Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Welcome Home is a Willing Warriors and the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run project. The program highlights activities at the Warrior Retreat and issues impacting all Veterans. For questions or feedback, please email us at podcast@willingwarriors.org.
Welcome Home - A Podcast for Veterans, About Veterans, By Veterans
Echoes of Valor: The Fight Against Veteran Suicide by Mission 22
Have you ever encountered a powerful story that compels action from the core of your being? That's what happened when Cory Brown, Virginia State Director for Mission22, shared his journey with us, illuminating the organization’s steadfast commitment to preventing veteran suicide. Our conversation unveils the roots of Mission22, planted by Magnus Johnson's sculpture tour and grown into a sanctuary for veterans seeking holistic recovery. Cory brings to light the myriad of programs tailored to veterans' diverse needs, the irreplaceable support of volunteers, and the unyielding adaptability of the organization through times as trying as the pandemic.
Collaboration is the undercurrent of this episode, as we highlight the synergistic relationship between nonprofits like Mission22 and government agencies in bolstering the veteran community. Cory and I dissect the impact of creative partnerships, such as the one with "This Is Us," and how they amplify the message and reach of veteran support services. We celebrate the resilience inherent in these programs, the lifeline that professional and peer networks offer, and the preparation for a long-term commitment to our veterans' well-being.
As we conclude this heartfelt dialogue, we focus on the essence of resiliency and healing that Mission22 fosters among veterans. We share stories of transformation, from struggle to triumph, reinforcing that one negative experience must not deter veterans from reaching out. A single call can be a turnaround, and we stress the importance of tapping into the abundant resources available. To all our listeners who wish to support this cause, we guide you on contributing through donations and services, ensuring the legacy of support for our veterans continues.
Good morning. I'm Larry Zilliox, your host Director of Culinary Services here at the Warrior Retreat, and today our guest is Cory Brown. He's the Virginia State Director for Mission 22, an amazing organization been around for a good while, and Cory and I we land at the same table events all over Northern Virginia, so I was excited to have him out here today to tell us all about Mission 22 and the work that they do. So, Cory, welcome to the podcast.
Cory Brown:Larry, thanks so much, so happy to be here. I love telling the story of the organization and just getting that passion from service and hopefully helping as many people as we can.
Larry Zilliox:I know. I know the story of Mission 22. But tell our listeners what the organization is all about.
Cory Brown:So several years ago, a guy named Magnus Johnson he was a green beret and he had a bug in him to be an artist and so he was doing some sculpting and one of his sculptures actually helped start bringing around the awareness of the issue that we had with veteran suicide and using that sculpture and kind of going on tour with it, he decided that hey, there's more to this that we can do, and I know that he himself and his wife, who now heads the organization for them it's a, you know, acts of service is the way that they continue to serve, and I think that through some of the artistry and the sculptures you know, you landed into a place where what can we do? Who can we bring on board? Who can we partner with? That helps us get closer to, you know, solving this issue of veteran suicide. As you know, the statistics are pretty eye-popping. I think they came across those statistics and the report back then, which was 22 veterans a day were dying by suicide, and that propelled the idea of hey, mission 22,. Let's kind of use this as an opportunity to spread awareness and to start coming up with programs which they really wanted, a holistic kind of approach.
Cory Brown:There's several medical doctors and other sorts of professional experts that are involved with some of the recovery and resiliency programs that the organization has for people. But it was much more about. It's not just about medication, it's not just about therapy. Even there's building blocks. It's a journey. The post-traumatic growth that you need to achieve is first, the recovery element. You know what do you need to recover from the post-traumatic stress that you're encountering, and then what do you need to build that resiliency and how do you grow into being the best version of yourself that you can be now, cause we almost everybody now has gone through or is going through or is going to go through some sort of trauma.
Cory Brown:And I think for the organization it's about like it's not a one size fits all approach. It's not just based on, like medical this or you know, pharmacy, that there's an angle on. It's gotta be a life, you know, something that you're always gonna be working with and something that's gonna fit your passion area or fit in a way that's gonna make you wanna stay with it. And it's about, I think, building that network, that tribe, that group, that club, like whatever it is. Then it's gonna help you, because none of our journeys are alone. Right, we get the best benefits when we're able to come together, and I think the organization's done a really good job about finding good partners that we know one organization probably doesn't have all the answers, so how do we loop people then to a network where they can hopefully find what it is that they're missing or that they need to really experience, that post traumatic growth that we're looking for?
Larry Zilliox:So would you describe Mission 22 as sort of a resource guide for veterans who have these issues? They could reach out to Mission 22 for direction on where they can find different therapies, different ways of coping.
Cory Brown:There's two sides. I think that's one of them Definitely wanna be a resource for the community.
Cory Brown:Sure, the second piece is that we do have programs that that you can sign up through with Mission 22 and you get assigned a team that can help you and you have you know, physical things that can be sent to you in the mail or that you can go to, that are on-site in some instances, which are actually like these are Mission 22 programs that you can take part in, you know, free of charge, but it's, it's both of those things. I think it's, kim, you know, what can we do because of this angle that Mission 22 is taking with the recovery and resiliency program, mm-hmm, and then what can we do to also be that resource that links you up to to great and wonderful places like this, you know, the warrior treat, or to an equine program, sure, or you?
Cory Brown:know to whatever it is, it seems that the person might match too well.
Larry Zilliox:Mm-hmm. And are the physical programs in the north? Are there some in the northern Virginia area?
Cory Brown:There's nothing on the east coast, yet it's okay. Mission 22 is is headquartered out of Oregon. That's where most of the the full-time leadership and work force is, but there is a nationwide volunteer force and every state there are volunteers like myself, who you come out to the events like you were talking about, where we're, you know, trying to raise awareness, trying to raise money, sure, to fund those programs, a lot of the programs. If for people that are safe for here in northern Virginia, they have a virtual opportunity, okay, so you can, you can get your resources by mail, right, you can check in with, with experts and people associated with the program, virtually so it's. It's not in person, but it does offer them some sort of flexibility sure did that grow out of COVID.
Cory Brown:I mean, I think that it grew out of the need to service people who weren't in the Pacific Northwest local right. Right. I think COVID helped make that something that was much more User friendly, user friendly right and much more. You know this. We can use this to serve more people. We're not just limited to a certain mileage from Oregon or whatever, and you know there's there's probably so many people that have been helped just because there was a virtual opportunity.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, I think that's what they were going for and there's a, there's a state Coordinator like yourself, or a volunteer in most states.
Cory Brown:Each state has a leader, okay, A volunteer leader. In every state. That entire hierarchy is all volunteer okay.
Cory Brown:So you have a state leader, we have a coordinator who works out of the headquarters Kind of office. It's full-time. You obviously like moving these logistical pieces around, like you know that the merchandise or the various programs Mailouts that need to go out, you know. But for each state, you know it's a team of volunteers who kind of come together and work events or they do fundraisers, like the 22 push-ups a day. I guess it was a couple years ago we had the big couple that that walked from, like Cape Cod, massachusetts, all the way to Arlington, you know, and raising money all on the way. So, like several of those type of events are happening each year. It's a very, you know, highly Volunteer led organization.
Larry Zilliox:So if somebody out there does want to do some sort of fundraising event for mission 22, you guys are open to that. That's right. What's the best way for them to get in touch with you? Is it through the web page or?
Cory Brown:always tell people mission 22.com. Yeah, it's easy to remember. There's. There's a form there that you can fill out. Definitely gets fun onto the right people.
Larry Zilliox:It's the easiest way to Get in touch with somebody that can help, and would that also be true for Veterans who were looking for services? That's right. Okay, yeah, who contacts them? That? Is it the state Coordinator, or is it somebody from headquarters?
Cory Brown:It'll be somebody from from Headquarters, probably we'll funnel it to to one of the state leaders. Yeah, you know wherever we can be most local, I think when when you start talking about the, the resources and taking advantage of the resources and being able to talk to somebody. We definitely do want to try to get as local as possible.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah, but states are big, you know you're here, you know you. It's not like you can get in the car and drive talk to somebody down in Chesapeake or worse, you know Bristol down there, right, so I, I, I understand that. I get that. What do you think is the most valuable program that mission 22 has?
Cory Brown:I think that, as far as programs go, the Recovery and Residency program is great. It's a holistic approach where they're trying to look at the person from the individual level as holistically as possible. You'll have a medical professional that's kind of assigned to you that you have the ability to touch base with as you go through that program, and it's like a step program, right, you're working to meet different objective levels and get different help at different points. But that's a very well executed program that's built around the premise of like purposeful, intentional program. But I think it's just as helpful to try to be part of the coalition of organizations that are working to raise awareness.
Cory Brown:Sure, without the awareness, I mean, the whole reason I happened to want to go find this organization or an organization like this was out of loss, right, and my friend, my buddy, who we lost to suicide, had to have felt like there was nothing that could help them, right, and that there was no education that they could reach or information that they could gain, that they felt like they could get what they needed. So I think, being able to really help veterans, you know, join causes, join organizations, know that there's groups like ours and yours that are out there trying to fight the battle still and serve still. That's the other. I think that's programmatic and of itself too right, like us being able to do that and reach people.
Larry Zilliox:I agree 100%. I think awareness is the key. I mean, veterans are aware of the issue. It's the rest of the community that needs to be informed to say you know, you've got to look out for your cousin. Yeah, he was in the army. You don't see him that often. He seems pretty normal. But you know, talk to him and frequently, you know, give him a call, see how he's doing, maybe get together for coffee. You know more than you would with somebody who went to high school.
Larry Zilliox:I really do believe that awareness is really the key. It's so important to get that message out to as many people as possible, and I know Mission 22 does a fantastic job of that. You guys are always out in the community. You're here for the Vets, for Vets show. You know we can't spread the word enough. I guess I want to ask are you aware of any programs that the VA has or that may be coming down the pike that you think are going to be beneficial or are? What's your relationship with the VA, mission 22,? Are you at odds with them or do you work with them, or what's that like?
Cory Brown:I think most veterans know that the VA, although it's a national and federal entity, still varies so much from community to community. Yeah, and there's definitely VA communities where I think Mission 22 is much more ingrained into that community, whether it's because of the people that are managing it or working there. Maybe it's because we happen to have ambassadors in that area where that they're much more looped in to the VA community. So I think it is highly variable and it's probably one of the challenges that all organizations are facing. Right, it's like how do we best partner up with a government entity in order to reach the same objectives? Right, we have the same goals. Sure, we make sure we're as aligned as we can be with the mission to still serve the veteran community. Yeah, we've seen it different levels, like A lot of people don't realize, but that hit show that was on NBC a few years ago, like this Is Us, when they introduced the veteran character who was the dad's brother, uncle Nicky, his VA center that he would go to Mission 22 did a great job there with that show because they had partnered up with some of the showrunners and there were Mission 22 signs and posters in some of those scenes, which was really neat to see.
Cory Brown:But I think it's still something where we have trainings, where we talk about, like, how to work with the VA. How can you better get ingrained with what they're doing? You'd ask about things coming down the pipeline. I mean, I think that the telephone line was a great move, right, being able to have something that, no matter where you are in the country, is the same yeah, 98 plus one and being able to like help people understand how to evangelize that. But I think I've always been a believer that it's great that we have a strong veterans administration and then the government is putting money into resources. However, we believe if there's more needed or what, I also believe that it's up to organizations in the nonprofit realm to really like fill in those gaps and be the ones who are making sure that the light doesn't go out, that we're burying the torch and we're still moving things forward, because it's organizations like yours, like ours, that are doing just as much as any of the VA communities.
Larry Zilliox:I sometimes look at it and it's still. We're here to catch those who are falling through the cracks, and that's you know. It's very rewarding to be able to reach out and affect policy, to promote programs that, like yours, we know work and that, if we can just put a pause in it, you know. Whether it's lethal means safety, whether it's. We have a new program called operations save the number, where we now have brochures that teach veterans how to save the 988 number and an Android phone and an Apple phone, the idea of being that they'll put it in their buddies phone and say hey, if you're having a bad day, call me. If I don't answer, call this number. There's anything we can do.
Larry Zilliox:Any program that puts a pause in that process is really one that's going to save lives. And I think I really like about mission 22's program is the resiliency aspect of it, the idea that this is somehow a curable thing, that if I just take this medication, if I just go to this course, if I Practice meditation, if I do a certain thing, I'm gonna be fixed and I'm gonna be fine, and it's only a matter of time, I think, until there's a stressor and the issues just come flooding back in and the idea of that resiliency and saying hey, you're in it for the long haul and we're here to help is, I think, really the most important thing. That program, I agree.
Cory Brown:I think the programmatic elements help for sure. You know, you have this Program that was designed by these medical professionals combined with veteran Veterans like yourself and myself, and they've put together these things that they can package and send off, and I love that. I love that for sure, but it's also the network. I think that's very beneficial. So, when veterans from different organizations like you and I you know we've developed a good rapport and it helps, I think, because you know things that are coming, or I might know things that are coming, and if we start talking, we're probably only becoming that force multiplier. Sure, the resiliency aspect of it is so important because, like you said, it's not, it's not a switch, all right, you don't go into any sort of treatment or take a pill or anything like that where, like, you had PTSD and now you don't. Wouldn't that be great? Yeah, sure, yeah, but it's a, it's a challenge, right? You're always prone to Walking into the darkness.
Larry Zilliox:Yeah.
Cory Brown:What helps is if you know Well, these dark times are here again, but I can call Larry, yeah you know, or I know, I have a, a tribe that I can go to and say like well, I'm having a hard time, I'm gonna have a hard time.
Larry Zilliox:I need some help and to know that there's a light on the other side of the tunnel. I think that's perfect and and because if you talk to veterans who have considered suicide and then to a point, very often they talk about using it as a way to just make the pain stop. And that's so important to identify that and say, hey, you've been down this road before you got help, you can get help again and just stop. Give somebody a call Call 988 plus one, call somebody you know, call another veteran. It's just huge, it really is, and you know that you guys just do amazing, amazing work. What's the one thing you'd like to leave our listeners with about Mission 22? It's the most important thing they should know.
Cory Brown:I'd really I built off what you just said. There's so many we hear about the stigmas. We know what the stigmas are. Mission 22 started and they had the tagline of united and the fight against veteran suicide and we started to realize, like there's so much focus on Posttraumatic stress disorder, you know there's so much focus on like the suicide rate is Increasing, like it was like death and negativity, and you know just like we were actually compounding the our own stigma, hmm, and we we moved to a different tagline, thinking like United, we heal.
Cory Brown:Mm-hmm which is what we are today and it's thinking about like, just like you said, let's talk about the success stories.
Cory Brown:Yeah you know, let's talk about the fact that you can, you can get through this. You know that there is light on the other side, that you can, you can be resilient, you know, and that you can know like you can feel good again, mm-hmm, and you can get those tools that will help you live the best life. You can now Mm-hmm, and that's, that's a focus I think that mission 22's had to transform through and into the documentary United. We heal that that the organization was was a big part of Great documentary, because it goes into like, hey, we have some tough stories, we're dealing with the tough issue, but you know what, like we came, we came out on the other side and we're still here. Yeah, we're gonna keep fighting and we're gonna help people Do the same thing that you don't. You don't have to like, just, you know, have that permanent Solution like you can, you can feel good again. It feels good to feel good. Yeah, you know, and I think the takeaway is you know there is a lot of good around this bad issue.
Cory Brown:Mm-hmm because organizations like mission 22 exists, organizations like willing warriors exist, mm-hmm, and and that's about like spread, don't spread the negativity aspect of it all. Don't focus on the fact that it's like this disease, the disorder, like.
Larry Zilliox:Let's focus on like that you can live, you know and and you can live well and also, too, I think it's an important message to say you you don't have to do it alone that a lot of times I hear from veterans that they're not getting what they had thought that they should get from the VA, so they start to think that they're not going to get it any help anywhere.
Larry Zilliox:There's no help available for them just because they had a bad experience with the VA, and that's so far from the truth. There's tons of veteran service organizations out there that have resources, that have services, that have funding. Mission 22 is an example of that. But the state even the Virginia Department of Veterans Services offers a lot of services that the VA does that you don't even have to be involved with the VA to take advantage of their services. So that's another important part of the message, I think, is to say, okay, you had a bad experience, but don't give up. There are people, there are organizations like Mission 22 that are here to help and are willing to help. All you have to do is just reach out and so listen, I really can't thank you enough for coming all the way out here to the retreat. It's kind of a cold, nasty night, but I appreciate you coming out and joining us. I really do.
Cory Brown:Larry, I love it out here. Every time I come out here I feel energized and better. I think there's just so much positive energy here. I appreciate you inviting me. I know we've been trying to work this out and I'm glad that we finally got a chance to do it. Yeah.
Larry Zilliox:So for our listeners, if you want to help Mission 22, you can donate, you can do a fundraiser. Just reach out through their webpage, mission22.orgcom, and there's plenty of information there on the webpage. Go to the webpage, check it out. If you're a veteran and you need services, please go to the webpage and check it out and if they can help you, they will help you. We will have another podcast next Monday at 5 am for you early risers. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can reach us at podcastatwillingwarriorsorg. Until then, take care.
