Battelle Sponsors TAPS Regional Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp in Ohio
Peer-Based Support Helps Adults and Children Find Hope and Healing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 17, 2018
ARLINGTON, Va. – Over 200 family members of America's fallen military heroes will gather at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) Ohio Regional Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp from July 27-29 at the University of Dayton. Those attending will share their stories to honor their loved ones while learning how to cope with grief and find healing in their shared experiences. This TAPS event has been made possible by the generous support of Battelle.
TAPS provides a full weekend of programming designed to address the needs of all military loss survivors through proven best practices and a dynamic, peer-based model of care. Workshops are created and facilitated by experts in the fields of grief and loss, bereavement, trauma, suicide prevention, as well as suicide postvention survivor care.
For children, the TAPS Good Grief Camp will be led by experts in child development, mental health and education to provide a safe space for military children to explore grief and embrace healing. Coping skills are learned through games, crafts and other age-appropriate activities. Children and teens will gain a network of new friends their own age who are also grieving a fallen hero and learn that they are not alone in their grief. They will have opportunities to connect one-on-one with military mentors and come to understand that they are part of an American legacy of service and sacrifice.
Volunteers, including military service members from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and recent veterans, have completed a TAPS mentor training program to prepare them to work with families and surviving children attending the Good Grief Camp.
“TAPS regional seminars bring together military families grieving a fallen hero and provide support, resources, and compassionate care,” said Bonnie Carroll, TAPS president and founder and a 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. “Through these TAPS weekends of sharing held across the country, grieving military families find comfort and healing as they honor those who have served and died. We are humbly grateful to Battelle for their support of our military families and for helping us to bring this event to Ohio.”
Battelle has a long history of working with the military dating back to armor plating in World War II, to building specialty armored vehicles used today. It continues to provide solutions across multiple Department of Defense agencies and supports numerous veterans and military groups as part of its charitable giving.
“Using science and technology to keep our military troops safe and help them achieve their missions is a key part of Battelle’s day-to-day work,” said President and CEO Lou Von Thaer. “I personally support the TAPS mission because I believe supporting loved ones at home is as important as supporting our troops when they are in theater.”
ABOUT TAPS
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is the national organization providing compassionate care for the families of America’s fallen military heroes and has offered support to more than 80,000 surviving family members of our fallen military and their caregivers since 1994. TAPS provides peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, grief seminars and retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, case work assistance, connections to community-based care, online and in-person support groups and a 24/7 resource and information helpline for all who have been affected by a death in the Armed Forces. Services are provided free of charge. For more information go to www.taps.org or call the toll-free TAPS resource and information helpline at 1.800.959.TAPS (8277).
ABOUT BATTELLE
Every day, the people of Battelle apply science and technology to solving what matters most. At major technology centers and national laboratories around the world, Battelle conducts research and development, designs and manufactures products, and delivers critical services for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio since its founding in 1929, Battelle makes the world better by commercializing technology, giving back to our communities, and supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. For more information, visit www.battelle.org.
###
INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:
On Saturday, July 28 Opening Ceremonies will be held from 9 to 10 a.m. to welcome survivor families to the seminar. Interviews are available following the ceremony with TAPS President and Founder Bonnie Carroll, grief experts and surviving military families attending the event.
AVAILABLE
FOR INTERVIEWS: Bonnie Carroll, TAPS President and Founder
Abby Schroeder, TAPS peer mentor, and surviving wife of Air Force Lt. Col. William
Allen Schroeder, who died on April 8, 2016.
Andy Weiss, TAPS peer mentor, and surviving father of Army 1st Lt. Daniel Weiss,
who died on March 4, 2012.
Battelle CEO Lou Von Thaer is available at a lunchtime seminar hosted for TAPS by
Battelle on July 26 at Battelle, 505 King Ave., Columbus, Ohio.
MEDIA RSVP REQUESTED:
Please email Rita Barry-Corke at rita@taps.org or call her at O: (202) 588-8722 (TAPS), C: (860) 304-1807 to arrange interviews with TAPS staff or participants or attend any part of the seminar.