The hugely successful event was attended by thirty-five women who were given the opportunity to build community, set goals, push themselves physically, mentally and emotionally, as well as experience support and friendship.
Because our mission at Ride 2 Recovery is to fundamentally change the way our country deals with mental and physical health for our nation’s healing heroes, the Women’s Initiative has shown to be a significantly worthwhile program women because it features:
• Expert staff who customize programs to suit individual needs, making it possible for participation in a majority of the Initiative activities.
• Programs designed specifically to help participants deal with depression, anxiety, self-esteem, loneliness and sense of purpose issues while improving resilience all.
• Support programs that help participants experience significant decreases in issues related to physical impairment due to mental health issues, energy fatigue, emotional well-being and social functioning.
In addition to daily cycling, the women participated in educational and therapeutic workshops led by Thelma Chandler, MSW, LCSW, LCAC, the Director of Indiana Military Services & Regional Crisis Access who helped facilitate and lead group sessions.
Group sessions were held twice daily and gave the participants the opportunity to share their personal stories with peers and like-minded individuals in a safe, secure and confidential environment on topics including: "I Am Not Alone", "The Power of Vulnerability", "Sit at the Table", "I Am Good Enough" and “Introduction to Wellness and Mindfulness”.
The ladies also put their courage and resilience to the test on a high ropes course where they worked on personal development, faced some of their fears by completing the zip line and participated in the Giant Swing. Other team and personal-value building exercises included completing low element team building activities such as .
At the conclusion of the event, our participants completed surveys about that included overwhelmingly positive comments such as:
“It was nice to surround myself with people that love and care for me.”
“It has renewed my spirit. I am physically tired but replenished emotionally.”
“It means the world to me and it has helped to restore my heart.”
“I overcame ‘NOT’ connecting with other women and actually talked about issues that no one else knows about me and my life.”
“It has given me a sense of purpose and self-worth.”
Women’s Initiatives are an essential parts of our program planning for Project Hero Ride 2 Recovery in 2017. We are planning to announce Spring and Fall Initiatives in January and our goal is to offer them annually on a regional basis for years to come.
For more information, email me at jamiel@projecthero.org.
