The Healing Touch Community in the East Bay is very committed to supporting the Veterans. One of the ways we give back to the Vets is bringing Healing Touch to the Stand Downs.
Stand Downs are held all across the country. They are one to three-day events that provide services to homeless veterans. They provide food, Social Security benefits counseling, shelter, clothes, haircuts, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, various health screenings, and much more. Often there is also massage, Chiropractic treatments and, as you might have guessed, Healing Touch available.
Last Saturday, I participated in the Stand Down on The Delta at the Contra Costa Fairgrounds. Here is a link to an article in the Contra Costa Times that gives you an idea of what the Delta Stand Down was like.
The whole event was so well organized. I just love that. Our Healing Touch coordinators are beyond amazing. There must have been twenty emails preparing us for the event. We had all the information we needed: directions to the grounds, where to park, where to get our shirt and badge, what to wear, what to bring, good snack suggestions – we were prepared!
Being in a healing space from 9 to 5 was quite extraordinary, as well as intense, and all that preparation came in handy. The coordinators were always on patrol in the Healing Touch tent, encouraging us to take breaks, eat snacks, stay hydrated and take good care of ourselves.
The healing sessions lasted about 30 minutes, and on Saturday, the day I volunteered, there were about nine healers. Some Healing Touch Practitioners signed up for both days.
It is wonderful to do healing work in a group. Even though the sessions were one- on-one, it felt like we were all working together. It was an incredibly loving, healing, and supportive environment for the Veterans.
Healing Touch Coordinator Suzanne Mittica wrote:
“I am always amazed at the generosity of spirit, the unstinting extension of personal skills of just darn nice people who volunteer for the many tasks of a successful Stand Down. It doesn’t matter what role we play in the rest of our life, we become the many with one purpose: to show the vets someone cares.”
I would like to thank Healing Touch Practitioners and Stand Down Co-coordinators Nancy Khlafallah and Suzanne Mittica. They spent the last year getting this event organized. Also thank you to Assistant Coordinator Cindy Durant and Helper Maryanne Mitchell.
I posted this video on how beneficial Healing Touch can be for Veterans once before, but it is such a good video, I had to post it again. I can’t link it directly from my blog, so after you click on the video box, then just click the word “YouTube” at the bottom of the video. That will take you right to a YouTube video you can easily watch. This video pretty much sums up why I volunteer at Stand Down:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hBnDb4EWxE&feature=youtu.be&app=desktop
Thank you for your work! This came at a perfect time for someone I know.
Great. 🙂