By: Kalin Goble, MS
In 1999, May was officially declared National Military Appreciation Month. Over this month, many events are observed to recognize the complex service of each member of our military community.
Military.com notes, “May was chosen because it has many individual days marked to note our military’s achievements,” events which include Military Spouse Appreciation Day (which was observed on May 6 this year) and Military Spouse Appreciation Month, Armed Forces Day (May 21, 2022), Memorial Day (May 30, 2022), and The Month of the Military Caregiver.
As military service members and military families, the clients and community you serve face particular experiences unique to their status as military service members. From moving every few years due to Permanent Changes of Station (PCS) to the possibility of being impacted by Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) to service members being gone on assignment (Deployment or Temporary Duty Travel), the support you offer every day within the safe space of your care is invaluable to the success and wellness of the adults, children, and families you see. Below are some highlights of resources for your work with military-connected clients.
To those in uniform serving today and to those who have served in the past, we honor you today and every day. – Unknown
Resource Highlights for Military Appreciation Month
- April kicked off our appreciation as the Month of the Military Child! We know that when adults serve, their entire families serve our country in their own ways. Check out this FD blog post for resources to support your work with military-connected kids.
- Our recent Resource Discovery blog provides supportive resources for military members and their families mental health needs and issues.
- This article from Time4Learning , Ways to Celebrate National Military Appreciation Month, covers small ways to observe the service of our military members. It also touches on how many military children are homeschooled and ways to show appreciation for those learning at home.
- Self-care is important for giving support to others. As we know, you can’t give from an empty cup. Our blog post on The Importance of Self Care for Military Caregivers and Families covers information and more tools for self-care and promoting wellbeing.
This Memorial Day marks a day for us to collectively pause, send thanks to, and honor our military members and veterans. We also thank the military partners, spouses, children, communities, and professionals like yourself that constantly rally around our military service members to support them in their unique journey. The work you do every day is a part of the bigger picture of serving and promoting the resilience of our nation.
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them. – John F. Kennedy
Blog Image: Photo by Josh Willink from Pexels
