Operation Purple Healing Adventures

Happy 2016 from the National Military Family Association!

Thank you for standing by NMFA, and our nation’s war-weary military families in 2015. Deployments stretched these families thin and left them feeling vulnerable.  Some dealt with injuries and mental health issues. Others looked for opportunities to improve the well-being of their families and meet the challenges of military life. 

One way that you supportyed military families was through Rockfish Camp and Retreat Center in Parkton, NC. Nestled on 486 acres in the Sandhills region of North Carolina, Camp Rockfish is an ideal place for military families to have a great outdoor experience. 

Camp Rockfish created activities that were appropriate for all ages and allowed families to all find joy in participating in them together. Operation Purple believes that being outdoors provides a healing impact on the individual. Operation Purple Healing Adventures are designed to help families reconnect through program elements that include therapeutic recreational activities and parent groups designed to teach the service member and spouse tools to de-stress in everyday situations. By being outside and unplugged, families can start to relax and focus on learning, playing, and working together to create stronger family ties. During the weekend families participated in a number of these types of activities. Some of the most popular teambuilding and challenge activities included the high ropes course and the zip line which allowed families to work together and build communication skills. The zip line was an excellent team building activity because participants had to help each other climb a wall before flying down the zip line. This allowed for parents to encourage their children and children to cheer on their parents as they both made their way up the wall and down the zip line.

Families were especially grateful for the $200.00 travel stipend and some stated they would not be able to attend without the additional assistance in travel. One of our OPHA families were in tears when they received their stipend and they told us that they have never received such appreciation from a military organization. This retreat was extra special as all 8 military families had never attended an Operation Purple Healing Adventures before.

Families were given opportunities to participate in hiking, archery, team building activities, canoeing, and fishing. We were also fortunate to have the support of two Military Family Life Counselors (MFLC) and two FOCUS (Families OverComing Under Stress) clinicians. The MFLC’s were available throughout the weekend to provide support for families who just needed to talk and discuss stressors. Clinicians from FOCUS were also available for the duration of the retreat and led families in a series of activities designed to help them cope with stress, develop communication skills, and build resiliency through parent groups and family activities.

Camp Rockfish was an ideal location for families to gather, unplug, and reconnect without the stressors of everyday life. While we know that 4 days will not fully heal a family, we believe we can provide them with tools they can use to continue to build on their relationships and continue to heal.

Examples of the benefits families received are in the quotes from families below:

“This retreat was wonderful and it was great to spend time with the kids and connect. I wish every family could do this! “-Service member

“This retreat is family changing for us. We had a great time. Experiences from other families help me realize we are not alone. I have felt alone for a while now. Thank you so much!!” – Military mom

“We had a wonderful time. Thank you sooo much! It was a priceless weekend for me as I didn’t have to plan activities, cook, clean, etc. which allowed me to have quality time with my family. Also, everyone was so nice- including all the camp staff. YOU ARE ALL APPRECIATED! – Military mom

Spouses and caregivers are able to connect with others and share their unique but similar journeys. Service members are able to meet other service members who are going through the same struggles as each other and can share ways to cope and heal. Military children get to meet other kids who know what it’s like to be a military family. They get to relax and build memories with their parents they otherwise would not have been able to do. Families participate in activities for the first time with one another and get a break from the stressors of everyday life. We could not do this work without valued partners like you and want you to know how very thankful we are that you support us in our mission.

At NMFA, military families are our priority. Your generous donation will help us respond to their needs and let them know how much our nation appreciates their sacrifices. Thank you for joining with us to strengthen the families we serve. We look forward to a great 2016!

Links:

• 2015: A Year in Review for Military Families

Dear Operation Purple Supporters,

Back to back weekend family camps had the Youth Initiatives team in the field and wrapping up our 2015 support for families dealing with family injury and deployment. Our final 2015 Operation Purple Healing Adventures was at Camp Rockfish and Retreat Center, Parkton, NC on October 16-19 and then quickly followed by our last 2015 Operation Purple Family Retreat at Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing in New Castle, VA on October 23-26. We enjoyed the opportunity to work again with a long time partner, Camp Rockfish—an early Operation Purple Camps site—and to discover a new partner, Wilderness Adventure, founded by a military veteran and staffed by a dedicated and talented staff. This staff not only accommodated our military families by emphasizing the magic of being unplugged from ever-present technology, but also built much of the facility.

At both sites, we received confirmation that we are meeting the needs of military families. Families are telling us through their testimonials and their appreciation that our family programs are making a difference for them. We just need the research data to support our advocacy and share with the public and the donors who might support us. The research findings from the University of Washington doctoral candidate evaluating our retreats are just months away from being released and will give us the data we need. We feel confident from early results that the findings will enhance what families tell us.

And then at home, the Youth Initiatives team is hosting a post-2015 Operation Purple Camp (OPC) season roundtable. The agenda for the meeting with 13 OPC directors on November 6 will include review and revision of the current OPC curriculum, database issues, and best practices. This past summer, our first as partners with Wounded Warrior Project (WWP), was filled with learning opportunities. Now we have the chance to tap into the expertise and input from veteran and new camp directors. We look to the outcomes from this convening to drive our best ever OPC season in 2016 - and we hope to have your support then, too!