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Friday, February 27th, 5:00- 7:00 pm

                                 Fundraiser for Veterans and their Families at Woody's Pub & Grille

You're invited to join us at Woody’s Pub & Grille for our first fundraiser to provide weekend retreats for the battles that begin when the war comes home. The Sanctuary Weekend series kicks off with a retreat for Women Veterans in April, 2009. Sanctuary Weekends are a project of Sanctuary One, a 501.c.3 non-profit organization.

• Meet local veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and Blue Star military families, and learn about the Sanctuary Weekends
• If schedules permit, there will be a special announcement from Representative Sal Esquivel and Senator Alan Bates about a new bill supporting military families
• Social hour and time to visit with friends
• Free hors d’oeuvres

Help us keep the promise to care for our veterans, and support the families who support the troops. For more information, please contact Stacy Bannerman at (541) 646-0220 or stacyb@sanctuaryone.org.

Woody’s Pub & Grille

42 North Front Street

5:00 p.m. Doors open

Tabling with literature, sign-in, and donation bucket
5:15 p.m. Press conference
Featured speakers: Stacy Bannerman, Sanctuary One Executive Director,
military spouse, and creator of Sanctuary Weekends
Steve Brown, co-owner of Woody?s Pub & Grille, former Marine
Woman veteran and/or representative from SORCC VA (tentative)
5:30 Special announcement from Senator Bates and
Representative Esquivel regarding new legislation supporting military
families, pending confirmation.

5:45 Q & A
6:00 p.m. Press conference wraps
6-7:00 p.m. Social hour and networking

About the Sanctuary Weekends

According to Department of Veterans Affairs (2007 VetPop) there are an
estimated 25,103 women veterans currently residing in the State of
Oregon. Women veterans are the fastest-growing segment of the overall
veterans population, and more likely to exhibit symptoms of combat
trauma and service-related stress (a difference that may be partially
correlated to gender distinctions in the way the brain processes
emotions and actions), but there are few gender-specific programs and
community-based services available in rural southern Oregon or
nationally.

In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs found that women are
reporting signs of mental health issues when they return home at a
higher rate than their male counterparts. However, an internal report
recently released from VA shows that female veterans do not receive
the same level of medical care as their male counterparts. In April of
2009, we are offering the first Sanctuary Weekend: A Wellness &
Recreation Retreat for Women Veterans, a gender-specific, experiential
program that teaches stress management and improves self-care skills
of women veterans, including experiential education in the physical
and mental health benefits of: eco-therapy; mutually beneficial animal
nteraction and activities; and facilitated peer support, education
and advocacy in a safe, nurturing environment.

We are also planning a Sanctuary Weekend for Wives of
Combat Veterans in the fall of 2009, because among military spouses,
40% believed their mental health was hurt by their husband's or wife's
service overseas. (American Psychiatric Association, March 2008)
More than 600 National Guard soldiers from southern Oregon will be
deploying to Iraq in the summer of 2009, and most of them are married.
This weekend will help provide support, connection, coping skills,
and education about the effect of war upon the veteran, which is
especially important since Guard/Reserve combat veterans have nearly
twice the rates of post-combat stress as regular active duty troops.
We are also exploring the possibility of conducting a Sanctuary
Weekend for Guard families in the future.