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The Dog Tag Diva -Michael's Foundation · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

• 0:03
  This message is from the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
• 0:07
  Are you a veteran who served in combat after the Gulf War and
• 0:11
  was discharged between September 11th, 2001 and October 1st,
• 0:15
  2013? If so, you may be eligible to
• 0:20
  apply for Packed Act benefits during a Special Enrollment
• 0:23
  period that ends on September 30th, 2023.
• 0:28
  The PACT Act expands benefits and care for veterans exposed to
• 0:31
  burn pits, toxins, Agent Orange, radiation, and other
• 0:36
  environmental hazards while serving ACT FAST.
• 0:40
  Even if you applied before and weren't eligible, you may be
• 0:44
  eligible now. The deadline to apply is
• 0:47
  September 30th. For more information, go to
• 0:51
  va.gov/pact. That's va.gov/pact.
• 1:08
  Just a little, little hey Little Rock and roll.
• 1:10
  Just a little whoo. Little hey Little Rock and roll
• 1:14
  is a kind of whoo and a oh. It's the kind of Hoo, the kind
• 1:23
  of hay, the kind of suits your soul.
• 1:25
  Get out of my way before I roll all over you.
• 1:33
  I'm an airstar. I'm an airstar.
• 1:37
  To find the slide. Good evening everyone and happy
• 1:45
  Tuesday. Welcome to the Dog Tag Diva
• 1:48
  Podcast. I'm your host.
• 1:49
  The Dog Tag Diva and I have two very wonderful and sweet guests
• 1:53
  with me tonight. They have a great organization
• 1:56
  and I am so excited and happy to share them with you this
• 2:00
  evening. The adorable and wonderful Matt
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  and Eileen Titus newlyweds. Yay.
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  Welcome to the show. Hi.
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  Thank you. Happy to have you guys on.
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  So the mission and vision of the podcast is to educate, motivate
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  and inspire. And one of the things I love
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  about your organization is that you're doing so much to help
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  veterans and there's a really important reason behind where
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  you guys came from. So tell us a little bit about
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  yourselves and your organization, and we're going to
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  have great conversation about this amazing foundation tonight,
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  Michael's foundation. Yeah, you want.
• 2:43
  To start sure. So I'm Eileen.
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  Eileen Titus. I'm the chief operating officer
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  of Michael's foundation. I was brought on to help
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  basically at events and fun programming that's all free for
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  veterans and their families in 2021.
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  And this is my wonderful husband, Matt Titus.
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  He is the brother of Michael Paul Titus.
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  And if you want to tell. Yeah, well, like you said, I'm
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  Matt Titus. I am a veteran, served in
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  Operation Iraqi Freedom with third of the 325 out of Fort
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  Bragg. I was airborne infantry.
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  And yeah, so my little brother went in.
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  Michael Titus, who in was the inspiration unfortunately for
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  the Foundation, is the reason we are taking the bad from or the a
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  poor ending to a wonderful story and trying to make some good out
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  of it. What that means is Michael
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  unfortunately took his life in 2016, February 2016, right on
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  the Super Bowl, and the son of a gun ruined pretty much every
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  Super Bowl for me. After that took his life and it
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  took my family. I come from a big family.
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  There's always there's six of us siblings and you know, we picked
• 4:16
  a few up along the way. We're just like that.
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  Well, I mean I'd say a family of nine or ten at the end of the
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  day and it shook us. It it definitely shook us.
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  We didn't know what to do for a few years.
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  And then 2018 rolled around and mom woke up from whatever days
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  losing a child puts you in and decided that she was going to
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  not let any other mothers feel what she felt from her loss.
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  And in that Michael's foundation was born.
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  Yeah. And then the journey to five O
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  1C3 status and bouncing around at different farms and owning
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  horses and not owning horses. And now we're at the farm here
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  in Claremont and it's a wonderful partnership we have
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  with Keely Clark's Almar Arabian sport horses.
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  So they maintain all of our horses and we just get to to
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  play with them, hang out with the veterans and yeah, and enjoy
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  the horses and then leave. Yeah, you get to reap the
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  benefits. Right.
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  Yes. It's like, oh, you just want a
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  pet and groom. We can go and and do it.
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  It's a couple minutes away. Yeah.
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  The foundation is, you know, largely about continuing the
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  conversation with veterans and just being here for them to have
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  open arms if they need us in any way.
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  We we do a lot of fun things for veterans, a bunch of family fun
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  events and activities and programs.
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  And then we also have veteran benefit guidance.
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  We have an expert on staff who helps veterans whenever they
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  need it with their compensation and or just general essentials
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  every day. But really we're about just
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  we're here. You know if you want to come to
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  the farm and see some horses you can do that.
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  And then we do a lots of fun and family events for veterans and
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  their families. Yeah, it's it's really a great
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  organization and there's been a lot of talk the last few years
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  about equine therapy and the benefits that people reap from
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  such such therapy. And I'm an avid animal lover and
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  I have to say that I'm probably going to, That's how I'm
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  probably going to die. He's petting something I
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  probably shouldn't. But the horse, and I've never
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  been, but the first time I was around them, it can be a little
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  intimidating. Even though you love animals,
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  they are large animals and animal behavior is, you know,
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  can be a little different. And it's kind.
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  It's very amazing that learning how to read their behavior and
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  translates into therapy for an individual.
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  What has it been like for you guys watching this over the last
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  couple years since the Foundation has started?
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  Well, you hit the nail on the head.
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  When you talk about horses being intuitive, I mean it.
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  It's they or how special of an animal they are.
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  Because a lot of the animals that we deal with every day are
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  predators. I mean birds, cats, dogs,
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  they're all hunters. They're all predators.
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  What separates the horse is that it's prey right.
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  It it's not carnivorous, it's not going after anything.
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  It's it's so that the fact that it's it's prey means it has to
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  be hyper aware of its surroundings of yeah of what
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  what's going on around it, the individuals that are nearby it.
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  And so that makes them a very intuitive animal and they pick
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  up on, I mean they can hear a heartbeat they they really, it's
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  impressive what a horse can accomplish.
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  So really, their intuition is what helps manifest or create
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  the bond between the horse and the veteran.
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  Beautifully. Yeah, I have to say that, you
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  know, the first time I came out to the farm and was for the
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  Women's veteran's day, which was amazing by the way.
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  Women veterans were our own little population.
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  And we have different, you know, knees.
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  And sometimes it's nice just to have the ladies around.
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  And, you know, you have an amazing staff member, Zach, who,
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  you know, he's got this beautiful horse, Ezra.
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  And he's like, OK, we're going to get in the pen with Ezra.
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  And Ezra's a Freezian, which is a huge horse.
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  And they're like, oh, you're going to go in the pen.
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  You're going to get him to listen to you.
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  And I'm like OK. Sure.
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  Yeah, it can be a little intimidating.
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  Was it a success? Did you?
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  It was a success. Ezra is beautiful and Zach
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  clearly has a very good relationship with his horse.
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  But if you've never been around horses and they say you're going
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  to get into this pen with this huge horse, but it kind of
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  teaches you to step into yourself and focus on your
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  breathing and yourself and read their behavior so that you can
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  control your behavior, you know, I don't, I think.
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  For really forces you to be in the moment and you know all of
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  our programs well, most of our programs are therapeutic in
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  nature. We don't actually offer therapy
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  on property but we do equine assisted learning.
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  So we have a lot of therapeutic programs that include horses
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  that are therapeutic in nature. So you know, like you both were
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  just saying, being around horses is very therapeutic, especially
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  for a lot of the veterans. Sometimes they just want to
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  touch a horse. They just want to groom and hang
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  out. They don't even want to ride,
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  You know, it's just a nice way to get connected both to
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  yourself and to something that's larger than you literally that's
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  just going to stand there and and be there for you, you know.
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  So there's something very safe about that that I think you know
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  our veteran, our veteran members like and then also the general
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  veteran support population. Yeah.
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  And you know and and the important thing, you know, one
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  of the things that you know all the of your programs offer is
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  the combating isolation, You know and Matt, you've you've
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  been deployed and you have multiple siblings who have all
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  served in the military besides you and Michael, correct.
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  Yeah, yeah, Joey as well, I'm one of our adopted kin.
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  So yeah, he was also an Army paratrooper.
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  And are you guys an army family or there's there's some mix of
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  service branches in? There.
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  No. All three of us were army.
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  Joey went first and we all followed.
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  Followed suit. OK, so there's no question who
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  you're rooting for on Saturday then?
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  Evidently not, no matter how bleak the the possible
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  foreseeable outcome could be. I I think Army's record is a
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  little better this year. There you go.
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  Yeah. Navy dominated for quite a many
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  years and you know so I and Army's had the last couple
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  years. I actually enjoy when they
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  release the uniforms every year. I always look forward to what's
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  the what are the uniforms going to be this year.
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  And I have to say Army's uniform last year was pretty cool and it
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  looks pretty good this year too. I think Navy's uniform this year
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  is paying homage to the submarine.
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  So it's very like dark it, but it they're they're very cool and
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  I'm I'm going to I get to watch the game with my battle buddy
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  this year. So I'm really looking forward to
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  that. Do you guys do anything special
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  for the Army Navy game? We're working.
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  We'll have to work for it. Yeah.
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  Well, we've got a a long day because this Saturday we're
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  starting our veteran alumni program.
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  So right now our equine learning program is 12 lessons in total
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  and we didn't want to have to say goodbye to the veterans
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  after they come completed their 12 lessons.
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  So our Saturday now instead of ending around noon is going to
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  end around 5:00 because we opened up additional lessons to
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  invite the veterans who have quote, UN quote, completed the
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  equine program to allow them to still be able to be around the
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  horses, get on their backs and actually do some horseback
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  riding. Yeah, and be in that, be in that
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  community. You know, we're really about
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  creating positive community for veterans.
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  So, you know, allowing them to come back and have that space to
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  be with their buddies is, is, is really important.
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  So we're excited to debut that on Saturday.
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  Yeah, that's really exciting. Especially if you, you know,
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  been in the program and you kind of formed that bond not only
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  with your horse but with other, you know, your other service
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  brothers and sisters as well. That's really kind of you know
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  that's testament to that community that that we want to
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  remain in. Matt, question for you.
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  How long were you in the service and how was it getting out for
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  you? I was in the service three years
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  and getting out was it was tough.
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  It was definitely tough. I mean, I got out, I think O 7,
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  I'd have to look at my DD214 all those years, kind of run
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  together. But really it was, it was, yeah,
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  it was a challenge. Like PTSD was just kind of
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  coming around, just kind of being labeled and diagnosed.
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  And I was diagnosed with PTSD. I've got a much better handle.
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  I got a much better handle on it, you know, a decade and
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  change later. But still, that transition was
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  difficult. But I was surrounded by friends
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  and family and people that love me.
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  And while my brother was two, you know, I just chose a
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  different path. I chose the path to to fight and
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  to continue to try and and I surrounded myself with the right
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  kind of people. I think Michael's, Michael's
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  suicide came about not because he didn't have loved ones, he
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  was surrounded. Just that.
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  Just like I was surrounded with family, surrounded by friends,
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  had a wonderful wife. But if you're not, if the
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  veteran, the veteran doesn't always know or he didn't know.
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  I don't want to speak on behalf of all the veterans.
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  I'll speak on behalf of Michael. But he he didn't.
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  He wasn't in the position to say that he needed help.
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  So he's surrounded by all these people that care and really
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  whether it was him not realizing it or him not wanting to admit
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  it, he didn't have, you know, a form, a way to communicate what
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  I feel. He didn't have a way to
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  communicate what he was going through.
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  And so that's that's really like the things that we do at the
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  farm are very therapeutic, but all we're doing is hanging out
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  like and and the things that we do, we're inviting the spouses,
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  we're inviting the parents, we're inviting the kids, we're
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  inviting all the people surrounding the veteran did to
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  kind of trick the vets to come up.
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  And just all of a sudden they're just hanging out and starting
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  horseback riding lessons. You know, like they don't even
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  realize that what we're doing is surrounding them with all that
• 15:31
  good and giving them a place to go.
• 15:34
  Good energy. Yeah.
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  Yeah. I mean, I.
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  Think it's a common misconception and you can agree
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  or disagree that just because a veteran, you know, commits
• 15:44
  suicide that they don't have anyone.
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  I mean, many times they often do have loving and supportive
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  families. They just don't know how to ask
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  for help or where to go to ask for help.
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  And you know, like we said, it's that hanging out just it just
• 15:58
  combats that isolation. It gives you an opportunity to
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  be around other people who understand the struggle because
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  nobody understands what we go through other than us.
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  And it's important for military spouses to be around other
• 16:12
  military spouses because you experience things as a military
• 16:16
  spouse that civilian spouses don't experience.
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  So that's really important in maintaining those connections
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  and that networking and that support.
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  Because maybe I'm too close to the situation.
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  I don't notice that something's going on, but maybe somebody can
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  notice those things. And that's the very thing that
• 16:35
  you guys are doing, is providing that space for all of that to
• 16:39
  occur. In addition.
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  And the meditation program, which is wonderful and I will be
• 16:44
  back on as soon as work isn't so crazy.
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  But you do meditation on Tuesday mornings, Eileen, which is
• 16:51
  amazing. Yeah.
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  And I, you know, I wanted to add to the the last couple things.
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  You know and just say that we, we provide space for veterans to
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  ask for help. You know, to work on, to work on
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  their interpersonal skills and their connection with the, with
• 17:07
  the, you know, themselves and others, but really without
• 17:09
  knowing that they're doing it sometimes, you know, we do, we
• 17:12
  do a lot of very obvious therapeutic activities.
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  But just really being around, you know, everyone on the farm
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  and the horses and both met myself who are trained Wellness
• 17:24
  professionals, you know, just that environment can be really
• 17:28
  therapeutic and nourishing as at its base and then you would have
• 17:33
  to. Agree completely.
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  And the space that you've that you have there is very
• 17:39
  therapeutic as well. I'm going to show a picture of
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  the farm and it's just this beautiful long road that's on
• 17:47
  the water and you just have this beautiful environment.
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  It's just. Peaceful, Isolated.
• 17:53
  Safe. Yeah.
• 17:54
  Yeah. Yeah, it's great.
• 17:57
  It's really quite a beautiful space that you've provided for
• 18:02
  the veterans. So you mentioned the writing
• 18:05
  program, so talk a little bit more about that.
• 18:07
  And then also I want to talk about the meditation program
• 18:10
  that you have as well. Yeah.
• 18:13
  So our our equine program, it's a 12 lesson program.
• 18:17
  It incorporates well-being activities like meditation,
• 18:21
  journaling, some stretching and also, you know, largely it's
• 18:26
  mostly riding and then also ground work with horses.
• 18:29
  Yeah. They're not on the backside of
• 18:31
  the horses for the first three lessons.
• 18:33
  So they get to just kind of it's really like horsemanship.
• 18:37
  So they get to learn to groom, to tack, to lead.
• 18:40
  I mean you really you build a relationship with one of the
• 18:44
  horses that that we have in the program.
• 18:48
  So really it's it is a riding program but we've we've we've
• 18:51
  labeled it like equine learning because it's start to finish
• 18:54
  what you're going to learn to really maintain a horse.
• 19:00
  And by starting them on the ground, it's, you know, like we
• 19:03
  were talking about earlier. It can be really intimidating
• 19:06
  being around this giant mammal when you first start, especially
• 19:09
  if you don't have any equine experience.
• 19:12
  So it's nice to give them that chance of, you know, a little
• 19:14
  introduction to, hey, there's this giant animal that you could
• 19:18
  be riding later, but for now, you're just going to get to
• 19:21
  know. So it's nice to start that way.
• 19:25
  Well, it builds just just a nice foundation like you said,
• 19:27
  because they can pick up on all your behaviors and you can't,
• 19:30
  you know, just jump on a horse and and go ride.
• 19:33
  You have to build that relationship And that starts
• 19:36
  with just simply showing them that you were going to take care
• 19:39
  of them with, you know, brushing and bathing and learning how to
• 19:43
  put the the saddle on and put it on correctly so that they can be
• 19:47
  ridden and you're both safe. Yeah, they're a herd animals.
• 19:53
  So like the way they communicate, it's wild.
• 19:56
  Like our vets can move them around the pin with the flick of
• 19:59
  a hand or the the click of their teeth or you know, I mean it's
• 20:04
  just just changing the direction of your movement.
• 20:07
  Once you've developed that relationship with the horse,
• 20:09
  just changing your direction that you're walking in will
• 20:13
  change the horses direction because they're so in tune with
• 20:16
  what's going on around them. And they want to belong.
• 20:19
  They want, they want you to be a part of their herd.
• 20:21
  It helps them feel safe. And once that relationship or
• 20:25
  that bond is created, then that's about the time we put
• 20:28
  them on on the backside and they get right.
• 20:32
  But not behind. Them.
• 20:35
  No. Yeah, we.
• 20:36
  Teach them how to, you know, walk behind and you.
• 20:38
  Don't want to be behind the horse.
• 20:39
  You want to be riding on the horse, yeah.
• 20:42
  Yeah, on top. Yeah.
• 20:44
  Yeah. It's all about body language.
• 20:46
  You know, the veterans like it because they, I mean, you know,
• 20:49
  sometimes they're OK with, you know, going out and just giving
• 20:53
  direction, but other times it's hard to get out there in the
• 20:56
  middle of the arena and you know, just be with this horse
• 21:00
  and have to ask for help. I mean it's it's a great way for
• 21:02
  them to practice asking for help.
• 21:04
  You know as someone who's married to a veteran and also
• 21:07
  who's been working with veterans full time for two years.
• 21:10
  I can, I can say that it's hard for them to ask for help, which
• 21:15
  is beautiful because you know, I I trust that he's going to get
• 21:19
  things done and and you know he clearly can take care of
• 21:23
  everything. But you know, it's it's nice,
• 21:26
  it's nice to, you know, it's nice to put them in, in this
• 21:31
  dynamic where it's OK, you know, they they they're, they can
• 21:35
  learn that it's OK to ask for help.
• 21:37
  So I think that the program is is beneficial for that reason.
• 21:41
  One of the reasons anyway. Yeah, and I've I've been to
• 21:43
  almost every lesson like we go not only for the the open and
• 21:47
  the closed. So like Eileen said, we'll start
• 21:49
  with journaling or meditation or some sort of well-being activity
• 21:53
  and then we'll end usually with journaling and reflection.
• 21:57
  But in the middle I'm just, I'm, I'm tagging along and observing
• 22:00
  and I see. I see veteran, I see
• 22:02
  camaraderie. I see veterans helping veterans.
• 22:05
  I see veterans stepping up to the challenge.
• 22:08
  I see vets get nervous, you know, in front of their peers.
• 22:13
  It's and it's really like all the magic in life.
• 22:17
  I'm a firm believer all the magic in life happens, you know,
• 22:21
  outside of the comfort zone. And that's what we do.
• 22:23
  We we create a a nice safe community, a nice safe space for
• 22:29
  veterans to get outside of their comfort zone and nothing but
• 22:33
  good comes of it. Yeah, it's we.
• 22:36
  We can be a stubborn breed, yes. And as long as we.
• 22:42
  Got our strong suit you know we've we kind of come from the
• 22:46
  you know put that on Rock You know rock up like yeah yeah I.
• 22:55
  So I had a friend on a couple weeks ago who was retired senior
• 22:59
  chief to 27 years in the Navy and is actually writing a book
• 23:03
  on his military experiences. You know and basically coming
• 23:08
  through out of the darkness with PTSD.
• 23:11
  And you know, and we kind of talked about very similar things
• 23:14
  that the, the, the face of PTSD has kind of changed and I think
• 23:18
  we're recognizing it more. And I think the military is
• 23:21
  doing a better job of educating us and treating us.
• 23:25
  But I definitely think it's that, you know, the more we tell
• 23:29
  our story, the better off we all will be.
• 23:31
  Because if we, you know, we have to model the behavior we're
• 23:34
  really good at leading and you know, showing how you know it
• 23:37
  needs to be. But once we're out of service
• 23:39
  and even when we're in service, we still need to be leaders and
• 23:42
  model that behavior of hey, asking for help.
• 23:45
  You know, I'm, I run a unit right now, 65 people.
• 23:48
  And every month I get in front of the the unit and I say good
• 23:52
  morning everyone and you know update on what I have to but I
• 23:55
  always end with and if you need help please ask for it.
• 23:58
  My door is always open and if it's not me, please go to
• 24:02
  someone else because we need to set the tone that it's OK to ask
• 24:08
  for help and we need to be supporting each other.
• 24:12
  As you know, as veteran brothers and sisters and you know, still
• 24:16
  in in the, in the uniform, out of the uniform.
• 24:19
  I think we, you know, there's more that we can be doing even
• 24:23
  while we're still in. But for those when we get out,
• 24:28
  having organizations like Michael's Foundation is so
• 24:32
  important. I think we're in a good, I mean
• 24:34
  I come from New Jersey and we definitely have a lot more
• 24:36
  options being down here in Florida for sure.
• 24:41
  And I, you know, having all the programs that you guys have to
• 24:45
  offer is really important as well.
• 24:49
  And the meditation program is great because it's virtual.
• 24:53
  Yeah. So talk a little bit more about
• 24:55
  that because I love your chimes. I have to order a set of those
• 24:57
  off ends. Sure, Yeah.
• 25:00
  And everything we do have Michael's Foundation's free, so
• 25:02
  everything you know, the events, the programs, the writing
• 25:06
  program, it's all free for veterans and their families.
• 25:10
  And so, yeah, so I'm a yoga therapist and personal trainer,
• 25:14
  and I lead a we're actually kind of rebranding it.
• 25:18
  So it's going to be a morning mood class, the morning mood,
• 25:25
  the morning mood on Tuesday morning at 7:30.
• 25:28
  And it'll be, you know, a nice way to wake up and kind of get
• 25:32
  your body moving, some gentle movement, a little meditation
• 25:36
  and breathing exercises and some stretching and, you know, just a
• 25:41
  way to get up and get at it and tackle your day.
• 25:45
  So I do that on 7:30 on Tuesdays 7:30 AM.
• 25:50
  Yeah, and it's remote and it's only how long.
• 25:53
  It's only 20 minutes 20. Minutes, 20 minutes.
• 25:56
  Yeah. Who doesn't have 20?
• 25:57
  Minutes. And you can start your day off
• 25:59
  with a a fresh breath. Yeah, exactly.
• 26:02
  Yeah, it makes some focus. Good.
• 26:04
  Company. Yes.
• 26:06
  And what? And that's so important too, you
• 26:08
  know, Especially for, you know, I live an hour and a half away
• 26:11
  and I'm eager for when more college ends and I can get in
• 26:15
  back into the writing program. But, you know, offering great
• 26:20
  programs is what it's all about. And even if you have to travel a
• 26:23
  little bit of a little bit of distance, it is.
• 26:27
  It's worth it. I just want to show a couple
• 26:29
  pictures. Here you have this.
• 26:32
  I love your logo. Thank.
• 26:34
  You thank you very. Much.
• 26:35
  And you guys are on Facebook and any other social media that I am
• 26:39
  missing besides Facebook. I mean Facebook, Instagram,
• 26:43
  YouTube, the the big ones. The Big Three.
• 26:48
  The Big Three. Equine.
• 26:53
  Equine program graduates, Yeah, So we'll have a graduation
• 26:56
  ceremony for all of the veterans.
• 26:58
  Once they the veterans as they graduate from the 12 lesson
• 27:02
  program, we have a a little gathering and get together for
• 27:07
  them where we can honor them and celebrate them.
• 27:09
  And this is the last one, the first one that we had, the last
• 27:12
  one that we had. Yes.
• 27:14
  And Tanya is not only does she partake of your all the programs
• 27:19
  that you have to offer, but she also volunteers with you guys as
• 27:21
  well, correct? Yeah.
• 27:23
  She. Does the Super volunteers?
• 27:25
  Yes. Definitely.
• 27:26
  She is just adorable. I love her.
• 27:29
  Great. Absolutely.
• 27:30
  Yeah. We really, you know, we really
• 27:32
  pride ourselves on the volunteers that we have.
• 27:35
  They are our lifeblood. You know, we have these big
• 27:39
  events that we put on 9 * a year and we wouldn't be able to do it
• 27:42
  without our volunteers, so. Yeah, I mean, just a tidbit of
• 27:46
  info that we've learned is according to the the tax gods,
• 27:52
  one hour of volunteer value to a nonprofit is 2999, so $29.99 an
• 28:01
  hour. Yeah, wow.
• 28:03
  Yeah, that's so that's. I mean, just think that's what
• 28:05
  you're, you know, if you needed to put a monetary value into
• 28:09
  your time, that's what you're giving to A501C3 when you donate
• 28:14
  just an hour of your time. That's pretty cool.
• 28:16
  It's very valuable. Yeah.
• 28:18
  It's very valuable. And that's a great way to fill
• 28:21
  your personal pocket, too, is to give give back.
• 28:25
  Yeah, yeah, just I wasn't sure if you were a bean counter and
• 28:27
  if something, you know, you like that.
• 28:30
  Yeah. Numbers are always good and but
• 28:33
  you know, it's it's interesting because I think a lot of people
• 28:35
  don't really understand all that's involved in A5O1C3 and
• 28:40
  getting those volunteers is extremely important to the
• 28:43
  success of the program because you couldn't exist and all the
• 28:47
  important work that you guys want to do and you know it's
• 28:52
  it's important. I mean, I just, I would have
• 28:54
  never thought about that. And I think that's a really
• 28:56
  interesting fact, Yeah. We really we would, yeah.
• 29:00
  I don't know where we would be we if we didn't have our
• 29:04
  volunteers. And what's great about our
• 29:06
  volunteers is a lot of them are repetitive.
• 29:09
  Of course we have new blood come on and and usually once they
• 29:12
  come, once they they come back. But the repetition that we have,
• 29:18
  you know, the repeated support, it means the world to us.
• 29:22
  And that also adds to the community.
• 29:23
  I mean some are vets, some are family of veterans, spouses,
• 29:27
  widowed spouses. I mean there's all sorts of of
• 29:31
  different ages and sizes and I mean it.
• 29:35
  It's really. Strengths and fitness levels,
• 29:38
  you know, I mean a big, a big part of our volunteer basis for
• 29:42
  events, set up during events and then clean up for events.
• 29:45
  And so for those, you know, the requirement is that you need to
• 29:49
  be able to lift upwards of 50 lbs.
• 29:51
  And so we have a job for you in that regard.
• 29:54
  And then, but then there's all these other tasks where we need.
• 29:56
  People, trustworthy positions. We have technical positions.
• 30:00
  I mean, there's, yeah, there's so much that needs to be done in
• 30:03
  our events especially. But it's great, 'cause it's all
• 30:05
  free, you know, and and we're really about the families, we we
• 30:10
  want the veteran spouses to feel included and to feel important
• 30:14
  because they are as important as the veteran.
• 30:17
  So it's really important to have, you know, the space for
• 30:20
  the families and to provide a very nourishing and inclusive
• 30:24
  environment for them. Yeah, it does.
• 30:26
  That spousal support is is so important because we couldn't do
• 30:30
  what we do without our spouses supporting us because it's it's
• 30:34
  hard. We run long.
• 30:36
  Periods of time and all right, you're going to take care of the
• 30:39
  house and the kids and the animals and everything.
• 30:41
  I'm going off and I'll. Be back in about 6 months.
• 30:45
  Yeah, I'll see you in nine months.
• 30:46
  OK, Bye. Right.
• 30:49
  Meanwhile, the wife was breaking.
• 30:51
  There's a hurricane going on. The dogs like throwing up
• 30:54
  somewhere. You know, it's funny because
• 30:58
  Matt is, Matt is really great at, you know, keeping the house
• 31:03
  in orderly tip top shape. And he's, he's the person in the
• 31:07
  house that does that. He's the cook.
• 31:09
  He's he's incredible with with all of that stuff.
• 31:13
  So I learned a lot from him and he, you know, he provides in
• 31:17
  that way and I mean in many ways, but yeah, we can partner
• 31:21
  like that. So it seems like, you know,
• 31:24
  being a veteran, there's so much to being a veteran, but it
• 31:28
  really teaches you discipline, dedication, also a healthy
• 31:31
  routines. You know, like just keeping the
• 31:33
  house clean is is something that a lot of our veterans talk.
• 31:37
  About. You know.
• 31:39
  Make your bed, Make your bed every day.
• 31:42
  Make your bed every two days. And like, I can't, But yes, the
• 31:45
  making the 'cause, they kind of like beat that into us, what
• 31:48
  we're like in boot camps. So yeah, definitely.
• 31:53
  God forbid your locker is not locked, there will be hell to
• 31:56
  pay, right? And Speaking of your wonderful
• 32:02
  volunteers and keeping families connected, you had it.
• 32:05
  You all participated recently in in a parade in Claremont.
• 32:10
  Yeah, the veteran's day Parade. It was super fun.
• 32:13
  You know, we couldn't have a live horse with us, so we just
• 32:16
  decided to provide blow up horses, which was inflatable
• 32:20
  horses, which was pretty fun, but that's a that's a a variety
• 32:25
  of our repetitive and consistent volunteers that we love so much.
• 32:31
  That is a very cute picture. I had to put my glasses on and
• 32:34
  then I saw all the little, like riding horses that you guys.
• 32:39
  Right. That was Eileen's idea.
• 32:42
  Yeah, that was a great idea somehow.
• 32:47
  We have horses, just none of which are parade ready.
• 32:50
  That's feisty there. That's one of our feisty.
• 32:52
  Yes, I love that name. Feisty.
• 32:55
  Yep. So that's our, you know, he's,
• 32:57
  he's our one of our main riding horses in our equine program and
• 33:02
  his name is Feisty Star and he's just just a little cutie.
• 33:06
  Sometimes he is very feisty, but the veterans do enjoy riding him
• 33:10
  and he's. 20 something and just and just went to a show and is
• 33:16
  still winning awards so he's yeah, yeah I'm not sure what he
• 33:21
  won at the most recent show but I mean he's still he's still
• 33:25
  placing so yeah he's yeah he's a.
• 33:30
  Special. Special.
• 33:32
  Yeah. He really is a star.
• 33:34
  It's. Great.
• 33:35
  Now, how many horses do you have in the riding program?
• 33:38
  Right now, yeah, the barn itself has many more, but we have three
• 33:43
  that are dedicated to the riding program and then we have two
• 33:47
  instructors over those three horses.
• 33:51
  Yeah, and it's great. You know, we have a nice
• 33:53
  partnership with them. So they're called Keely Clark's
• 33:56
  Almar Arabian Sport horses and they are you know basically the
• 34:01
  Almar Arabian which is a really famous line of breed of out of
• 34:06
  Arabian horses. And so Keely is a co-owner of
• 34:09
  the farm and we rent the space and the horses and all the
• 34:13
  services from them. So it's a really great
• 34:15
  partnership. The oldest living bloodline in
• 34:19
  Arabian horses purebred Arabian in the world.
• 34:23
  It's a it's a special horse. They're they're beautiful and
• 34:27
  and Zach's horse, that Ezra is gorgeous as well.
• 34:32
  Yes, Ezra is. Beautiful.
• 34:38
  Definitely a diva. Yes, it's great.
• 34:40
  I love it and. One of the other events that you
• 34:43
  have that looks super fun. I wish I had a child here.
• 34:48
  Eileen made me go down that slip and slide, fully closed, shoes
• 34:53
  on, belt on, doing everything. Luckily she let me take my cell
• 34:58
  phone out of my pocket. But yeah, that's summer.
• 35:01
  That's Summer Splash. And yeah, I mean, that's one of
• 35:05
  our maybe 7 different water features that we set up.
• 35:09
  It's a lot of hose A. Lot of setup, so many volunteers
• 35:13
  for that. 1. Yeah, that one looks a little
• 35:16
  more labor intensive than maybe some of the other ones.
• 35:20
  It really is and it's it's so funny because it's all about the
• 35:23
  kids. I mean that one, that one that
• 35:26
  in our Easter because of the Easter egg hunt is probably
• 35:29
  pushing 80% children that show up to that.
• 35:31
  So it's a big deal. That must be a fun event on the
• 35:36
  farm with hiding eggs. Oh my gosh.
• 35:39
  Yeah, Last year we did 5000. Somebody, somebody thought it
• 35:44
  was a good idea. 5005 thousand This guy was like, let's let's
• 35:50
  hide 5000. Instead.
• 35:51
  I didn't really do the math. I didn't do the math.
• 35:55
  You can actually only stuff about 5 eggs a minute, so just
• 36:01
  crunch those numbers. I don't know what that comes
• 36:03
  out. To but.
• 36:04
  That's how many minutes of egg stuffing.
• 36:07
  Of course we had wonderful volunteers helping.
• 36:11
  We only got about halfway through and about an 8 hour
• 36:14
  session with seven people working.
• 36:16
  So it was. It was, yeah.
• 36:18
  But it was well worth it, yeah. It was our biggest well, it was
• 36:23
  our most well attended event that we've had and tons of
• 36:28
  people. We had the Easter Bunny, you
• 36:30
  know, we we're like basically throwing out candy, giving candy
• 36:33
  out to kids and they always leave with all these free
• 36:36
  things. It's just a lot of fun for the
• 36:38
  families. So are you going to do 5000 eggs
• 36:41
  this year and just start sooner or we're going to do more eggs
• 36:46
  this year? Yeah, you always got bigger and
• 36:49
  better. Yeah, it's fun.
• 36:53
  I think we we we may hide them differently so that they last a
• 36:57
  little bit longer, 'cause, you know, even you do 5000, they
• 37:00
  still get. Those kids suck them up and
• 37:03
  suck. Them up in 2 seconds it.
• 37:04
  Was impressive. Right.
• 37:07
  Wow. But I thought it must be so fun.
• 37:09
  Watch. I remember like my son is 21
• 37:12
  now, but I remember my two favorite times of the year were
• 37:15
  Halloweens. I love taking him to the pumpkin
• 37:17
  patch at Easter, 'cause I love doing the eggplants with him.
• 37:21
  I'm like, I wonder if I can convince my brother to bring my
• 37:24
  nephew down. Yes, absolutely.
• 37:27
  Yeah, that's fun. Do it.
• 37:29
  That's great, yo. And we have a big event coming
• 37:31
  up for Christmas, our December 16th event.
• 37:34
  It's called Horsey Holiday. We'll have Mr. and Mrs. Claus
• 37:38
  there with an elf. We'll have craft decoration,
• 37:41
  cookie decorating. We're going to be giving out
• 37:43
  stuffed stockings, taking pictures.
• 37:46
  We have pony rides for the kids and the adults.
• 37:49
  It'll be great. So yeah, all free.
• 37:51
  So yeah, if you're a veteran, come out with your family.
• 37:54
  If you're not a veteran, you know, we just ask that you make
• 37:57
  a small donation on our website and then just come on out.
• 38:00
  It's still open to you and we'd love to have you and.
• 38:03
  What time does that event start? That is 11 AM, 11:00 AM till
• 38:08
  3:00 PM on the 16th of December. And free food.
• 38:16
  Food. Yeah, like Kenny's takeaways.
• 38:20
  We love Kenny. He does awesome BBQ.
• 38:22
  Killer BBQ Yeah, we're gonna have chili dogs at this one too.
• 38:26
  Chili in addition to. The bread, Mac and cheese.
• 38:30
  Yeah, I'm just putting that into the chat so that when people
• 38:34
  watch it after the fact that we have those dates and times out
• 38:37
  there for you guys and then the 2024 calendar has some amazing
• 38:44
  events coming up as well. Yay, 2024 what?
• 38:49
  Are our favorites. What's your favorite?
• 38:51
  You know, so I'm really excited for the We Love Veterans
• 38:54
  Festival because that is going, it's going to be the first time
• 38:58
  we've ever done a February. We love Veterans Festival, first
• 39:02
  time first annual. So it's going to be themed
• 39:05
  around Valentine's Day. We're going to have a kissing
• 39:08
  booth with feisty and then the dump that we have on property.
• 39:13
  So that should be really fun and interesting to see.
• 39:18
  And then we're also going to invite for that event, we're
• 39:20
  going to invite our veteran partners, a veteran related non
• 39:26
  profit partners out and then they can also provide games at
• 39:30
  at little booths. So if you are a non profit
• 39:36
  veteran organization and you would like to partner with us,
• 39:40
  feel free to contact us and we may have you out to the farm for
• 39:44
  that event and you'll put on some games for the kids.
• 39:48
  Sounds like an excellent That sounds like a good time and
• 39:53
  afford an opportunity to again network with other
• 39:55
  organizations, 'cause you know, sometimes you don't even you
• 39:58
  don't know what you don't know until you don't know.
• 40:00
  And I think so that's one of the great things about all, you
• 40:04
  know, the programs that you offer is the the networking and
• 40:08
  the community. And you have your you have your
• 40:11
  secret weapon, Allen. Yes.
• 40:14
  Veteran benefit guidance guru Alan Alford, Yes.
• 40:18
  He's great. So Yep, so Alan is a veteran and
• 40:21
  he memorized Title 38 and he can help veterans with basically
• 40:26
  every single thing related to the VA and compensation and you
• 40:30
  know, shelter and food and getting jobs.
• 40:32
  He can really help you with all of that.
• 40:33
  So we connect him with veterans all the time, which is really
• 40:37
  great. He I was beyond impressed at his
• 40:40
  knowledge of the the system and the title, the article, the
• 40:44
  whole thing. I was like, what?
• 40:46
  You're making my head spin out. I'm out.
• 40:48
  Right, right. And he's he's a great partner.
• 40:52
  And because it's easy, again, it's easy for a veteran to to
• 40:57
  say they need help with benefits, not easy for them to
• 41:01
  say they need help with their with their mental state.
• 41:06
  And so a lot of times they'll come in and they'll connect with
• 41:09
  Alan and he'll hook them up, he'll get them whatever they
• 41:12
  earned while they were in the military.
• 41:15
  And then during that, that kind of deep dive into what's going
• 41:20
  on with them, they usually just just end up in in our laps, you
• 41:25
  know, over over with us with the horses.
• 41:29
  So because again, it's easy, it's easy to say I need, you
• 41:32
  know, I need to get my benefits in order.
• 41:34
  Not so easy to say. I'm messed up, you know.
• 41:38
  Yeah, I'm not depressed or I need a little support in other
• 41:42
  ways. Yeah, agree.
• 41:44
  And I think it's also helpful because he knows the system so
• 41:47
  well. He can get you to what you need
• 41:51
  sooner rather than later and help you navigate that process
• 41:55
  step by step. And I'm even at the most basic
• 41:58
  level, you know, you're trying to call for customer service and
• 42:00
  you're like, look, you're just trying to scream.
• 42:04
  But having someone who can help you through that process so that
• 42:06
  you're not having a heart attack on the phone trying to get a
• 42:09
  hold of somebody is such a huge, such a huge help.
• 42:13
  Well, not only. I mean he he like we had a
• 42:17
  veteran that got approved, I I want to say like 70% approved
• 42:23
  and I guess that he wasn't getting any of it because he got
• 42:29
  a lump sum at retirement and so they were going to make him pay
• 42:32
  back this 90 eighty $70,000 before he touched a dime and
• 42:37
  Allen stepped in and negotiated. He only pays, you know, a few
• 42:41
  hundred a month now and gets to see the remainder of that and
• 42:45
  it's like, so not only can he get you what you earned or
• 42:50
  deserved, but he can also help with the technicalities because
• 42:54
  the the VA sometimes wants to get technical because they like
• 42:59
  their money too. Right.
• 43:01
  Yes. So you have all these great
• 43:07
  programs coming, you have other things in the works that your
• 43:11
  other ideas that you're floating out there.
• 43:15
  Yes. We just announced today in our,
• 43:17
  so we have a GroupMe where we have all of our veteran members
• 43:20
  and their spouses. It's like a little hub for them
• 43:23
  to hang out and they can write to each other and we have little
• 43:27
  questions every week. So everyone can kind of connect
• 43:29
  and share, but it's a nice little nourishing community
• 43:32
  through an app that we use called GroupMe.
• 43:34
  And we just announced that we are going to be doing our first
• 43:38
  annual Women veteran's day retreat weekend in June, June
• 43:44
  6th through 9th. It'll be free for women
• 43:46
  veterans. Right now we have spaces for
• 43:49
  12/12 women veterans and we're super excited about it.
• 43:54
  So yeah, that's that's. Happening.
• 43:57
  An entire weekend, Friday night through Sunday, we'll be staying
• 44:01
  at a Lake Louisa State Park in the little cabins there.
• 44:06
  Sounds like an amazing opportunity for for women
• 44:09
  veterans to come together and have some community and some a
• 44:15
  breath of fresh Air and Space and.
• 44:19
  Safe space. Yeah, Safe space.
• 44:22
  What a great point. Yeah, we'll be doing some yoga
• 44:24
  and you know, meditation. I'm.
• 44:26
  I'm going to lead a couple different classes based on what
• 44:29
  the women veterans tell us, and then we'll probably bring a few
• 44:32
  other coaches and we'll do some tours around the park.
• 44:35
  It'll be really nice. Yeah.
• 44:37
  And I I'm, I think the bonfires are my favorite.
• 44:42
  Those those are kind of sprinkled throughout the year,
• 44:46
  but they're, you know, in some of our events we're in the
• 44:49
  upwards of almost 400 people and our veterans said, some of our
• 44:53
  vets said they were starting to feel like a number.
• 44:55
  So that's where the bonfires came from.
• 44:59
  And we have smaller numbers, I mean groups of 20-30 people at
• 45:03
  most. And really it's just a real
• 45:06
  intimate, nice, cozy setting where we all just get to hang
• 45:10
  out and have a good time. Again, families are always
• 45:13
  welcome to those and it's just hot dogs on skewers and s'mores
• 45:19
  by the fire. I mean it's it's a real chill
• 45:21
  evening. Sounds sounds great.
• 45:24
  Michael's Foundation helping veterans, their spouses and
• 45:29
  their families out of Clermont, FL.
• 45:32
  If you are not in the area of Clermont, FL, you can look up
• 45:37
  equine therapy close to your home near you.
• 45:41
  Eileen and Matt, thank you so much for coming on the show
• 45:44
  tonight and sharing your love of this foundation and love of
• 45:48
  veterans and all the amazing work that you're doing to
• 45:52
  support veterans and the community.
• 45:54
  Thank you. Thanks very much.
• 45:55
  Thanks. For having us.
• 45:57
  Thanks for having us. What a.
• 45:58
  Pleasure. Very welcome, very welcome.
• 46:00
  Happy to spread the love and put all that good energy out there.
• 46:06
  You're awesome. Thank.
• 46:07
  You thank you for the dog tag, Diva.
• 46:11
  I'm here to remind you to greet each day with purpose, passion
• 46:15
  and tenacity and be kind to each other.
• 46:19
  That's the show for today everyone.
• 46:21
  Thanks for listening. We'll be back next week with an
• 46:23
  all new show. And remember, you can listen to
• 46:26
  us again and again. The podcast of this radio show
• 46:29
  is available right after we go off the air tonight.
• 46:32
  Anywhere that you can get your podcast episodes.
• 46:36
  And thanks for joining.