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Daemen College Social Work Department to Present “Listening to the Unheard: Identifying the Needs of Returning Veterans and their Families -- Implications for the Western New York Community”
Presentation is Part of National Social Work MonthAs part of its observance of National Social Work Month, the Daemen College Social Work Department will present “Identifying the Needs of Returning Veterans and their Families: Implications for the Western New York Community.” The program will be held Wednesday, March 25, 2009, from 6-8 p.m., in Wick Center Social Room on the Daemen campus, 4380 Main Street, in Amherst. It will be free and open to the public.
Presenters will include:
Colonel James Germain
Commander of the Airman & Family Readiness (Family Support Services)
for the 914th Air Wing
Niagara Falls – U.S. Air Force
First Sergeant Jeanie Heinl
Member of OEF/OIF Outreach Program
Niagara Falls Air force
Robert Young, MSW
POW Coordinator
Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Western NY Healthcare System
Day Treatment Center
Bflo, NY
Patrick Welch, Ph.D.
Director – Erie County Veterans Service Agency
“In the time since September 11, 2001, it is commonly known that a portion of American citizens – our nation’s soldiers and their families – have borne a disproportionate burden in fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. What is less well known is the toll that repeated deployments are taking on these members of the Army, the National Guard and their families,” said Daemen Associate Professor and Chairperson for the Department of Social Work and Sociology, Renee Daniel.
A recent report, compiled by Veterans For America, has revealed that roughly half of the soldiers from the National Guard who have served repeated combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan returned home suffering from severe psychological trauma. The report also found that the toll on front line Army troops, having served multiple combat tours with insufficient time at home between the tours, includes mental and emotional difficulties, PTSD, alcoholism, and other serious consequences for the soldiers and their families.
“Too many of our veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are experiencing multiple challenges that impact them personally as well as their families’,” Daniel added. “The result is increasing physical, emotional, and financial trauma for them and their communities. Through this presentation the Daemen College Social Work Department will focus on how the Western New York community can better meet the needs of our returning veterans and their families, who have given so much, and, conversely, what are the implications for our community if we do not assure the provision and coordination of these services.”