My name is Tucker Smallwood and I am asking for your help today. I want you to share this message with your friends and to ask them to share it with their friends. I sit on the board for The Soldiers Project. I am one of five board members; the only one that lives with Post Traumatic Stress, the only one that has endured combat. The Soldiers Project is a one-trick pony. Our mission is to provide individual therapy to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars who suffer from Post Traumatic Stress. We do this work honorably and we do it well. Yet TSP finds itself in crisis and in desperate need of funding. We need your help. Here are reasons that might persuade you to become our partner. Our greatest expense might be tens of millions for billable hours of therapy. Yet that cost is zero. Our network of caregivers donate their services, absolutely free. Our care is open-ended, meaning it will continue for as long as it is needed. Our care includes counseling for their spouse and children. And finally, our care is confidential. That confidentiality is a critical condition for many of our clients. Our annual budget of $500,000 covers the cost of office rental, a small staff, bookkeeping for IRS requirements, fundraising, printing and communication with our satellite offices. Those offices exist in Chicago, Long Island, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Wyoming, Sacramento and Southern California. I will live with my condition for the rest of my life. But I am alive. There is no cure for Post Traumatic Stress. Our best hope is to minimize its effects on our daily lives and allow us to enjoy quality of life. That possibility comes too late for the 22 veterans who will take their lives today…and tomorrow… and each following day. I have offered myself as a poster child to the public for this condition. Many know me from my work as an actor. Others have heard me speak on this condition or have read my essays describing my own journey to wellness. I am proof that a troubled veteran can have a meaningful life, with the help of therapy and the proper medication. Visit our website at thesoldiersproject.org. Find some way that you can become a part of the solution. We welcome your donation, no matter how large or small. Communicate about us to your friends. When you think of ways to meaningfully impact this national crisis, let The Soldiers Project be at the very top of your list. Our wars are ending and our veterans are coming home. They will need assistance. They deserve it. They have earned it. They will need support for housing and jobs and physical therapy and education. For those emotionally scarred by their service, none of the above will be as critical as regaining clarity and self-esteem. I regard this work as sacred, a debt to this generation of veterans. Without the help I received, I would no longer be among you. We cannot rely upon our government or bureaucracy. We, the American people must be willing to do the heavy lifting. Thank you for your attention and for your participation.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 17:18:48 +0000
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