UNC-TV Gives Military Support

UNC-TV is a member of the Wake CART Family, Youth and Education Committee. Wake CART stands for Community Area Resource Team. Wake CART is a voluntary and civilian cooperative partnership organized to provide multi-purposing networking for support and assistance to assure total force family readiness for active-duty personnel, as well as services to veterans and their families. Wake CART membership involves all military services within the region, all major veteran service organizations within the region, all relevant state and local government departments and agencies, civilian organizations established to assist military families, relevant community and faith-based service organizations, organizations with a role in disaster response (e.g., police, fire, hospitals, etc.) and community businesses interested in supporting military members, veterans and their families.

Some of the Wake CART partners include:

The Purple Elephant Computer Factory http://www.purpleelephant.org/

NC 4-H NC/Operation Kids http://www.operationmilitarykids.org/

NC Cooperative Extension http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/

NC National Guard Family Services http://www.jointservicessupport.org/fp/

Wellness for Warriors at http://www.meetup.com/Wellness-for-Warriors-Triangle/about/

NACCRRA-the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies / Child Care Services Association http://www.childcareinachangingworld.nl/downloads/presentation_linda_smith.pdf

NC Troops to Teachers http://www.ncpublicschools.org/troops/

W.E. Dubois Community Development Center http://www.duboiscdc.org/AboutUs/missionvision.html

North Carolina State Family Programs http://www.nc.ngb.army.mil/index.php/fp/

Red Cross Emergency Services http://secure.trianglearc.org/Default.aspx?TabId=729

Military Missions in Action  http://www.militarymissionsinaction.org/

UNC-TV outreach efforts include:

• Collaboration with Yoga Warrior to provide free workshops for combat veterans and their spouses. The Yoga Warrior method is designed to provide advanced knowledge and practical tools for yoga teachers working with combat veterans diagnosed with Combat and Operational Stress Reaction (COSR) or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The US Department of Veterans Affairs reports that Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs in about 12-20% of veterans of the Iraq war, and these veterans face a host of readjustment problems including suicide, substance abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and problems within the family.

• Distribution of This Emotional Life Early Moments Matter toolkits. UNC-TV partnered with Wellness for Warriors and Triad Veterans Alliance to provide resources for veterans and their families in conjunction with its broadcast of This Emotional Life series.

• Distribution of A Handbook for Family & Friends of Service Members, Before, During, and After Deployment to Wake CART members, to be shared with their constituents.

• Distributions of Sesame Street’s “When Families Grieve” general public and military version kits.

• Guest star appearances of PBS characters and UNC-TV’s Read-a-roo at the Welcome Home Ceremony for the nearly 4,000 Soldiers and their Families of the North Carolina National Guard’s 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team that was held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, April 11, 2010.

For the next several months, the Soldiers and their Families will begin the Yellow Ribbon Campaign, a series of events across the state to help the Citizen Soldiers and their Families transition back to civilian life. The re-integration program brings seminars, training and other resources to make the transition back to their homes, jobs and communities easier. UNC-TV’s outreach staff will assist in these endeavors as needed.

More resources:

PBS: The Forgetting

PBS: The New Americans

PBS: Becoming American: The Chinese Experience