A local veteran is bringing a program to Loudon County that helps military families heal from non-physical wounds associated with service-related trauma.
REBOOT Recovery offers 12-week free courses designed for three different groups: first responders, military and everyone else who has experienced trauma. The nonprofit was founded in 2011 by an occupational therapist as a peer-led response to trauma and suicide … and more than 400 programs are held across 11 countries.
HEALING ENVIRONMENT
David Boggs learned about REBOOT when he saw a social media ad seeking people to lead courses. As someone always looking for ways to improve himself and help his fellow veterans, it struck his interest.
Boggs has been through several programs for veterans already, including Warrior PATHH and Warrior Week at Camp Southern Ground in Georgia; Huts for Vets in Colorado; and Save a Warrior in his home state of Ohio. Through those experiences, he’s realized that being in a healing environment doesn’t only benefit the participants but those leading it as well.
“One thing that’s really unique about this course compared to a lot of the other ones is this isn’t just intended for the veteran (or military member], but it’s also intended for the adult family members of the veteran or military member,” he said.
“Because being with somebody who has PTSD is traumatic in its own way.”
Adult family members are welcome to attend the meetings with the participant, Boggs said, because it’s important for them to have a resource as well.
“There’s not a lot out there for the family members,” Boggs said. “When we’re having a hard time and we’re struggling, who (are) the people that take the brunt of that? Our family — the people closest to us.”
‘DESERVING OF HELP’
Boggs was in the Navy from 2006 to 2013 during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. He did a deployment on the USS Enterprise to the Persian Gulf, came back, crossrated and then did a second deployment on a minesweeper in the same area.
He spent “one day short of a year” in Bahrain.
“I never had any full-on combat experience, boots on ground combat. And that’s one of the things that I struggled with the longest,” Boggs said. “I told myself I wasn’t worthy of any help because so many others had it worse off than I did.
“But trauma affects everybody differently,” he said.
“What one person sees as traumatic, (another) person can be, ‘Oh, that’s not that bad.’ So, it took me the longest time to just say, ‘Hey, yes. I need help. I deserve the help.’”
Boggs once felt that if he took help, he was taking from someone who needed it more. “That’s not the way it is, though. …
“That’s what all that stuff is there for. It’s to be used.”
He wants people to know that no matter how small they think their trauma may be compared to others, they’re still deserving of help.
‘WHATEVER WE CAN DO’
Needing somewhere to host the meetings, Boggs reached out to the church his stepson was attending — New Harvest Worship in Philadelphia, Tenn. Senior Pastor Bishop William Seale was immediately on board.
“My whole church is backing it up,” Seale said. “They love it — the idea that we can help our veterans — because they need the help bad. And so whatever we can do, we’re going to do it.”
The REBOOT program is based in the Christian faith, but Boggs and Seale both emphasized that people are welcome regardless of their beliefs.
“A lot of people with trauma, like I said, I had a real dark time where I was just angry. And having any kind of faith can be extremely difficult,” Boggs said. “It’s not there to say, ‘Hey, yeah, you need to go to church,’ or ‘Hey, this is this.’
“It’s for the healing.”
Seale said his role is to support David and have a hand in helping people along their journey.
“I’m not expecting people to come to church, but I’m expecting the church to be there for the people. There’s a big difference,” Seale said.
“If we can’t show love to these veterans, then we might as well shut these doors down.”
rebootrecovery.com
Meetings are Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. beginning May 14. There’s no cost to attend, and a meal will be provided each week.
“We are going to do dinner beforehand just so everybody can sit down, relax and get comfortable,” Boggs said. “Because opening up about stuff can be really hard, especially for veterans, and men really don’t like to open up about things because we’ve been trained not to.”
A friend of Boggs will be joining the meetings as a cohost. He thought it important to have a female presence in the meetings, in the event someone feels more comfortable fully opening up to a woman, such as in matters of military sexual trauma.
Anyone interested in attending can register at rebootrecovery.com. You don’t have to be a resident of Loudon County and no one will be turned away, Boggs said.
“I’m not sure how many will be there, but even if it’s just one then that’s a start.
“And that could grow into more and more and more help for everybody.”
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