Free Counseling for Military Families across U.S.

“Thank you for your website. Please keep it going. I used it to find a counselor and it has made a huge difference.”

A service member said this to two staff members as we were handing out information about Give an Hour at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD recently. We were gratified to hear these warm words—especially because, given the total confidentiality of our system, those who have received counseling are not required to tell us about their experience. 
Give an Hour reaches out to military family members through a number of ways. In addition to ads in print and radio media, we have determined that an excellent means to connect with military family members is at resource days, which offer them a range of information, services, and entertainment. For example, on October 20, 2012, Give an Hour and the Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Va., Community Blueprint group participated in the Military Family Festival sponsored by the Tidewater Military Family Services Council. The event not only informed local military families of the resources available to them, it also provided a free, kid-friendly, fun-filled day. At the Give an Hour table, children made military memory bracelets that allowed them to use their creativity and express how it feels to be a military child. Parents received information on Give an Hour and how to access our free counseling resources. Volunteers and GAH staff themselves had a blast and look forward to continuing to aid the military community in the Hampton Roads area.
Please support our country’s military family members by donating to Give an Hour to help make sure that free mental health counseling is available to all in need. The Global Giving matching gift campaign for recurring donations makes this a perfect time to sign up as a monthly donor. Give an Hour makes the most of every dollar donated and is able  to provide counseling at a cost (to us) of only $17 per hour. Will you give an hour of counseling for only $17 charged to your credit card each month?

In order to track how our efforts are doing in providing free mental health care to military service men and women and their families, Give an Hour conducts surveys every three months, asking our volunteer mental health professionals to let us know how many hours they have contributed. We are excited to report an increase of nearly 8,000 hours donated, not including volunteer hours spent on operations, between April and June 2012. This is a huge increase over previous quarters, when an average of 3,000 hours have been reported as donated, and no doubt reflects our efforts to reach out to members of the military, raise awareness, reduce stigma, and recruit and engage providers. Some of the ways that Give an Hour is conducting outreach are:• Creating a series of public service announcements that have been aired on radio and television stations and on a jumbotron in Times Square in New York City.• Working with branches of the military and Department of Veterans Affairs to reach their personnel. For example, GAH has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the VA’s Veterans Crisis Line.• Participating in resource fairs that target military families. In addition, Give an Hour has received publicity attracting more volunteers and requests for service due to the honors garnered over the past few months. The White House’s Joining Forces Initiative recognized Give an Hour as one of five winners of the Joining Forces Community Challenge. Also, Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen was named one of the one hundred most influential people in the world by Time Magazine for her work as Founder and President of Give an Hour. In addition to the tremendous honor we feel because of this recognition, we also believe that the attention surrounding these awards will allow GAH to recruit more mental health providers, reach more military families and persuade more to seek care if they are in need. Attached is a link to one of the PSAs that has appeared in Times Square this summer.