Veteran's Journey

We highly encourage you to bring your spouse, partner, family member and friend to the sessions. Supporting one another is essential to assist in coping with the unique experiences that one may face. Also, your spouse or dependent child MAY qualify for certain benefits, like health care and life insurance. Our committee can not guarantee that you will receive all the answers to your questions but we CAN guide you in the right direction.

Thank you to all who have participated in Veterans Journey sessions. The Veterans Journey Committee is so pleased and grateful for your presence and participation.

Week One: Veterans Journey session was a huge success. A special thank you to Joan Smth and Mary Nagle for their informative presentation and demonstration on Heart Health. We had 7 participants who actively took part in the presentation. The participants were provided information on Heart Health, Stroke Prevention, practiced their CPR techniques and AED demonstrations. A huge round of applause to all to attended.

Week Two: Veterans Journey session will be held at

J Bryne Community Recreation Center,

401 West Youngs Avenue, Wildwood, NJ

on Wednesday, September 14, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

A beginners yoga and meditation session will be presented by Lynne Catarro. For many military families whether veterans, active military or family members, yoga has help the ease the trauma, emotional or physical pain, stress and anxiety that comes with serving our country. Those who practice yoga might see positive changes with moving their body in the form of improved flexibility, strength and balance. Meditation and mindfulness is a state of mine where the brain is considered to be attentive of the present moment without judgement.

You can read more about the importance of meditation clicking on the link below.

Meditation May Improve PTSD Symptoms — Here's How to Try It

Medically reviewed by Cheryl Crumpler, PhD — By Emily Swaim on April 20, 2022

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/ptsd-meditation

Week Three: Veterans Journey session will be held at

J Bryne Community Recreation Center,

401 West Youngs Avenue, Wildwood, NJ

on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

Mental Health: Suicide Prevention - Presented by Matthew Jacobs and Lauren Ruef. An emotional but necessary informative topic for all.

Week Four: Veterans Journey session will be held at

J Bryne Community Recreation Center,

401 West Youngs Avenue, Wildwood, NJ

on Wednesday, September 28, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

Maneuvering the Veteran's Service System. Presented by Rich Lomax and Joe Harris , Veterans. Sharing experiences on obtaining and securing benefits: Disability Compensation, VA Veterans’ Pension, VA Healthcare Services, Aide and Attendance, Requests for Discharge Paperwork, Surviving Spouse and Dependent Benefits and more.

Week Five: Veterans Journey session will be held at

J Bryne Community Recreation Center,

401 West Youngs Avenue, Wildwood, NJ

on Wednesday, October 5, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

How to Initiate and Accomplish Fitness Goals for Body, Mind, Spirit presented by Ms. Deirdre Kane, Retired Head Coach of West Chester University's Basketball Program and Ms. Kathy McNally, Retired University of Hawaii Athletic Director. Both coaches have an enormous amount of professional and leadership experience to present to you the topic, "Fitness Goals for Body, Mind, Spirit."

Week Six: Veterans Journey session will be held at

J Bryne Community Recreation Center, Conference Room

401 West Youngs Avenue, Wildwood, NJ on Wednesday, October 10, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

Move that Body: Beginner Line Dancing.

Lorraine Duffy, avid line dancer, will be teaching us beginner line dances that you may come across in your social gatherings. Wear loose clothing and sneakers. This session is approximately 1 hour.

Week Seven: Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 10:45 will be held at:

Martin Luther King Pickleball Courts

207 W Main St, Whitesboro, NJ 08252 on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 at 10:45 a.m.

Just added: Pickleball Lesson

Sally Susan, Veteran Journey donator and supporter as well as an avid pickleball player, offered to give us a pickleball lesson. Pickleball is often described as a combination of tennis, ping pong, and badminton. It is played on 1/3 of a tennis court using a paddle and ball. All athletic abilities and ages can play the game. Need to wear sneakers and water. Let us take Sally Susan up on her offer. I have extra pickleball paddles and balls as well. I plan on attending. This is an excellent opportunity for you to learn a popular game that you can enjoy indoors or outdoors while meeting a tremendous group of players.

Week Eight: Veterans Journey session will be held at

J Bryne Community Recreation Center, Conference Room

401 West Youngs Avenue, Wildwood, NJ on Wednesday, October 26, 2022 at 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 is our 8^th and final session for this year’s Veteran Journey.

The final session is Managing Diabetes and Nutrition. Joan Smith will be presenting and Mary Nagle and Janice Fisher will be engaging you in some fun to explore a variety of food and drink. This taste test is a great way for you to experience and compare the same type of food with less carbohydrates and sugars. We highly encourage you to bring your spouse, partner, family member and friend to the sessions. Supporting one another is essential to assist in reaching our healthy fitness goals.

Luncheon: Lorraine Duffy and Beverly Flynn have put together a luncheon immediately following the session.

Free Six Month Membership: A Veteran’s Journey participation list has been provided to Alicia DeLuca, Recreation Director. You can sign up for your free six month membership any Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday at the desk when you enter the building.

A short message from Lynne Catarro

First a special acknowledgement to your Veteran’s Journey Committee Members: Beverly Flynn, Deirdre Kane, Janice Fischer, Joan Smith, Kathy McNally, Lorraine Duffey, Lynne Catarro, Mary Nagle and Rich Lomax. I sincerely appreciate the time, effort and support you have given throughout this seven month venture in productive and open exchanges in creating our program. Thank you for volunteering your knowledge, advice and assistance and for bringing your expertise and experience around the table to our Veteran’s Journey participants. I know you truly made a connection with all you shared.

Most importantly, thank you to our Veterans and Auxiliary who participated in Veteran's Journey. We are so glad that you were an active contributor. Your attendance, attentiveness, questions and ideas were very much appreciated by all. We hope you leave today with more information than when you started. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Thank you for investing your time in developing your mind, body and spirit.

Thank you for your service! Thank you for your sacrifices, for your bravery and for keeping us free and safe.