LZ-Grace Warriors Retreat Foundation Healing special operations warrior veterans and their families. P.O. Box 57010, Virginia Beach, Virginia 23457 (757) 784-3220 / (757) 453-6428 fax [email protected] www.lz-grace.com What is LZ-Grace? • Special Operations Forces (SOF) Warriors and Tier 1 First Responders (T1FR) come to LZ-Grace to seek rest. Our retreat is designed to provide a confidential and secure environment for these individuals to decompress after war and trauma with support so they can re-enter family and professional life refreshed. • The LZ-Grace Warrior Retreat, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, is a 38 acre waterfront farm with a four-bedroom farm-house, an addition that sleeps up to ten individuals, a six-room bunk house with service or companion dog kennel runs attached, a woodworking shop, art room, Team-Room gym, 35 foot climbing wall, 12-station fitness and riding trail around the property (in progress), a children's play yard, kayaking/fishing dock, life-size chess board, fire-pit, meditation garden, vegetable garden, hops yard, horse stables, indoor and outdoor arenas, and an in-ground saltwater pool with outdoor kitchen facilities. • Horses, barn cats, miniature donkeys, guinea hens, and companion dogs live on the property along with the Founder, Director and Volunteer Staff, providing a rich welcome-home environment to those seeking respite. 2 Special operations warrior veterans need LZ-Grace “Special operations commands have recognized the importance of establishing transition time for members returning from overseas so that there can be a deliberate pause that facilitates a shift in mindset between the two environments. LZ-Grace supports this practice by offering a safe, private environment free from the stressors and distractions of daily home life. Their beautiful, quiet location, and enriching activities provide families with the opportunity to take a needed pause and focus on reestablishing their relationships.” George Steffian, Ph.D., ABPP CAPT, USN (Ret) Clinical Psychologist “15 f*****g years at war and my brain’s broken; and my family nearly broke. The Navy might be throwing me away, but my wife and kids are keeping me. Thank God for the right seizure meds, my service dog Storm, and LZ-Grace.” “JM” – E6 , Navy EOD [Storm is a Service Dog trained to alert JM to oncoming seizures] 3 Special operations warrior veterans need LZ-Grace “16.3 percent of veterans shared prescriptions to “Veteran suicide rates are manage their pain, and 29 significantly higher than percent of veterans the rest of the resorted to alcohol or population” street drugs to treat pain. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) Thirty-five percent of veterans used a combination of both.” (Journal of Pain and Symptom “Lack of access to mental Management) health services contributing to high suicide rates among “Veteran unemployment veterans” rates are significantly (U.S. National Institutes of Health) higher than non-veterans” (National Veterans Foundation) (Pew Research) 4 Special operations warrior veterans need LZ-Grace “Returning home from a residential or inpatient medical stay after the battlefield can be an abrupt, jarring experience. Progress and insights made in treatment may not always survive the onslaught of work and home life demands as well as long established patterns of behavior in the home environment. LZ-Grace offers a safe, neutral and nurturing transition environment allowing family’s to reunite with their loved one away from the triggers of old behavior patterns. When combined with the appropriate therapeutic interventions, such an environment can ease the adjustment and allow time for families to both negotiate and establish new, healthier patterns of behavior.” George Steffian, Ph.D., ABPP CAPT, USN (Ret) Clinical Psychologist “When we come back from these deployments sometimes the feelings of our loved ones are lost or misplaced in our minds during the shuffle between survival and wanting to come home. LZ Grace helps heal the living and provides the proper fodder to our mental state to nurture us back into family life. LZ Grace is a place where we can go to feel safe, decompress, breathe in life and find the misplaced feelings.” Masa James, BUD/S 183 Bi-Coastal SEAL Teams 5 LZ-Grace history Steve Bukowski, a 32-year veteran Navy SEAL, had a dream of building a retreat for special operations warrior veterans returning from war. A sanctuary far away from everyday pressures, where warriors would have a chance to heal and reconnect with their families. A place for their silent nurturing. A place to provide important counseling, when needed, to help warriors decompress. A place with career coaching and placement resources to help warriors transition back into civilian life. A place to help warriors see their future after the battlefield. After retiring from the Navy in 2010, Steve started to build his dream on a small farm in North Carolina, but six months later he died from a sudden heart attack. Steve’s wife Lynn, however, held on to and continued his dream. In 2014, Lynn realized their dream by opening the LZ-Grace Warriors Retreat on 38 acres in Virginia Beach. LZ-Grace today makes a huge difference in warrior veterans’ lives by giving them healing, resources, and hope. 6 Scope of operations and services today Housing for 12 program guests. Healing through equine therapy. Community meals. A stress-free environment to reconnect with long-missed family members. Canine therapy and Meditation and counseling garden. companionship. Kayaking and water activities. Fitness equipment. Group counseling and discussions by a campfire. Peaceful surroundings to encourage healing. 7 Career, executive, and life coaching • Nick Sullivan, CAPT USN (Ret), provides pro bono career coaching, executive coaching, and life coaching for veterans at LZ-Grace Identifying passions Targeting careers Living a balanced life 8 Testimonials “As a Marine Corps veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan I know and understand the struggle of adjusting back to life at home after returning from a deployment...despite being cleared by military doctors as not having PTSD or TBI, the first few weeks returning from my tour in Afghanistan were stressful…there was nowhere for me to find peace because I was not diagnosed as having an injury. The LZ Grace ranch has the fellowship, serenity, and support to help those mentally exhausted from battle get mentally and emotionally fit again.” Matthew M. Adams Staff Sergeant, USMCR, Iraq 2008, 2009; Afghanistan 2010, 2011 “Not at all sure I would have stayed in, reconnected with my mom, or for that matter, lived, if I had not spent some time at your “home away from home.” A long way from Cali, but I desperately needed the sleep and good food and fishing and picking up a paint brush to canvas again. Head on straight and back at it.” West Coast U.S. Navy SEAL “LZ-Grace is a little piece of paradise that helps calm the soul and provides a plethora of avenues for each warrior to find peace in their hearts and minds.” LTJG, VFA-154 Intelligence Officer, CAG-11 9 Community involvement • 12 Eagle Scout projects • 2 Gold Award Girl Scout projects • Bi-Annual Volunteers: • Virginia Beach Fire Department • Virginia Beach Police Department Bomb Squad • Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office • Dominion Virginia Power Volunteers • Local SEAL Team members 10 Making a difference for veterans • 115,000 service hours since 2015 • 1,098 served on-site = 105,408 service hours • 89 served remotely = 3,026 service hours • 1,876 family / groups served = 6,576 service hours 11 There is life after the battlefield 12 The way forward • Update main kitchen (~$53 thousand) • Make handicap accessible • Improve stove and vent system • Complete the fitness and horse trail (~$22 thousand) • Install handicap accessible bathroom in equine area (~$27 thousand) • Make swimming pool and picnic area handicap accessible ~$16 thousand) • Large outdoor screen for fireside movies (~$2 thousand) • 20 fold-out tables and 200 chairs for command events ($4 thousand) • Materials for Art Room therapy (~$1 thousand) • Two two-seater kayaks and four safety vests (~$2 thousand) • Four climbing harnesses (~$500) • Wagon for hayrides and working barn (~$2 thousand) 13 Executive team Lynnette Bukowski, Founder and Chief Executive Officer — is an Author, Speaker, Artist, Founder and the Executive Director of the LZ-Grace (Landing Zone Grace) Warriors Retreat Foundation, a place of rest built in memory of and born from her late husband’s dream of providing a place where his SEAL and Special Operations Forces “brothers” from all branches of military can come home from combat and decompress with support so they can reenter family and community life renewed. Master Chief Bukowski served as an active duty SEAL for 32 years. Lynnette and Steve were married for 31 years before his death. They have three children and fifteen foster children, now grown. Lynnette's undergraduate education is in English and psychology from San Diego State University, with graduate studies in law administration and crisis management from Northern Arizona University. Sheri Lynn Bukowski, Director of Operations and Logistics — is the Chairman of the Board and Director of Operations and Logistics at LZ-Grace, LLC (a for-profit entity owned by the Foundation). She is an Author, Speaker, Artist, and Clinical Mental Health professional. She is the adult daughter of Steve and Lynnette Bukowski. Along with extensive experience in coordinating missions and travelling world-wide, her undergraduate education is in political science from Christopher Newport University, Theology studies at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and graduate studies in clinical mental health from Regent University. 14 Board of directors • Larry W. Bailey, CAPT USN (Ret) — Captain Larry Bailey is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State College, and spent almost 27 years as a U.S.