Embracing Firsts And New Beginnings
At The Station, March marked a milestone in our mission to bring healing and unity within the SOF Community. Base Camp Jimmy hosted an innovative couples program, Heart And Soul. This program provided service members and their spouses with opportunities for heartfelt connection and rejuvenation, nurturing their relationships and enriching their bonds. Simultaneously, we extended the essence of our Montana Gold Star program to a local community, fostering resilience and growth among Gold Star Kids and their mentors.
Reflecting on these experiences reinforces the importance of support and love when navigating life’s challenges. By embracing these connections, we pave a path for new beginnings and personal growth, strengthening the fabric of our SOF Community with each shared journey.
–The Station Team
BASE CAMP JIMMY
Heart And Soul
Healing and reconnecting for couples
In March, The Station hosted 5 couples during their new program, Heart And Soul – a 9-day immersive program supporting SOF couples. Through a unique combination of mindfulness activities, ceremonial practices, and the strategies of Dr. John and Julie Gottman, Heart And Soul presented an opportunity for couples to strengthen their relationship and deepen their friendship.
Steeped in rituals and ceremonies, this program helped couples heal and connect. It was through these experiences that husband and wife expressed their love for one another and shared their care for the other’s healing journey. This experience is a milestone in their marriage. It is one step toward reuniting and consoling one another as they grieve not only the loss they have experienced within SOF but also the shedding of their past to move forward with a fresh start. Participants left with clear priorities, a new perspective of one another’s life story, and awareness of their partner’s life dreams.
In Their Own Words
I arrived at Base Camp Jimmy excited and completely open to the experience, and it did not disappoint. I love my husband very much, but after a dozen years of marriage, five PCS moves, and countless deployments, I did not realize the depths of intimacy that we could still share. Each element of the Heart and Soul program was presented with such great intention that we literally felt as though we were in a special place, immersed in nature with the freedom and safety to be vulnerable together.
I think all the couples who participated were on their own journey, and that made the experience even more beautiful. For me, I learned the importance of being present in the moment. I learned that yoga, meditation, and ritual are helpful tools in practicing intentionality. But more than anything, I learned that love is an act best expressed through compassionately serving others.
We left Base Camp Jimmy with an aura of peace, equipped with a variety of mindful techniques we can use to recenter ourselves again when life gets messy. Overall, The Station offered us the space we needed to recalibrate our relationship, the techniques we required to work through our problems, and the courage to grow even stronger as husband and wife.
—SOF Spouse
Heart And Soul
INTERWOVEN
Gold Star Kids Rock Climbing
Honoring legacies and building community
The Station’s Crossing, a summer wilderness experience hosted at Base Camp Jimmy, provides Gold Star Children an opportunity to team up with SOF Warriors who served alongside their parents. This program offers hope and serves as a safe space to build community and a support system for each camper. Most importantly, it allows Gold Star Children to recognize their own personality traits as a reflection of their parent’s heroic strength and commitment.
While The Crossing takes place in Montana every summer, outStation Camp Lejeune brought a piece of its curriculum to our Interwoven programming in North Carolina. In March, 4 Gold Star Sons and Daughters and 3 MARSOC Service Members participated in an indoor rock climbing event. MARSOC Service Members volunteered to proudly step into the role of mentors, guiding the children through a knot tying exercise. Mentors served as a source of strength and reassurance for the children as they tapped into courage to tackle their climb.
Initiatives like these create lasting memories and connections while giving Gold Star Children a sense of belonging in the community their parents served. Over the years, it has been powerful to witness the positive impact these efforts have on the lives of these children and the SOF Community as a whole. At The Station, it is a reminder of how resilient these kids are and that climbing the mountain requires incredible strength and personal growth. By honoring their parents’ legacies and embracing the support of their community, Gold Star Children teach us all the profound significance of resilience, strength, and unity in overcoming life’s challenges.
Interwoven Local Events
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The Step-Up Challenge
Raising awareness about the well-being of the SOF Community.
The Station wants to take a moment to honor Navy SEAL Chad Wilkinson for his selfless service and heroic actions for our Nation. Chad suffered from brain injuries that resulted from repeated exposure to blast waves during combat and trainings. When approaching his 21st year of service, Chad’s brain and body had taken too much and in 2018 he took his own life. It was at this time that his family founded The Step Up Foundation in honor of Chad.
One of our teammates, Nick Papsadora, The Station’s Director of Operations, wanted to ensure Chad’s legacy lives on and his life serves as a source of light and hope. Nick made a commitment this March to spread awareness of the well-being of the SOF Community and The Step Up Foundation by completing the ‘CHAD’ workout daily for one month.
The CHAD workout involves 1,000 step-ups onto a 20″ box while wearing a 45-pound pack. Since Chad’s passing in 2018, the workout has aimed to honor veterans and raise funds.
We are honored to have a small role in bringing awareness to The Step Up Foundation’s mission and the invisible wounds our SOF Community battles daily. We’re inspired by Nick’s determination and grateful to those who’ve helped him surpass 50% of his fundraising goal. Follow us on Instagram (@thestationfndn) for weekly updates on his journey. Reach out to us and join Nick in the Step-Up Challenge—it’s not too late to be part of this impactful initiative.
To learn more about The Step Up Foundation and their work to change the narrative and the number of veteran suicides by dramatically spreading awareness, please visit: www.stepupfoundation.org
Thank You For Your Support
Your generosity provides a powerful path for the Special Operations Community – Warriors, Spouses, Children, and Gold Star Children – to attend our world-class programming and return home with meaning and purpose beyond war.
People like you have impacted thousands since 2012. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to helping SOF Families.
To learn more about supporting The Station, email Jazlyn Greenwood at: jgreenwood@thestationfoundation.org
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