Boeing Partners with TAPS to Provide Critical Support to Military Families Coping with Grief and Loss
Grant will allow TAPS to train hundreds of grief professionals, care providers and volunteers on best practices to support newly bereaved families
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 9, 2018
ARLINGTON, Va. – Boeing announced today that the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) will be a beneficiary of the company’s pledge to invest in local communities and transform the lives of those who have served our nation and sacrificed for our freedoms. The families of America’s fallen heroes and all those who support them will directly benefit from Boeing’s grant, which provides funding in key areas of training in trauma treatment and suicide prevention.
“The strength of our military is our service members and the strength of our service members is their families,” said Jason Pak, veterans outreach lead for The Boeing Company. “Boeing is honored to partner with organizations that are committed to serving the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Our investment in TAPS will extend compassion and vital support services to those who have lost a family member in service to our nation.”
Boeing’s grant will help to provide training for mental health professionals, bereavement and trauma specialists, volunteer peer mentors, and military personnel who provide support to surviving families in the critical period following the death of a loved one. Training will be conducted through the newly-formed TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing located in Arlington, Virginia, which serves as a hub for collaboration between professionals working in the community, and the TAPS Suicide Prevention and Postvention team, which shares its expertise with professional organizations both nationally and internationally.
"TAPS is grateful for Boeing’s commitment to those who serve or have served in defense of freedom and those who grieve a fallen hero," said Bonnie Carroll, TAPS President and Founder and 2015 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. "Through Boeing’s grant, TAPS will be able to train and equip hundreds of professionals and volunteers to effectively support surviving military families and to employ best practices in identifying suicidal ideation and prevent suicide attempts.”
The TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing, launched in March, serves as the critical link between military and mental health leadership, clinicians, and researchers and service members, veterans and their families, by providing innovative, insightful, high-impact educational events and trainings.
With Boeing as the title sponsor of the institute, TAPS will provide world-class training in grief and loss that will benefit families that have lost a loved who served in the military, including Gold Star Families. The training will arm social workers, doctors, nurses, funeral directors, casualty officers, chaplains and others providing support to surviving military families with the knowledge and unique tools necessary to support the families of the fallen. In addition, the institute will offer training to TAPS survivors who are ready to turn their own grief into caring for newly bereaved families as a peer mentor.
The TAPS Suicide Prevention and Postvention team provides world-class training and programs for survivors of suicide and the institutions that support them including employers, hospitals, military units, veteran organizations and more.
With Boeing as the founding sponsor of the TAPS Suicide Prevention and Postvention team, TAPS will develop and produce trainings targeted toward military families on suicide postvention; expand one-on-one consultations for first responders supporting the families immediately following the death; and host the peer mentor and military mentor training at the TAPS National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp.
Additionally, the grant will enhance TAPS suicide prevention capabilities through skills training in identification of risk factors, enabling frontline staff on the Survivor Care Team and the National Military Survivor Helpline to more immediately and effectively evaluate suicide ideation or an attempt.
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 75,000 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 THE BOEING COMPANY
Through purposeful investments, employee engagement and thoughtful advocacy efforts, Boeing and its employees support innovative partnerships and programs that align with the company’s strategic objectives, create value and help build better communities worldwide. Boeing’s efforts are focused on improving access to globally competitive learning, contributing to workforce and skills development, and supporting our military and veteran communities. Chicago-based Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. A top U.S. exporter, the company supports airlines and U.S. and allied government customers in more than 150 countries.
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MEDIA REQUESTS:
Please contact Rita Barry-Corke, TAPS Vice President of Media Relations at rita@taps.org or at (800) 959-TAPS (8277) for more information or to arrange an interview.