the five finalists
01:15 and then allow them to give you a quick overview
01:17 of why you should vote for them.
01:18 They are the Calgary Veteran Service Society,
01:21 Heroes Homestead, Honor House Society,
01:24 the Big Red Barn Retreat
01:25 and the Warriors Choice Foundation.
01:28 Please remember, after watching this,
01:30 go to LandRoverUSA.com to vote.
01:33 - My name is Jason McKeown.
01:34 I am the vice president
01:35 for the Calgary Veteran Services Society.
01:38 I also run the peer support coordination
01:42 as well as the VA assistance.
01:44 Immediately through CVSS,
01:46 we do have a food bank in Calgary
01:48 and a food bank in Edmonton.
01:49 We also have a wellness retreat out in Caroline.
01:53 It's 140 acres with a nice lazy river running through it.
01:57 You book a time, you go out and you just unplug.
01:59 It's very nice.
02:02 It's very relaxing.
02:03 For support services, so starting with the peer support,
02:06 peer support is the very first stepping stone
02:09 in the process of self-help.
02:12 With a peer support group, there's no counselors.
02:16 It is basically you come and you get used to
02:19 and comfortable in telling your story.
02:22 A lot of people that come have never told their stories.
02:25 A lot of people that come to the peer support groups
02:28 are not comfortable talking.
02:30 So the peer support is a way of starting.
02:33 It gets that door open so that they can then be comfortable
02:37 seeking professional help.
02:39 One of the services we do offer,
02:41 we do have a contract with a counselor.
02:46 So we do have that step in-house, which is very, very nice.
02:50 Beyond that, we do have access to the OSI clinic
02:55 here in Calgary.
02:58 There's one in Edmonton as well.
03:00 And through that, we're able to utilize a referral service
03:05 and get our clients in to see actual professional
03:10 psychologists and psychiatrists
03:12 to further their mental health.
03:15 We also have affiliations with several other,
03:18 like many, many other groups.
03:20 We have affiliations with groups that do service dogs.
03:24 We have affiliations that offers temporary lodging
03:28 for any uniformed personnel,
03:30 whether they're current or retired.
03:33 And it's available if you all of a sudden
03:38 find yourself on the street,
03:40 you need a place to stay while you get your feet under you.
03:42 So here at CVSS, the primary reason we started
03:47 was originally vets.
03:48 And then they realized that no frontline personnel
03:51 as well need access to the same services.
03:54 There's a lot of people that do not consider themselves
03:56 frontline personnel.
03:57 However, here at CVSS, we don't differentiate.
04:01 So if you're a dispatcher, if you are a volunteer
04:05 firefighter, you're a full-time firefighter,
04:07 you're with victim services,
04:12 you are considered frontline in our eyes.
04:15 And if you need access to these services,
04:18 that's what we're here for.
04:20 You get to hear all sorts of stories
04:22 and they're all personal and they're all tragic.
04:27 There is no happy story for somebody
04:29 to wind up on the streets.
04:30 A number of our clients have confided
04:34 that they actually had left home probably when they were 12.
04:38 So their mental injuries started
04:41 before they were in the military.
04:43 They signed up with the military
04:45 so that because there was structure,
04:48 there was four walls and a roof and there was food.
04:50 And then when they got out, they still weren't coping well.
04:54 And it became just a downhill slide
04:57 to the point where 20 or 30 years later,
05:00 they're now living on the streets.
05:01 They're living in a car, they're living under a bridge.
05:03 A lot of them do not talk about their time in
05:07 due to the fact that majority of the things
05:09 that they would have to talk about
05:11 and say would be very traumatizing
05:14 to people that don't have the same background.
05:17 As you can imagine, it increases that downward spiral
05:21 until they hit bottom.
05:22 A lot of our personnel do commit suicide.
05:27 The rate of suicide among military and frontline
05:33 is almost double what it is in the civilian population.
05:38 It's very tragic, but it's reflective
05:41 of the limitation of resources.
05:45 And here at CVSS, that's one of the things
05:47 we're trying to fix.
05:49 (dramatic music)
05:52 (gunshots)
05:54 - Hi, I'm Andrew Holstein,
06:17 and I'm a United States Marine
06:19 and co-founder of Heroes Homestead.
06:20 - And I'm Danielle Holstein, his spouse and wife,
06:23 and also a co-founder of Heroes Homestead.
06:25 - During my term in service,
06:26 I was part of an Osprey accident
06:28 where we lost 19 Marines,
06:29 one of which was my best friend.
06:30 And to this day, we continue to lose veterans
06:33 from that accident that survived.
06:35 Myself is no different.
06:36 I went over 10 years without treating
06:38 or having a diagnosis on my own PTSD,
06:41 which caused damage to my friends,
06:42 my family, and even my finances.
06:44 - And after that devastating blow to both our home
06:47 and our finances and our relationships within our home,
06:50 I was currently working in overseas adjustment workers
06:53 in various countries.
06:55 And I was seeing the same symptoms
06:56 that I was solving for others in my husband.
06:58 And through research, found that military make up
07:01 the largest population overseas
07:03 with the least amount of resources in adjustment theory.
07:05 So Heroes Homestead was founded to change that.
07:08 And what do we do?
07:09 - Heroes has a lot of fun.
07:10 We do a lot of peer mentoring, large-scale events.
07:13 We do family integration where we help our veterans
07:15 to celebrate being a veteran
07:17 and for what they fought for, again,
07:18 in celebrating that freedom.
07:20 - We wanna give you permission to celebrate your freedom.
07:22 You may not have lost your life overseas,
07:24 but you very well sacrificed everything
07:26 to be there for our nation
07:27 and for the people that need you most across the world.
07:29 And so by fortifying families,
07:31 we are creating steady homes across America
07:33 and therefore making a stronger home front here.
07:36 We wanna help the community receive our veterans home
07:38 and help the families make that adjustment process
07:40 as seamless as possible to prevent the suicide,
07:43 prevent crisis altogether,
07:45 and when needed, we'll intervene on your behalf.
07:46 - Winning or being a finalist
07:49 in the Land Rover Defender Series Awards is huge.
07:52 It means so much to us.
07:53 And if we are able to win,
07:54 the Land Rover would be life-changing
07:56 for our veterans here in Spokane
07:58 and Washington in general.
08:00 - We're gonna improve access to resources
08:02 throughout Washington,
08:03 create provisions for disabled veterans
08:05 through our Heroes Market.
08:06 - Expand resources, relief supplies,
08:09 and outreach throughout the region.
08:11 - We're gonna improve participant experience
08:13 through our Heroes Date Nights
08:15 and also our Heroes Family Camp
08:16 and increase the experiences outdoors.
08:18 - We're gonna ensure relief, aid, and rescue
08:21 anytime a veteran is in need.
08:22 - And ability to transport families in crisis
08:25 in a comfortable and easy access vehicle
08:27 with capacity and cargo in the back.
08:29 - Ultimately, the Land Rover is gonna communicate
08:32 our dependability throughout our community
08:34 and throughout all of Eastern Washington and into Idaho.
08:37 - Thank you for your support.
08:38 - And we've got your six.
08:39 - Bonner House Society in New Westminster
08:45 is a home away from home for our Canadian Forces,
08:48 first responders, and/or their families.
08:50 Many of them all reservists and give of all their time.
08:54 - It's a blanket.
08:56 It's something that's there to comfort
08:58 when members and families are going through a tough time.
09:01 And it means a lot to know
09:04 that there's an organization out there
09:05 that is willing and ready to take care of the members
09:10 and their families that give so much
09:12 to the communities around them.
09:14 So with Bonner House Society as the intake
09:17 when they come to stay as they're getting diagnosed
09:19 and with treatment,
09:20 Onner Ranch in Ashcroft, BC, on 120 acres,
09:25 we have 10 cottages now, looking forward for another 10,
09:28 and our lodge is there to be able to give the treatment
09:32 that they so deserve.
09:33 (dramatic music)
09:44 - The struggle we have is that we're about two kilometres
09:47 off the main area, and in Ashcroft, it's as low as minus 35,
09:52 and it can be as hot as 40 in the summer.
09:54 - You gotta haul water, prepare for fires during the summer,
09:58 and people back and forth from the main city of Ashcroft.
10:03 - The vehicle I'm driving right now
10:06 is a matter of sometimes hour to hour,
10:09 whether I'm gonna get from point A to point B,
10:12 because it's wore out.
10:14 (tires spinning)
10:17 If I get into a situation with it,
10:22 even in four wheel drive, I can't spin all four tires.
10:26 There's times when I've left my place to come to the ranch
10:29 and attend to business in the middle of the night,
10:32 like power outages, water freeze ups,
10:35 and I've ended up having to call for help
10:39 because my truck that I'm driving has let me down.
10:43 - What I find here with the Defender 130,
10:45 this vehicle will do everything that we absolutely need
10:48 in our area in the North Thompson Regional District,
10:51 because as we're hauling equipment for either snow plowing
10:54 or for firefighting for water with our volunteer firefighters
10:59 and/or our people helping us to plow our roads
11:01 to be able to get our members in.
11:03 - I think as fire chief looking in,
11:06 I think it would mean the world to these guys
11:08 to have this piece of equipment.
11:09 What these guys do up here is simply incredible.
11:12 For the Honor House Ranch to get that vehicle
11:17 would make all the difference in the world
11:18 for these guys up here.
11:19 - It could be a matter of having Honor Ranch in the future
11:24 or not having it.
11:25 There could be a time without a vehicle like that
11:28 that we could lose this whole place
11:30 'cause we wouldn't be able to get access
11:32 to where we have to go.
11:34 (upbeat music)
11:36 (upbeat music)
11:39 - Hey, I'm just checking in with you.
11:48 It's Lamont Christian here.
11:49 I go by Chris, a 33-year combat infantry veteran
11:54 with the United States Army.
11:55 Served in Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraq, Afghanistan.
12:00 Culminated my career at Fort Jackson, South Carolina
12:04 as the Army's premier basic combat training installation,
12:08 training over 60% of all the female warriors
12:12 and over 50% of all the male warriors
12:14 that join our Army go through that installation.
12:17 And I was the post-command sergeant major there
12:20 as well as the previous commandant
12:23 for the United States Army Drill Sergeant Academy.
12:25 So really enjoyed my time in service
12:28 and continue to serve, training to be a Richland County
12:31 Sheriff's Deputy in the Reserve Division
12:34 and so still serving the community as I call us,
12:38 defenders, defenders of our nation
12:41 and also defenders of our community.
12:43 Our combat veterans, our first responders
12:46 and their families deserve an opportunity to thrive, right?
12:50 Turn their struggles into their strength.
12:52 And so that transformative process happens
12:55 out of the Big Red Barn Retreat
12:57 and we're able to do that on a regular basis
12:59 through the different services
13:01 and the post-traumatic growth training
13:02 that we're able to provide.
13:04 Our defenders wind up living a life of serving others.
13:09 And so those challenges of their own lives
13:12 oftentimes get put behind
13:14 so that they can take care of the people
13:16 that they care about.
13:16 And when they forget about themselves,
13:19 it's sometimes at the detriment of not only their own health
13:22 but sometimes even the family's health.
13:25 We can change that legacy of post-traumatic stress
13:28 and actually focus on post-traumatic growth,
13:31 which ensures that our warriors,
13:34 our defenders are able to go forward
13:37 and really just be better and do better.
13:40 When we have people in our community who are better,
13:43 our communities are better.
13:44 That's what we get to do out of the Big Red Barn Retreat
13:47 every single day is retraining people to take their skills
13:51 and those things that help them survive on the battlefield
13:54 and actually help them to live the life that they deserve
13:57 and use it in a way that they can actually thrive.
14:00 So when we win this gracious award from Land Rover,
14:04 it will immediately impact our ability to not only transport
14:09 but showcase and deliver this process of post-traumatic growth
14:13 again, throughout the entire area of South Carolina,
14:17 North Carolina, and of course, parts of Georgia
14:20 and even Florida.
14:21 And let's just be honest, we even gonna go beyond that
14:24 as this thing continues to grow
14:27 so that we can ensure that more communities
14:30 are aware of this whole process of becoming better
14:34 and doing better.
14:36 Hey, before I get back to serving our defenders
14:39 and I gotta get out of this really nice defender
14:42 here at Land Rover Greenville, South Carolina,
14:44 my message to you all watching this today,
14:48 oftentimes when I'm talking to someone
14:50 and they recognize that I've served our nation
14:53 or our community, they say, "Thank you for your service."
14:56 And I wanna be able to say something today
15:00 when we talk about being thankful
15:02 is just thank you for your support.
15:04 On behalf of everybody out at the Big Red Barn Retreat,
15:08 I wanna say thank you for everything that you're doing
15:12 and just sharing the message about what we're doing
15:14 out at the Big Red Barn Retreat.
15:16 You're helping us to continue to help those people
15:18 that spend a lifetime helping other people.
15:21 Keep the votes coming, please.
15:23 We ain't done yet.
15:25 (gentle music)
15:27 Warriors Choice Foundation is a nonprofit 100% volunteer
15:30 that provides transitioning combat veterans
15:32 with tailored service dogs, ancillary medical services,
15:36 and recreational residential retreats.
15:38 The driving force for me is because I was a veteran,
15:41 I am a veteran, that when he got out of service
15:44 and transitioned out, there was not much there for me.
15:47 To see individuals who in their willingness
15:49 to sacrifice themselves for a country
15:53 that means so much to the person to the right and left
15:56 to them that they're willing to give their lives,
15:58 that when you come home,
16:00 there should just be something that makes sense,
16:04 and there should be a form and a standard of care
16:07 that no matter what, you know that it's going to be the best
16:11 that someone has to offer.
16:13 And I believe that this organization does just that.
16:18 The way I carry out the mission on a day-to-day basis
16:21 for the Warriors Choice Foundation
16:23 is as the executive director.
16:24 It's nonstop from 4.30 in the morning, wake up, go train,
16:28 go train more with the dogs, and then from there,
16:31 you know, try to fill out ways of building out the rapport
16:33 within the community, because that's where all this starts.
16:37 A new Land Rover Defender would benefit
16:38 the Warriors Choice Foundation
16:40 by providing a sense of reliability,
16:42 being able to provide us with safety measures
16:45 to and from various venues with our veterans,
16:48 as well as being to transport our animals
16:50 to and from various venues that we have to use
16:53 for training so that they're up to par with our standard
16:55 prior to dispatching them out to a veteran.
16:59 The Land Rover Defender is going to absolutely be able
17:01 to bolster our mission capabilities
17:03 by providing us with access of not only just storage,
17:07 but maneuverability, mobility, you know,
17:09 being able to keep things in a fixed position
17:11 so that when we transport our dogs,
17:13 we know that our crates are going to be in, you know,
17:15 in a very safe position, tied down.
17:18 We're going to be able to transport, you know, equipment.
17:21 We're going to be able to put roof racks on.
17:23 We're going to be able to have lights for external lighting
17:24 for, you know, when we're doing a night training
17:26 and things of that nature,
17:27 especially even on our overland trips, you know,
17:30 for being able to provide that for our campsite
17:32 and where we are and what we're doing.
17:34 Yeah, I believe the vehicle's remote capabilities
17:36 are indicative of our mission
17:38 and being able to go above and beyond
17:39 where we need to be to see the job done.
17:44 Well, guys, that's it.
17:45 We appreciate you taking the time to watch this.
17:47 Now, please go to LandRoverUSA.com and vote now.
17:50 God bless you, and God bless our veterans.
17:53 (gentle music)
17:55 (gentle music)
17:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]