Red Cross Services Available For Active Military, Veterans, and Families

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) - As we continue our month-long series, taking an in depth look at the Red Cross and the services they provide, there is support available for members of our armed forces.

“It’s very important for them to know they’re not alone,” Bonni Cohen said.

For members of our armed forces, veterans, and their families, there is support available through the Red Cross.

“Handouts, what to expect, pre-deployment and when you come back and reconnect with your family,” Cohen said. “Those are excellent because they really do talk about how difficult it is for someone who has been deployed to come back and reconnect with their family. But we’re also now doing a lot on stress, dealing with stress, defining stress, acknowledging stress, and ways to overcome stress and deal with it.”

Bonni Cohen, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), says during deployment, the red cross is there to help as well.

“If a family member needs to get in touch with someone who is deployed or in the military and they can’t reach them through normal ways, the Red Cross will get in touch and be involved in helping them to communicate,” Cohen adds. “Or if a military member needs to come home, they’ll get involved in helping to facilitate that.”

Cohen says through these services, they hope to make a difference.

“We’re doing this because we love the people we are working with, and feel that it’s very important for these military people to be addressed, to be understood and to be helped,” Cohen explains. “We want to try and do what we can, in our small way, try to alleviate some of that if we can.”

For more information visit redcross.org/saf

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